on bootstraps and such

On Undercover Boss Sunday, the CEO of Waste Management spent a week incognito picking up trash, sorting recycling and scrubbing port-a-johns to find out what it was like to work there and how his policies played out in reality.

The premise is interesting, and I thought it was cool that the CEO would humble himself in that way.   If only all managers were required to work a week as an underling in their own company!  The show reminded me a bit of a shinier, happier Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America--such a good read, as is The Working Poor: Invisible in America.

Cameras revealed employees' various health problems and financial difficulties along with admirably strong work ethics.  In the end, the CEO, who seemed visibly touched by his experience, promoted some of the workers and vowed to enact policy changes.  Viewers are made to feel good when those four or five employees are recognized and rewarded, but I wondered about the thousands of other WM employees.

How much does a person earn sorting recycling? 
What is the physical toll of standing on your feet for eight hours a day? 
Do they have health insurance?  Does it cover chiropractic? 
Do the people who work at the landfills have greater incidences of asthma? 
What about cancer?  One of the featured landfill employees said she'd battled five types of cancer by the age of 25, and I couldn't help but suspect that it was an occupational hazard.

Next week the CEO of Hooters gets a front row seat to the sexual harassment that is tolerated internally in his company.


So, did you see this show?  What did you think?

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image:  flickr