Frontierwatch

The day after being kicked out of the kitchen by the cook for holding an unscheduled Safety Inspection just before a meal, the South Pole Safety Representative went to the Human Resources Representative to file a Sexual Harrassment grievance against the cook. The charge was that he had tickled her, thirty days earlier. Called into the HR office and read the accusation, the cook claimed that the charge was revenge for kicking the Safety Rep from the kitchen, and threatened to quit if the charge was taken seriously. Weighing the story of each party, the Summer Pole Manager dropped the matter except for the obligatory official warning to the accused. A week or so later, the Safety Representative returned to the kitchen, this time to demand that the kitchen door remain closed at all times, claiming it was a "fire door". The South Pole Dining Attendant, who did not relish the possibility of having to open the door each time he delivered a tray of dishes from the dishroom to the dining area, researched the matter and told the Safety Representative to consult the building plans, where the controversial door was proven not to be a fire door, but just a normal door, and thus exempt from her wheedling powerplay. The Safety Rep's next campaign against the galley staff was more successful, noting during one of her inspections some unlabeled food and, rather than alerting the galley staff of the problem for correction, sent the matter up the email chain to Denver, after which a container of unlabeled food returned as thunder. One Polee later remarked, "If she wants to play games, we can play games."