A WORK ETHIC ISSUE

There is a newbie in the department upstairs, who is a scholar with the company. Which was kind of unusual as scholars were usually rotated around the production departments in their first two years to give them an idea of site work.

Turns out that Mummy called and requested for Junior to be given an office job, site work being too dangerous for her peace of mind.

This guy accepted a scholarship with an internationally known company in the heavy industry, for Christ’s sake. What did he and Mummy expect? Kid gloves and red carpet?

As a rookie engineer, I used to be sent out to site once every so often, even though my job was mainly office based. Even today, I am expected to man up and board a ship if my bosses needed me to.

So what, he thinks he should be privileged enough to get to choose to enjoy the same perks while other people risk their lives to support those very perks? In a way, he had even more of an obligation than normal employees did, since he had taken sponsorship from the company to finance his studies.

Some years ago, I was sent on an inspection trip to Timor Leste. It was supposed to be handled by another engineer, but her mother objected on grounds of potential danger, so I was sent instead. Naturally, there was no protest from this engineer or her mother when the next destination turned out to be Norway.

What, my mother doesn’t worry? Someone else gets all the shit while she enjoys the grand tour?

My mum confided some years back that she worried like any mother did when I was involved in any physical or offshore work. But it was my job; I was being paid to do it. There was no ethical reason for me to reject the task. So, she kept quiet and supported me as best as she could.

We are all someone’s children. If we all rejected the given tasks on the pure basis that it involved some potential danger, who would do the job? Where would our handsome bonuses come from?

If the risks are so unacceptable, then don’t work in this industry. Or, if you turn down the dirty work, go to the back of the queue when a silver bullet assignment turns up.

Back to this scholar guy. If I had been the HR department, I would demand the scholarship money back with interest, and kick this guy out. However, I don’t think he gets much respect from his peers and other people in his department anyway. I certainly don’t go out of my way to accommodate him.

It will be interesting to see how long he lasts in cold storage.