The New York Times Magazine, Sunday, August 22, 1999

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The Slacker Temp against humanity. The humane solution is to distribute the most tedious tasks evenly rather than dumping them on one person. But the current arrangement brings cars, camcorders and the Backstreet Boys to the millions -- myself included -- and we seem to like that. Short of a radical transformation of the labor economy (which doesn't seem too likely), the situation at your office will continue to be exhausting for everyone involved: your co-workers, your boss and even the temp himself. And as the supervisor, you have the responsibility to see that the work gets done, so you must act. Can you persuade the temp to improve his performance? Great. Can you get him more money or rearrange his most mind-numbing tasks? Even better. But if you can't do either, and you continue to feel, as you say, that his job is so wretched that reporting him would be wrong, you can continue to work there, but you can't ethically continue as his supervisor. You can be a soldier but not an officer. We received an invitation to a surprise party for our friend Ted, given by his wife. It said: "It is a clown party! Ted is afraid of clowns!! Feel free to dress as a clown. The idea is to scare him! Adults only! We do not want children to see how terrified Ted will be by the clowns!" Not going is a no-brainer. Should we tell him? — M.M., Madison, N.J. By all means, tell him about the party. And about a divorce lawyer. Do you have ethical queries that you need answered? Send them to ethicist@nytimes.com or The Ethicist, The New York Times Magazine, 229 West 43d Street, New York, N.Y. 10036. Illustration by Christoph Neimann Table of Contents August 22, 1999 http://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/19990822mag-ethicist.html (2 of 3) [8/22/1999 9:15:21 PM] Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution by Robert C. Atkins, M.D. Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes All Too Human by George Stephanopoulos
The Slacker Temp Home | Site Index | Site Search | Forums | Archives | Marketplace Quick News | Page One Plus | International | National/N.Y. | Business | Technology | Science | Sports | Weather | Editorial | Op-Ed | Arts | Automobiles | Books | Diversions | Job Market | Real Estate | Travel Help/Feedback | Classifieds | Services | New York Today Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company http://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/19990822mag-ethicist.html (3 of 3) [8/22/1999 9:15:21 PM]
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The New York Times Magazine, Sunday, August 22, 1999

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