Re: Levity in the workplace

[Graham Dowden <dowdeng -at- NMS -dot- OTC -dot- COM -dot- AU>]

Here is my contribution and two examples of humour and morale-raising
in the workplace.

Funny things to do:
* Re-write a company email or press release (Example A below)
* Create a funny object from company newspaper, handout or poster
* Odd sock/loud tie/retro dress day
* Create a mouse house out of a management course materals box complete
  with roof garden, pool, lawn, outdoor furniture etc and populate it
  with small stuffed mice.
* Draw a departmental coat of arms or currency using scans of the boss etc
* Parody an existing play, poem, opera or song based on your current project.
  Chaucer, Shakespeare and Wagner's Ring Cycle are good places to start.
* Write up all equipment disasters as a recipe (Example B below)
* Pass out a "Company Role-Reversal Day" notice to pairs of employees.

EXAMPLE A

> Dr Smith is head of the artificial life team working
> on the telephone project in which the company has invested $40 million

He went on to say, "Our aim is to change the telephone from being
an instrument to a living being. With a built in "Soul Chip", people
will be able to talk to the phone instead of just talking into it.
They will be able to pick up the phone and share with it their hopes, their
aspirations, their sorrows and their dreams, and the phone will be able to
respond with empathy as a real friend."

"Of course, with so much depending on your phone, it will be very important
to select the type of soul that we give your phone. Customers
will be able to select the type of soul mate they want installed when
they first subscribe - we will provide an extensive personality typing test
so that subscribers and phone souls are matched."

"It will be possible to obtain a divorce from your phone only if the
relationship breaks down irrevocably, for example, if the phone is always
engaged, busy or refuses to answer you anymore. In this case, we can
provide a new soul for the cost of a re-connection fee and return the other
to our soul bank until we can find it a new mate."

"In the immediate future we will only be able to provide an emotional and
spiritual relationship with the telephone, but we do not expect it to be
long after that we can provide physical intimacy. By this stage the phone
will have long passed from being a hard plastic object with buttons
into a warm, caring, living being with whom all our subscribers can
share their lives. And if that happens, will will have truly succeeded in
making the world a better place."

EXAMPLE B

Warm salad of Monitor a la Smith
--------------------------------

Ingredients
-----------

Virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Balsamic vinegar
3 cups mixed hydroponic lettuce leaves
1 SVGA 17" monitor
1 old duffle coat or beach towel (appropriate to the season)
Thai sweet chilli sauce

Method
------

Prepare a vinaigrette by lightly whisking together 3 measures
of virgin olive oil with 1 measure red wine vinegar and several drops
of Balsamic vinegar. Loosely tear the lettuce leaves, place into a bowl,
add the dressing and toss thoroughly. Stand at room temperature.

Remove the fuse from the monitor and fix circuit breaker in the On position
with a piece of old chewing gum. Cover entire unit with old duffle coat or
beach towel, being careful to completely occlude all air vents.

Plug in and turn on monitor, log in and write code of your choice.
In a half hour or so you should smell cooking insulation. Continue
working until a light blue smoke appears from under the coat or towel.
Switch off power immediately without saving code, the monitor will be
cooked to perfection.

Quickly remove monitor cover. Grasp cooked insulation with pliers and
pull sharply to dislodge it from the casing, and place into a bowl.
Add chilli sauce to taste, stir to coat well, then add insulation
to green salad.

Serve immediately with hot Continental bread, light beaujolais style wine
and extra chilli sauce if required.

---
John Smith
B. Food Tech. (North Qld Home Science Institute)

Have fun,
--
Graham, dowdeng -at- nms -dot- otc -dot- com -dot- au

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