Profane but true quote of the day
[W]hen you work with assholes, you don’t change them for the better, they change you into an asshole.
–Bob Sutton (whose blog hosts a wealth of information about assholes; I think every office should have a copy of his book, The No Asshole Rule) via Chris Yeh
As the a-bomb quotient on this post is so high, I don’t think it’ll hurt if I add a few more, because this has reminded me of something cute. Several months ago, Antoine’s mother (who is French) was telling us about some British celebrity who had made a huge gaffe when speaking at a black-tie event in the US by referring to someone as an asshole.
MAMAN: Apparently, asshole is an insult in America! He had no idea!
ME and ANTOINE [in unison]: UH, it’s an insult here, too!
MAMAN: What, asshole?
US: YES!
MAMAN: Why would asshole be an insult in the UK?
US: Do you know what an asshole IS?!
We quickly, and with little delicacy, established that she sort of…didn’t.
Okay, sorry if this post grossed you out as much as it has me. Still, heed Bob Sutton’s words. In my experience, he’s right.
Reminds me of that Martin Amis nostrum from “The Information” on the difference between asshole and arsehole: we are all assholes sometimes, but an arsehole is an arsehole for life. (That was unexpectedly difficult to type)