Into A Police State Essay

Introduction In a time when WW2 had just finished, people were worried that communism might spread around the world, and the overall scariness of the changing world around, George Orwell wrote a dystopian novel, set in the future, in a world that changes the past to suit the needs ofcalled 1984. Orwell’s novel has been written to make his audience challenge the values that have been presented in the novel. The values of freedom and truth and an attitude of love have been used to make us challenge the way we think of these things. 1984 is a novel in which the world has been transformed into a society in which a group called the Party can watch every person’s moves at any time of the day.   1984 manipulates the society into believing everything they say.   George Orwell’s masterpiece makes the audience challenge the values and attitudes of the novel.   Values of freedom, privacy and trust. Attitudes of anger, and love. BP1 1984 makes the audience challenge the value of freedom. What is freedom Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. This quote shows that the Party controls the world so much that they have the power to change the answer for 2+2=4 to 2+2=5 (or any other number).   That the choice for mankind lay between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness was better.   This quote shows that people in the world of Oceania have a choice of freedom or happiness. Because most people know the consequences of having freedom, they choose the safe option and have happiness in the Party. This leads into the next quote:   To die hating them, that was freedom. If you are with the Party, you will have happiness (previous quote) and if you are against them, you will have the freedom to speak out against the Party. But this means that you must die, because almost all of the haters of the Party will get caught eventually and ‘shot’ or ‘killed’. Because the world that people live in has been manipulated so that people do not have freedom, we as the audience are challenged with the moral of freedom and what it means having it. BP2   Orwell’s setting in 1984 also makes us challenge the values of truth. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.   This is saying that the people of Oceania know their own truths, and everyone has an opinion as to what is the truth and what is not. But people are forced to believe in a truth that is untrue when they know a truth which is true. Thus people have two truths to believe or know in. The people who follow the Party and respect them will believe in the untruth and forget the real truth, and the people who are against the Party will know their truth which is the truth. So the people who are against the Party are the sane ones.   If all records told the same tale – then the lie passed into history and became truth.   This is saying that if all of the novels in the world said the same things, this would become the truth. And if one thing was different from a book/magazine etc. then the Party would change it so it would become the truth. It is like saying if 10 books said that WW1 did not occur, and another book did, the Party would get that one book and change it so that it would say that WW1 did not occur. If everything in the world said that something happened, then the lie would pass into history and would become the truth.   Whatever the party holds to be truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party.   This is saying that everything the Party says is the truth and that everyone should listen to it. If you don’t listen to the truth, then you can’t see the reality of what the world is. If you want to understand the world, then you must be with the Party. The world is a blur without them. These quotes show how the Party has manipulated the truth so that the entire super state believes every word they say. By doing this everyone will do what they want. However some people are already thinking against the Party and they are the sane ones but they will be the ones that will most likely die. BP3 * Orwell also challenges the audience with his dystopian society with the attitude of love.   The old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is founded upon hatred. This is saying that the entire world is based around hatred. This can be backed up with the two minutes hate and the hatred that people have for the Party. * There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science.   1984’s society has been challenged in a way that no love ever exists. People are not allowed to love another person. The only way that people are allowed to marry is so that they can produce for the Party. They only believe in the Party and listen to what they tell people to do. Nothing exists anymore except that Party and everything that they do.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do doesn’t matter: only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving you-that would be the real betrayal. †   This is saying that the only way that people in Oceania can stop loving someone is if that Party ‘brainwash’ them so that they won’t love them anymore. That is the only way that people can betray someone. Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves.   This quote is saying that the society of 1984 has no feeling for anything. Everyone is straight faced and just does what the Party want them to do. The line â€Å"Never again will you be capable of love† just says that the world can become a world has place of hatred for one another. This definitely challenges the audiences on love.   This novel has very little love in it and it makes us challenge what love actually is and why it is such a special thing for us as humans to have. CONCLUSION   These points that have been made so that the audience of 1984 challenges their values and attitudes.   The novel explores the values of truth and freedom and the attitude of love.   We see that after reading the novel how much we value these things in our world and that we should be grateful for what we have in life.

