I’m re-reading one of my favorites. It occured to me how the events in the book are the complete opposite of how society works now. This story takes place before HR, OSHA, CDC, FDA, Coast Guard, or just hyper liability in general. Plus, it takes place out on the ocean, where maritime law is more lax.
Not to say it was great for these people. The intent of the alphabet agencies and unions was a good thing; to protect the working class and provide more safety.
But I did find the story hilarious in people’s suffering, compared with our super protected working environments of today. Look at someone cross eyed? Want someone to show up on time? Then expect a patronizing form letter from HR. Or maybe a call so that it’s not in writing. Or maybe you’ll be assigned extra empathy training videos as “education” (punishment).
There was no HR back in Wolf Larson’s day. Have a complaint about how the ship is being run? You might be tossed into the ocean.
Here are some of my favorite “learning opportunities” in the book, from an HR perspective;
A young man is terrified of climbing out over the rigging to stow the sails before a storm. He freezes in terror, clinging to the boom, swaying 20 feet side to side, 50 feet above the ocean. There is no safety harness. One shipmate wanted to help him, but the captain insists that he is left out overnight to “figure it out,” or in HR we might call that “an opportunity for problem solving…” He eventually comes down after a few hours by himself. See!, the captain/leadership was right!
A couple sailors wanted a “coffee break” ( to escape the ship), and “borrow” (steal) a smaller boat that can’t survive on the ocean for more than a few days. The captain chases them down, offers them to repent, but then allows them to drown in the storm for being unappreciative. It was also a learning opportunity for the other employees on the ship.
The cook had a stand in for a few weeks, who made much better food. Kinda like throwing your fellow employee under the bus. So the captain drug him behind the ship on a rope. A shark shows up, and while they were hauling him in, the shark bit off his foot. Whoops!
The captain’s brother, Death Larson (not kidding) stole some of their seal hunting grounds. Wolf Larson decided they would “outsource” (kidnap or pirate) some of his brothers hunting boats. The other sailors had a tough time understanding the lesson, so some persuasion with firearms was necessary.
Am I suggesting we go back to this level of employment? No, there was a lot of bad shit that took place.
But maybe we could reign back on some of our current HR policies. Or maybe I should appreciate how easy I have it?
One of the themes in the story is how the main character was a gentleman on land, who gets “rescued” by this horrible boat captain. The captain forces him to work on the ship. He then points out how weak and feeble this gentleman is because his life is too easy. The boy becomes a man during the hardship, and his self -esteem is “saved.”
KInd of the opposite of the modern day office.