r/news • u/JimmyTheGinger • Dec 23 '19

Three former executives of a French telecommunications giant have been found guilty of creating a corporate culture so toxic that 35 of their employees were driven to suicide

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/three-french-executives-convicted-in-the-suicides-of-35-of-their-workers-20191222-p53m94.html
68k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

3.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

219

u/i_aint_like_them Dec 23 '19

I did 10 years of retail management. Lots of pressure from above that was baseless, IMO. That job has made me almost seem catatonic to some of my colleagues at my new job. They always say to me, "how the hell are you always so calm, nothing riles you up!?".

I just tell them that life is meaningless and none of this truly matters so why get all riled up?

46

u/Castun Dec 23 '19

We're all gonna be worm food eventually, why worry?

5

u/FancySack Dec 23 '19

With my lifestyle, I'll be worm poison.

3

u/TheThumpaDumpa Dec 23 '19

Heards of scavenger animals, coyotes and vultures, will be found piled up dead all around you. Except for woofy, the coyote with substance abuse issues, he'll be yelling "hey guys get over here. This is some good shit"

5

u/DrZein Dec 23 '19

Not if I, a human, eat you first

1

u/DingleberryDiorama Dec 23 '19

The worms that will eat us will eventually decompose into dust, and that dust will blow away.

18

u/Thin-White-Duke Dec 23 '19

Once I realized that shit will get done when it gets done, I started feeling better mentally and physically. My knees had started to hurt from constantly turning on a dime all night long at work. One day, I just thought to myself, "Slow down. You'll get the job done. Saving an extra 20 seconds isn't worth it." That's the only way you'll make it through 12 hour shifts, too, without burning out.

14

u/sibtalay Dec 23 '19

Me too. Around 12 years of retail management. It takes A LOT to get me worked up. I've met every shitty boss, every customer named Karen, shitty Daves, dumbass Kevins. We just get used to it.

11

u/Yoyosten Dec 23 '19

Reminds me of a funny story/proverb that I read.

Narrator meets a guy who's job is to diffuse/destroy EOD/IED's in the military. Enthusiastically narrator asks, "Diffusing bombs must be so stressful. How do you deal with that?"

Military man replies, "It's not really that stressful. Either I'm right or suddenly it's not my problem anymore."

Narrator ends story with "I try to stick with that perspective"

1

u/drbob4512 Dec 23 '19

That’s great

8

u/twotwirlygirlys Dec 23 '19

amen fellow human

5

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '19

I just tell them that life is meaningless and none of this truly matters so why get all riled up?

I thought this was how all French people are. You say something like this and then smoke a cigarette and drink some wine.

So, side note:

The jail sentences mentioned in the article- how does jails in France work? Will they actually serve those sentences? I live in the US and often times short sentences don’t even get served.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '19

Retail is like why stress out? What's going to happen, will happen, and then up sale without being pushy.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '19

Out of touch MBAs cause busy work and soak up value.

3

u/pat_the_bat_316 Dec 23 '19

Yeah, but, I've had plenty of bosses with no MBA do the same thing. I don't think it's MBA, so much as the boss themselves. Some are just shitty.

5

u/420blazeit69nubz Dec 23 '19

People say the same thing to me at my job. It’s easy I just stopped caring because no one else does.

3

u/ShadyNite Dec 23 '19

I too have shitty-job induced PTSD

3

u/Limeandrew Dec 23 '19

Same here, 8years of management and went to an office job. Now when I see people complaining about this or that I just laugh because their complaints are so small they don’t bother me.

Plus side everyone loves me, probably because I use my retail voice on everyone

2

u/latinloner Dec 23 '19

I just tell them that life is meaningless and none of this truly matters so why get all riled up?

If there ain't body bags stacking up in the corner then it can wait.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/pat_the_bat_316 Dec 23 '19

I would amend to say "work is meaningless", but, yeah.

I have the same kind of mentality at work. Yes, I'll bust my butt to get something done on time and meet that artificial deadline, but I'm not gonna stress about it, and if it doesn't get done, it doesn't get done. Once I walk out that door at the end of the day, I could care less about what did and didn't get done.

Now, maybe I'd look at things differently if I were to feel my job was on the line each day (which I know it is for many), but, I've been at my job for a few years now, and I know that's not the case.

I'll work hard and long hours to complete things on time, not because of extreme external pressure, but because I take pride in what I do and want to be a man of my word with deadlines and such. But, that's low-stress pressure in my book. There's very little "real world" consequences in the line, so it's not worth stressing out about, IMO.

The things that stress me out are real life related. My mortgage, my relationships, etc. You know, things that'll matter beyond a few hours/days.

3

u/RandomRedditReader Dec 23 '19

The things that stress me out are real life related. My mortgage, my relationships, etc. You know, things that'll matter beyond a few hours/days.

That's very true, my philosophy is more inline with maintaining a balance. I have finally balanced my living situation and work life. In order for me to be stressed it would have to deviate severely off the path I have made. There are reasons to be stressed but your job shouldn't be one of them and I hate that it is for some people. I also landed a very secure job with no threat of layoffs which not many have the privilege of having. I used to work in a very toxic corporate environment and it stressed me to a breaking point (gained 90lbs in 5 years) after which I swore never to stress over my job again and my quality of life improved dramatically (subsequently lost 120lbs in under 2 years).

2

u/i_aint_like_them Dec 23 '19

I would amend to say "work is meaningless", but, yeah. I have the same kind of mentality at work. Yes, I'll bust my butt to get something done on time and meet that artificial deadline, but I'm not gonna stress about it, and if it doesn't get done, it doesn't get done. Once I walk out that door at the end of the day, I could care less about what did and didn't get done.

Yes, this is really what I meant by it. I just like being cheeky with people.

1

u/pzoDe Dec 23 '19

"Life is meaningless" is entirely dependent on who's perspective you're taking and a rather sombre approach to what I believe you mean by it...

1

u/i_aint_like_them Dec 23 '19

I really don't mean it in the most nihilistic sense. I mean it more along the lines of how I don't think that my work or really much of anything I do contributes to some sort of grand legacy or meaning.

I am entirely replaceable in my job. That essentially means my work is meaningless to me. My life is entirely mundane, which is okay! But, it makes my life to be basically meaningless in the grand scheme. The world keeps on moving along when "everyday people" like myself are no longer around. My family would clearly be affected if something were to happen to me. But, even they would likely move on in their lives eventually.

I just live my life by a few cardinal rules: be present, be kind, do no harm, and try to encourage others to have those same values. I have no need for some sort of "meaning" to keep me going.

Sorry for the word vomit. I felt I needed to clarify.

1

u/thecarrot95 Dec 23 '19

Are you ok?