Additionally it may be beneficial Essay

Thank you for such an insightful post! How great is it that you were able to directly relate to Tammy in moving into a position of leadership within an organization where you had previously been working? I completely agree with you in that Tammy will need to foster relationships that promote productivity. I wonder if Tammy will be tempted to lean towards a more 1,9 managerial style where she focuses more on relationships than on production. â€Å"His aim as a manger, however, is to avoid pressuring for production at a rate higher than that which would win acceptance from organizational members† (Blake-Mouton, 191). I imagine that it would be difficult to focus as much on production as on relationships when you already have established friendships with the people that you are trying to lead. It sounds as though you were able to accomplish more of a 9,9 managerial style, which is quite a feat! In order to focus more on production, she will need to adopt a leadership style that is high in initiating structure. As Dr. Wagner talked about in his video, â€Å"Initiating Structure and Consideration,† Tammy will need to set and maintain definite standards of performance for her team if she hopes to turn the YMCA around. Thank you again for an excellent post! Julia Teresa, I agree with you when you say Tammy will have to initiate structure and consideration. In this case I think these styles of leadership are both equally important. Additionally it may be beneficial for her to not only understand her staff but to understand her own unique leadership styles. She posed several questioned pertaining to her own leadership, stating, â€Å"do I have the skills and competences to effectively change the current situation?† Tammy is wise in posing these questions and understanding that merely having consideration may be futile, as there is no direct relation between consideration and job performance. How beneficial do you think it will be for Tammy to know her managerial style? Where do think Tammy falls on the grid? I would venture to say she maybe The 9.9 Managerial Style. It will be important for her to set a structured environment whereby staff can freely think, be creative, and express. According to Blake & Mouton  Ã¢â‚¬Å"when people can think, when they have influence on outcomes, they support rather than comply or resist. â€Å" (Blake & Mouton pp. 196) Blake, R, & Mouton, J (2010). The Managerial Grid. In J.T. McMahon(Ed) Leadership Classics(pp185-199) Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press. Bowers, D.G. & Seashore, S.E. (2010) A Four-Factor Theory of Leadership. In J.T. McMahon (Ed.) Leadership Classics(pp 200-210). Long Grove, IL. Waveland Press. Ken Mark and Gerard Seijts, â€Å"The Scarborough YMCA: Getting Back on Track,† in Cases in Leadership, ed. W. Glenn Rowe and Laura Guerrero (Los Angeles: SAGE Publishing) 107-115. Your post was insightful. You mentioned that Tammy will do well for three reasons: 1. Her colleagues already view her as a peer and trust hrialer. 2. She will not have to go through an initial stage of having the team become familiar with her and vice versa to be able to establish a trusting relationship. 3. Since they already see her as a peer, her ability to motivate and inspire them will be enhanced. This is true. Additionally I have found that peer leadership doesn’t always constitute for positive outcomes. Tammy may experience some push back from staff that persist to remain in mediocrity and complacent. Some staff may think that Tammy has gotten â€Å"big headed† due to her newly assigned leadership role. When I took on my new managerial position unfortunately, some staff had to be released. It was painstaking but necessary. In the case of Tammy, she agreed to take on the position if she had the authority to fully manager staff. I would venture to say Tammy was being proactive and may have foreseen this inevitable fate for some of her former peers. While Bower & Seashore state the findings confirm there is significant and strong relationship between managerial and peer leadership characteristics, there are other considerations.(Bower & Seashore, pp 209) One consideration is sited in Leadership Classics as â€Å"seven of the eight leadership characteristics outlined in â€Å"A Four Factor Theory Of Leadership† play some part in the predictive model generated from data; only peer interaction facilitation seems to play no unique role.†(Leadership Classics, p 209) In the case of ‘peer leadership’, it is no argument that there are  pros and cons and the outcome is unpredictable.

