Indignation due to prohibition to show at working place wearing jeans is the last thing that bothers employees of one of firms in the USA who have to perform opera singing warm-ups every three hours… And how about wearing office footwear in the shape of Dutch wooden clogs like working people in Taiwan do? Outlook came up with a selection of weird corporate rules.
Opera music break instead of vitamins was included into the list of workplace rules by supervisor of an American enterprise that specializes in production of medications. Every three hours singing tutor gathers “white coats” to loudly raise an aria – that, according to the boss, tones people up.
Would you like to get drunk in a nearby pub after work, sir? Would you consider bugging out earlier today, ma’am? That’s about how employees on one of firms, American again, talk to each other. In order to wean fellow workers away from broad jokes and strong language, management makes the staff use only polite addressing forms in their conversations – under penalty of a fine.
A businessman from Taiwan came up with a corporate rule that is fascinating for clients but not for poor employees. The company is engaged is sales of Dutch cheese and cream. Getting blister heels due to awfully uncomfortable wooden clogs, that are believed to be one of the symbols of the Netherlands, is “ordered” under penalty of dismissal.
In the Netherlands however employees are not forced to walk about in national footwear and selection of rules of conduct are similar in every establishment. If someone close to a person gets sick, whether it be a child, a husband, second cousin of mother’s sister or even a neighbor that nobody else can take care of – it is a cast-iron excuse to skip working duty. Another local office “peculiarity” is collective visits to bars. At that, size of an enterprise, its specialization, positions of participants of the “feast” and their age aren’t important… Everyone goes compulsorily – good thing is that it’s on the company dime.
And in Israel firms annually allocate money on holding Health Day. Unions set a date when management rents a spa-salon, frees employees of their duties and sends them to have massages and peelings.
How skillfully Ted trimmed his lawn, what a tasty bacon Jessica cooked and what grades kids of Jonathan and Katy had in the end of the semester… All in all, eager beavers of a British establishment are supposed to inform each other about every aspect of their out-of-the-office life during hourly 5-minutes breaks. It all goes under steadfast supervision of their boss who is positive that this relieves stress and rallies coworkers.
Clock strikes noon and all the employees hurry to have their lunches and then get back to their table to… fall asleep. Such corporate rule is no rarity in Chinese offices. Some lean on their tables after having grabbed a pillow, hidden in a drawer, and those who prefer home-like comfort even bring folding beds with them to get settled in the middle of the room and start breathing calmly.
Meanwhile a manager in one of German furniture stores doesn’t allow a nap not only to his subordinates but also to dwellers of neighboring buildings. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are fire alarm days. A call – and everyone starts executing well-learned rules. Inhabitants of the street besiege the orchestrator with complaints but security gets priority over silence. Only Japanese are “luckier” – they have gas alarms on daily basis. Women are the ones who suffer most – hair-dos get considerably damaged under gas helmets.
The first thing every tourist shall learn in a country is a transport system. Very often it seems to be complicated and confusing, and it takes weeks or even months to make head or tail of it. OUTLOOK reader Natalia Usenko visited Japan and is sharing her impressions about the most comfortable and safest transport in the world.
A mini toast, a slice of cheese and a sip of strong coffee. "That is not a buffet!" a waiter will pronounce indignantly, looking at the disgruntled tourist’s face. The generous Ukrainian soul cannot understand how locals manage to eat their full with that. Therefore, before going to a new country, you need to know exactly whether in the evening you should prepare a couple of sandwiches to indulge them in the morning,...
Next ‘character’ of our cycle about symbolic means of public transport is yellow cab of New York. It is impossible to imagine the Big Apple and especially its centre, Manhattan, without those bright and incredibly handy cars. Seemingly, there are more “checkers” than people.
With this article, we want to inspire both current and future students with a selection of the most impressive universities and institute campuses. Those who have already received degree will probably get filled with admiration, too, and start thinking whether or not to get another one because in such places one hits the books especially fruitfully.
Do you happen to get hungry? That is great as we go on with our story about the most popular street food from around the world. It’s freshly cooked - fall to, you guys! Let's start with the South Asian countries, namely Singapore - seafood-rich in vitamins and minerals occupy a key place in the diet of residents ...
For better or worse, travelling to distant planets and stars exists only on the pages of science fiction and in Hollywood film industry. Although the possibility of space tourism crept close, yet, Jupiter and Saturn are still way not close. Nevertheless, from long ago there are special objects that seem to shrink the universe making it accessible. We are talking about planetariums and observatories.
Profession of a chimney-sweep has recently entered the list of the most rear occupations in the world. And as far back as some hundred years ago almost every European citizen was able to tell a lot of interesting things about these guys doomed to be covered in smear. We didn’t invent a time machine but we managed to get some facts about representatives of this vanishing trade.
Airports, railway and bus stations are almost always erected at a human whim, while ports and harbours are joint creation of homo sapiens and nature. In this article OUTLOOK presents you the most beautiful port destinations with their own unique character worth exploring.
Small ethnic groupshave been always interesting for scientists and artists, who sought inspiration in their lifestyle. The Bajau - nomadic seafarers who formally can be correlated with Malaysia, are one of the most popular ethnic groups today.
All of us, one way or another, strive for freedom, personal or national, material or spiritual, which is illusory and unachievable, and at the same time very real in terms of our ideas about it. An alternative village of Christiania in the centre of the Danish capital is another attempt to achieve complete freedom from the laws of the material world.
When sending stuff to trash can or throwing it away to a dumpster we don’t suspect that it doesn’t always mean death for it, now and then even in the contrary – it is a beginning of a new life…
For sailors to round Cape Horn situated in the very South of Argentina is a success that equals to Everest ascent for alpinists. Rush under sails around “sailor’s graveyard” defying gigantesque waves and hurricane wind turned out a success for the first time on January, 29, 1616.
Holocaust is one of the most atrocious tragedies where humanity has been involved because of biased views on the supremacy of one race over another. It hides inhuman pain, tortures, and sufferings. Condemned people have not given in easily, and world knows a great deal of bravery acts on the edge of death.
A few centuries ago sea transport was not just the most popular, but the only way to get from point A to point B. However, as you know, force majeure occur on any roads, even on water routs, and through a long history of mankind many ships did not manage to reach their destination ports and ended underwater. Nevertheless, the relative "reservation" allows wreck vessels to live a second life as a museum.
United Nations Organization was created in order to cease global violence, protect human rights and eradicate poverty. On October, 24, 1945 founding states ratified the treaty on creation of global body that acquired the name the UN.
In already distant year 1920 authorities of the United States adopted a surprising regulation: prohibition to.... send children by mail. Such a decision may seem weird in 21st century however almost a hundred years ago it was treated with understanding which means that there were caring parents who did send their kids in packages... We talk about amusing accidents that occur in work of post services.
It is an open secret that this world is full of paradoxes. OUTLOOK, in its turn, tries to figure them out therefore today we’ll tell about armed forces of the world’s most militarized state that, however, hasn’t been at war with anyone for over two centuries. Our feature is about the army of Switzerland.
OUTLOOK cannot imagine life without travelling. However, tickets, schedules, tardiness – all those things can spoil any trip. Therefore it is great to have either at home or in you garage a kind of transport that can allow you to see and to experience something new and forget all the problems.
Because of different reasons, mainly due to its travel population and size, Istanbul is perceived by the majority of tourists, even by those who had been to Turkey, as the capital of this country even though it is verily Ankara. We are going to talk about this city that is so Turkish and international simultaneously.
