Chapter 15: Reductions, Ruins, and Rubble: When are the Spins From Disasters the Ultimate Spin?


  • Hundreds of tiny earthquakes reported at Mt. St. Helens (KCBD, com, Lubbock Texas; ABCNews.com. 9/28/04.

  • Swarms of quakes in Mount St. Helens crater (Seattlepi.com, 9/28/04)

  • "The senior flight attendants hadn't had a substantial raise since the 1970's, and it was very important to get a good contract for them and others. We did come to a tentative agreement in June of 2001. It was overwhelmingly ratified on September 12, 2001. On September 10, I flew down to Dallas for a meeting with American Airlines to discuss the implementation schedule for the contract we were on the phone when the second plane struck . All I know is that for two whole years I was obsessed with the contract and suddenly it seemed so unimportant. It was twenty-four hours before the ballot count, and nothing seemed to matter anymore." Laura Glading, Union Representative, Association of Professional Flight Attendants (Fink, 2002)

  • "The mayor of Union Point, Georgia apparently committed suicide Thursday morning, hours before a grand jury was to hear fraud charges against him that could have sent him to prison for life." (Associated Press, May 14, 2004)

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS CHAPTER

  • On September 26, 2004 the northwest of the United States began to read current and disturbing news about Mt. St. Helens rumbling, 20 years after she had blown.

  • Elevation of Mount St. Helens before it erupted [20 years ago]: 9,677 feet; after: 8,363 feet; volume of resulting landslide, the largest in history: 3.3 billion cubic yards.

  • Velocity of the volcanic blast: 200 to 335 mph; blast-zone area: 230 square miles; timber blown down: 4 billion board feet, enough to build 300,000 two-bedroom houses . Volume of ash carried eastward by wind: more than 540 million tons; area over which it fell: 22,000 square miles; time needed for ash to circle the Earth: 15 days.

  • Number of historically active volcanoes (those once active that could become active again) in the United States: 53; where they are found: Alaska (43), Hawaii (5), Washington (2), California (2), Oregon (1).

  • Number of historically active volcanoes in the world: 539; share found on the Pacific Ocean plat''s turbulent rim, dubbed the "Ring of Fire:" 66 percent; countries with more volcanoes than the United States: Indonesia (76) and Japan (63).

  • Deadliest eruption ever: Tambora (Indonesia, in 1815); deaths: 92,000, including 82,000 from starvation in the aftermath. (Mt. St. Helens website)

Disasters are catastrophes and calamities. They are tragedies that render a victim or victims either temporarily or permanently unable to manage regular activities. Disasters leave people in their wake feeling unsettled and powerless. A disaster can come and go in a few seconds in a tornado , or chronically sap life away from its victims in a decade -long drought. A disaster can be felt through the loss of a family breadwinner or a beloved child. A work disaster can be the result of a natural disaster. It can also result from the consequences of a job loss, ruined reputation, business bankruptcy, community alienation, public scandal, death of co-worker, violent incident, criminal incident, or terrorism attack. Disasters can be a destructive force of nature or the consequences of individual tyrannical agendas directed from one human being to another human being or specific group . Disasters can be random or predicted by professional forecasters. The one thing that is predictable is that disasters happen daily, and rarely when you are expecting them.




Emotional Terrors in the Workplace. Protecting Your Business' Bottom Line. Emotional Continuity Management in the Workplace
Emotional Terrors in the Workplace: Protecting Your Business Bottom Line - Emotional Continuity Management in the Workplace
ISBN: B0019KYUXS
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 228

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