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Language changes during the play Essay Example for Free

Language changes during the play Essay Sheila takes the inspectors lessons to heart, and appears changed by the incident. In Act Two, Sheila sums up the whole familys reactions to the Inspectors questions. She reminds them of the greed, jealousy and selfishness they have all shown. It means we have no excuse now for putting on airs. This is just the start of the speech and she admits responsibility but is very frustrated that the others dont. She has clearly changed.  The audience will have noticed a dramatic change in her personality. She has been affected a lot by the death. She has changed from a jolly and self-centred person to a conscious and very guilty person. If any of the characters were going to change, or learn from the mistakes it would be Sheila. She shows a great deal of interest in Eva Smith/Daisy Rentons death right from the start and throughout. She also feels a lot of guilt and is the only character that is sorry. 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(Unhappily) My God Im not likely to forget. Eric is aware of the mistake he has made and feels a lot of shame and guilt. Like Sheila, Eric has learned his lesson and they both will learn their lesson. However, their parents dont feels the way they do and dont think anybody has done anything wrong, and this is what really frustrates Eric. Eric is the youngest child in the family and this is fairly noticeable because he speaks with great immaturity. He is rude and very hard to get on with. He uses demanding but very childish words, as if to draw attention. But his attitude and language change when the inspector questions him, and unlike most of the others, feels a lot of guilt, shame and wants to learn from his mistakes. Even when they find out the Inspector might have been a fake he still remained remorseful and full of pity. Priestley may have used Eric to represent the idea that nobody is perfect. Learning from mistakes will make you a much better person. Eric has done a lot of things wrong during his life, being rude and impolite to family members and also thieving and deceiving others. He has without doubt the worst history but he is mature enough to learn from this. Priestley may have also used Eric to represent the emotions that, if the audience were in a similar situation, might act like. He gets frustrated that his parents wont accept his guilt and does tend to lash out. Priestley uses the Inspector to convey his own ideas about morality to the audience. Rather than representing a real person, his character represents the abstract idea of human conscience, which ensures consideration and responsibility for others. He calls himself Inspector Goole. The word Goole has connotations of being ghostly, spiritual and non-human. Priestley could have wanted the inspector to be a kind of ghost and play on the characters conscience. We get the sense that he is some kind of supernatural force. 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By inspector Goole showing no fear in doing this it shows his dominance. He sets himself up as the boss in the whole situation right from the start and this is something Mr and Mrs Birling find hard to deal with.  Priestley wants the audience to ask themselves how responsible are we for others in society? He uses five different characters with five very different reactions to the situation. Mr Birling feels he has nothing to do with the death and the girl is at fault. Mrs Birling doesnt want anything to do with it and she doesnt have the time. Sheila on the other hand reacts totally differently from Mr and Mrs Birling, she is very sorry for what she has done. She seems very interested in the whole situation. She shows a lot of emotion and promises she will learn from her mistakes.  Gerald makes it quite clear that he is sorry for what he had done but shows little emotion. He does remain very honest throughout. Though when he finds out the inspector was a fake he starts to show less and less guilt and much more relief. Eric is certainly the most emotional of all the characters. He is very sorry and upset by the whole situation. We can tell by his reaction that he is the youngest in the family, as he becomes very moody and frustrated, at some point he almost breaks down. Its like the whole thing is too much for him to handle. Like Sheila he definitely learns his lessen and is willing to change. Now, the audience can look at each character and think, which one am I most like? Would I feel guilty? Would I be emotional and very sorry? Would I remain very honest? These are all questions Priestley wants the audience to ask themselves. Overall, the main question is, how responsible are we for others in society?  In my opinion Priestley succeeded in getting this moral question across. He certainly encouraged me to ask myself these questions.

