Home   |  Issues  |  The Daily Star Home | Volume 2, Issue 9, Tuesday August 24, 2004

 

 

 

 

 

Outrageous

When all hell broke loose

Photo: Star
A wave of grenade attacks on opposition leaders on August 21left many injured and the death toll still rising. The deadly attacks started at 5:23pm just when Hasina wrapped up a rally of around 25,000 supporters protesting the recent Sylhet blasts with a call ‘to end the rule of the government that inspires bomb attacks’. The AL central leaders were on the truck with Hasina.

As the grenades rained in from the sky, it missed the truck and landed on either side, injuring leaders, among at least 200 others. People fell on the street bleeding, some of them profusely. It became a ghastly scene of disjointed limbs and blood. People smeared with blood lay groaning and screaming for help.

 


Reader's Chit
Caution! You might be behind enemy line!

Neither of my parents have a nine-to-five job. Thus when I began working at a nine-to-five office, I had no guidelines on the intricacies of office etiquette and office politics. They say experience is the best teacher of them all. After five weeks on the job, I wholeheartedly agree. And now that I have learned the hard way, I feel like it is my social duty to tell all future chakurijeebees (that is, future nine-to-five jobholders) the dos and don'ts of office etiquette. So brace yourself…

Behind enemy lines…
Remember how in school we had this not so nice phenomenon called 'grouping' (for instance, if you play with Neal and Rita, Sam and I won't talk to you)- well, this phenomenon often occurs in work environments too. It's hard being in everyone's good books but try not to take sides. In some cases you aren't left with an option. Under such situations, always try to figure out who genuinely likes you and who's faking it to use you. But also remember, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. So even if you aze forced to take a side, don't ruffle anyone's feathers.

Ne~er bite the dog…
When we were in school there was a poem called 'Uttom ar Odhom'. It's last verse went something in the order of '…kukure koreche kukurer kaaj, kamor diyeche paye, tai bole ki kukur kamrano manusher shobha paey?' (…the dog did what it's suppose to do, it bit you, but does it suit a person to go and bite the dog?). Tha|'s why I say, never bite the dog. If one of youz colleague insults or offends you, don't stoop to his/her levml. Wear the cloak of dignity and everyone will know who's at fault.

Away with attitude…
Everyone has his or her own place. Everyone's work is cut out. Your job is to respec| people: above, below and equivalent to you. If your work isn't up to standard, then you'll have to take the brunt of your boss's dissatisfaction. Never show attitude. And on that note, don't take attitude from people who aren't in a position to dish it out. For example, if you're the junior marketing consultant at a firm, you don't have to take attitude from the secretaries and receptionists. They are there to assist you, not the other way round.

'Granted' and 'gofer' go hanl in hand…
Unless you're job description says that you're a gofer, don't let your colleagues treat you like one. If someone asks for help and you're not working then go ahead and lend a hand. But don't let people take you for granted. If you do that, soon enough you'll discover that people are treating you like a gofer. Never let it get to that point.

No longer a pushover…
It's always nice to let old Mr. Bumble go ahead in front of you at the copier line. But when you have a hundred pages to copy and a presentation in five minutes put your foot down. Don't let people twist your arm. When work is slow it's always easy to take a number but if you have a deadline then don't get aylaid by the hundreds of excuses people will give you to go before. They don't know that the boss has asked you to present the document in ten minutes. Make it very clear to them.

The boss is always right…
I have a poster that says:
Rule number one- the boss is always righ|.
Rule number two- if the boss is wrong… (see rule number one!).
This is always true. You're working for someone. It doesn't matter if Socrates approved your work. You have to cater to the boss's choice. Don't ever forget that. Always be, courteous, respectful and always hear out the in{tructions and opinions before making a comment.
And with that my fellow future nine-to-fivers I bid you farewell. Good luck on the job!

By Tahiat-e-Mahboob

 


 
 

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