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Go Ahead, Insult the Boss (Everyone Will Be Doing It)
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Published: July 18, 2008
Apparently, there are some people who aren't entirely happy with their bosses. (Honestly, I wouldn't know anything about this.) And now there's a day for those misguided people.
The first Insult Your Boss Day is Wednesday, July 23. And if it results in mass unemployment, it may also be the last.
"Join forces with your brethren against a common enemy: Satanic supervisors, mean managers, slimy CEOs," according to the holiday's official Web site (www.insultyourbossday
.com, naturally). "They all deserve to be on the receiving end of a swift kick in the butt. And now, Insult Your Boss Day (IYBD) provides the opportunity to do just that."
The site provides plenty of tips, such as sending a nasty e-mail to your boss from the computer of a co-worker you dislike. (Honestly, I wouldn't know anything about this.) This kills two birds with one stone.
The site provides a history of boss insults through the years and advice on why you shouldn't resort to violence to express your feelings.
The self-appointed, honorary chairwoman of IYBD 2008 is Lady Arabella Snark, the alter ego of writer A.C. Kemp, a lecturer in English Language Studies at MIT. Her recently published book, The Perfect Insult for Every Occasion, provides plenty of zingers to hurl at people.
So is this a genuine new holiday or just a novel excuse to sell books?
"Of course it's a genuine holiday, it has an official Web site," Kemp said with a laugh. "Is a holiday official because Hallmark makes it official? Almost all holidays are started from self-interest, I think."
Kemp came up with the idea for the holiday when she was working on The Perfect Insult.
"I was thinking about it when I was temping, which I did a lot of," she said. And she recalled a lot of bad bosses she had worked for, such as the angry woman who doused herself in patchouli and "treated me like I was an infectious disease," or the guy who kept telling the same jokes over and over. "I think a lot of people kind of suffer in silence," she said.
Does she have a problem with her bosses now?
"I work in higher ed, not an office, so I have to deal more with students," she said. "That's its own set of problems."
Most of the response she's gotten so far has been positive, "but I haven't gotten any responses from bosses," she said. "Though I think a lot of the people who respond positively may not actually celebrate the holiday. It is a bad economy, after all."
Does she worry about causing a lot of people to get fired?
"If they take my advice and all do it at the same time, it would be hard to fire them all," she said. "But you might want to put in a call to the unemployment office and tell them to put in some extra staff for the 24th."
Her best tip for people who want to insult their bosses on the 23rd is to plan ahead.
"Be prepared that you might be fired," she said, "and if you're smart and you know that might happen you might start cleaning out your office beforehand.
"And take some company secrets with you."
■ Tim Clodfelter can be reached at 727-7371 or at tclodfelter@wsjournal.com.
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