Motivation factors of the Workplace in Thailand

Motivation factors of the Workplace in Thailand This proposal paper will attempt to discuss the view and application of what effects motivation has in the low hierarchical or flat organisation workplaces for the firms or companies doing business in Thailand; small organisations that have less than 50 staffs fit this description. What are the factors that motivate the employee to succeed, is it money, job promotions, perks? Once the findings have been reached, would they be able to apply to similar organisations? With todays fragile economic situations along with fierce competitions in virtually all market places, small size companies need to be able to compete and respond to the ever-changing environment in a much faster pace. To be able to compete effectively, companies need to cut through Red Tapes or bypassing unnecessary bureaucracy and adapt quickly to the ever-changing surroundings in the business environment. In Thailand, there are no differences when it comes to compete and compete fiercely they do. The aim of this proposal is to focus its findings especially on small multinational companies doing business in Thailand. The reason being that multinational companies who are conducting business in Thailand, similar to their subsidiaries in other countries, would like to see their returns on investment and realize their profits on a yearly basis and expecting growth every single year followings. Efficiency is one of the keys for multinational companies to compete effectively. This propo sal will also address how motivation theories are being used to in these organizations where vertical promotions are virtual non-existence. No corporate ladders to climb for most employees. If this fact does not exist, then what motivate employees? The study will focus on the research theories based on Herzbergs Motivation Theory that he and his colleagues wrote about motivation 50 years ago. The study will attempt to design questionnaires to address the question on Hygiene factors as well as the others motivation factors which will be hypothesized on their actual application in the work place in Thailand. One of the hypotheses will focus on monetary compensation factor that it is or it is not the major influence in motivation for such a flat or low level hierarchy organizations [Prendergast, 2002]. This study will be based in Thailand small size multinational companies where there are approximately three levels of the hierarchy and there are less than 50 people working full time. For the purpose of the study, 5 multinational companies will be chosen. Main criteria are: the firm needs to be a  multinational company; they employ less than 50 staff, and that they have no more than three functioning levels in the hierarchy for five years. Moreover, 95% of the employees must be Thai nationals. To solidify the study, companies need to be operating in Thailand for no less than 5 years and that the organisational structure must fit the criteria of equal to or less than three levels. Major objective Productivity, profitability, efficiency are just some of the key drivers that companies are expecting from their oversea staffs and enforce them firmly in order to survive. To be productive and efficient for small size multinational organisations, flatter and less hierarchical levels have been adopted. It cuts down decisions times and increases more action time which suits the small multinational companies profiles. However, this efficiency also has its drawbacks when it comes to job promotion or others traditional motivational factors. With flatter organisation, there are fewer ladders for employees to climb. Which posts another question that job promotion is a major key to motivating people in any organisation? The findings based on this study will help answer some of the questions General Managers, Human Resources Managers or just plain manager/supervisors in many small size multinational companies in Thailand. With that benefit in mind, managers will be able to manage their personnel more effectively, properly and with something to reference with. The findings, however, may offer other benefits to other organisations that themselves are a part of a large organisation that job promotion within the organisation is limited or do not exist; they can apply the findings to their own environment. Further, a large size companies whose hierarchical are quite limited and/or job promotion are scarce, the findings based on this proposed study could benefit the management in those organisations as well. Many managers are seeking the answers to the question of How to keep people motivated in today organisation where good effective people are hard to find and retain. To both apply the motivation at the same time seeking retention, are one of the human resource organisation goals. To get some of these answers, questionnaires based on the Employee Satisfaction Survey (ESS) will be used. This survey is being used by many firms. However, there are many version of ESS. The ESS was first documented by The National Business Research Institute or NBRI [NBRI, 1982]. It is used to gauge the satisfaction of the job of the employee has with the current company, compensation, recognition, relationship, environment, etc [Prendergast, 2002]. The questionnaires in this study will be designed to cover many areas in the organization as possible in an attempt to derive at the answers about what caused motivation and the effect it has to the organization. How would the managers in similar organizations b enefit from the findings? The answer lies in the fact that there are many similar structure of organization although do not engaging in the same business as the firm chosen, however, with the background of the Thai people in this study, the author wish that it can be applied beginning with the people in Thailand. Another objective of this study is to touch on the fact that organisation needs people who are dedicated, intelligence, diligence and productive to grow the company. Is he or she possessing the right backgrounds, has the right educations, does he or she has the proper attitude toward the company, the workplace and the culture? Of course, brief interview with any potential candidate for any job cannot determine the candidate is the right for the job. Job