Entertainment

“Dummies” books are some of the most popular on the market, and the latest offering is no exception to the rule. Excellent hints for the untrained ANS manager and a stimulating writing style make this one a winner! Three thumbs up! Some excerpts from this masterpiece::
Never lose a grievance. If you should be unsuccessful before an arbitrator, find a way to make the employees suffer. For example, if you have to staff a shift you don’t want to, then make the hours really horrible-perhaps 7 O’clock at night until 3a.m. (Ha Ha Ha!!!)”
Treat employees like misbehaving children: If they call in sick and no manager is there to take the call, then let them kno w you think they’re lying slackers, and make them call again later.”
Keep ‘em on their toes : Never let them know what airspace is moving where, and which jobs may be moved. They work harder when there is lots of uncertainty and rumours floating around. Always have at least two airspace studies underway-one national and one local-they thrive when they’re not sure who’ll be writing the next paycheque”
Scheduling: Try and buy a really crappy off the shelf scheduling program for millions of dollars. Then generate horrible shift cycles, and try and get the employees to accept this schedule so they’ll have no outside life to interfere with work. They’re probably stupid enough to take it for only a 7% raise-this one is worth millions for the laughs alone!”

At best, this movie could only be described as a sad, long, drawn out production. It features a roller-coaster of emotions mixed with the occasional very sick, dark humor which by the end of the movie, leaves one feeling angry and shaking your head in disbelief at how something that starts so good could go so terribly wrong.
The movie starts with the usual excitement and enthusiasm befit a maiden voyage of this size and caliber. By mid-movie, the absolute anger and disbelief the audience feels toward the bumbling Captain and crew are nothing short of incredible. People on the audience were literally standing up and shouting warnings at the crew. Of course this movie is not interactive, so communication between audience and crew is not possible. However, one can’t help but feel empathy for the lower class passengers, having their fate determined by such an apparently oblivious crew. This type of emotion is usually a sign of a good movie. However, that is not the case here.
From a production standpoint, the film was grossly under budgeted. Huge sums of money were poured into whiz-bang special effects that, in the end, detracted from the human side without accomplishing anything technical. Very little was spent ensuring a cast of good actors and this doomed this movie more than the iceberg did the ship.
The box office failure of this show will hopefully send a strong message to producers and film centers around the globe. Although history tends to repeat itself, the lesson here is it doesn’t have to be this way. When companies learn to stick to the basics; take care of the people; then and only then will people stay in their seats and not abandon sinking ships, like this movie.