probation concept was designed to filter out the wrong choice employees. Although it is not in the scope of this proposed research, the fact remains that you need to motivate these people first and try to retain the ones the firms want to keep; hoping that might be able to somehow bring those qualities out of the potential candidates [Herzberg, 1987]. Objective The study in this paper will be utilising part of Frederick Herzberg the Hygiene Factor Theory of Motivation as part of the design of the questionnaire. The Survey questions (see sample in Appendix I) are specifically designed to fit the size of the organization and to reflect the needs to find out on whether or not the employees are satisfied with their jobs in general and will also use the results to derive what are the motivation factors the employees in the small, low hierarchical organizations have in common. This will also present an opportunity if the findings can also be applied to other similar in the requirements organisations. Further, based upon the Hygiene Factor of Herzberg motivational theory, the findings will also either to reinforce or challenge his theory? With the results obtained, although limited in size proposed at presence, it does not mean that the study cannot be extended to further the study in the future. The assumption is that mainly the Motivation is the Independent variable. With the right kind of motivation applied, productivities increase. The job itself or the results, the growth of the company becomes Dependent variable. Limitations of the Research This research proposal is focused on small size, multinational companies who has approximately three levels in the current organisation that must be in functioning order for the last 5 years. The sample size is also a limitation of this study since the proposed study call for small size companies that has approximately 50 employees or less. This proposal is also limit to five companies. The total number of employees is 250 employees in approximation. Due to the fact that some of the nature of the companies chosen which contained field personnel who might not be available for the time of the questionnaires is being distributed, hard copies will be used in combination with emails to the individuals. The consolidation of the data will be collected after two weeks of distribution and will be using SPSS Regression method to help calculate the results in a quantitative presentation. In order to get the individuals of these companies cooperate with the study, a formal letter will be written and addressed to the General Managers and/or Human Resources Managers of each firms asking permission to conduct a survey for the research study on what motivation has on their employees. The results of the findings will be made available for the management of the firms to conduct further studies if chosen. Significance of the study The study is design to study what motivation factors employees have in the low hierarchical organization taking into consideration that there are virtually a lesser amount of corporate ladders to climb, in the traditional sense, comparing to the organizations of old. There are numbers of similar size of these companies conducting their businesses in Thailand and more so in the neighboring countries that may benefits from this paper once the findings are presented. In addition to the lesser levels in the current organizations, there are other factors that companies need to prepare themselves in competing equally with others. Companies of this size pride themselves to be lean and effective organizations; also the nature of the multinational companies forces them to be extra efficient while conducting business in other countries. Returns on Investment (ROI) are always on the Senior Management minds, motivating people caused them to be productive, hence generate more profits. One of the requirements that 95% of the employees in each companies need to be Thai nationals, this will present clearer pictures of the motivation factors. One of the assumptions that one of more of the management of these firms is expatriates running the businesses in Thailand. However, due to the limitation of the study that the proposal called for five companies to be conducted, expatriates managers for these firms are not required. Even though this fact will help see the contrast when comparing to Thai nationals management team, this is not a major requirements in this study. Educational backgrounds of the individual employees are not the major factors since some of these firms possess field personnel. However, this is significant since the employees at this level have even less corporate ladders to climb, hence, job promotions with title and responsibilities may not be adequately suit their culture norms for Thai workers. The study will then attempt to focus also that the monetary reward s which will be part of the questionnaires used in the surveys. Once concluded, the findings will be made available to the firms that give permission to conduct the study so they may benefits from the findings. In most of the multinational companies should already have some sort of employee study surveys, however, the one directly related to what effect motivation has to the employees in the low hierarchical organizations may be scarce. Literature Review The paper used in this study was written by Nigel Bassett-Jones, Oxford Brookes Business School, Oxford, UK and Geoffrey C. Lloyd, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka. The paper was published in the Journal of Management Development in 2005. The paper seeks to examine the issue of Herzbergs two-factor motivation theory which will be used as reference theory in this paper. The paper referred to the challenges in today organisation factors such as downsizing led ways to focus on employee empowerment [Bassett-Jones et. al, 2005]. Bassett-Joness paper raised the question about the problem to motivate people to contribute ideas within the context of work-based suggestion schemes [Bassett-Jones et. al, 2005]. With companies experiencing overwhelming changes after World War II, hence the introduction of globalisation and technological development has prompted the innovation in technology and plethora of new ideas [Ilinitch et. al, 1996]. Parolinis work in 1999 has also been cited by Bassett-Jones [2005] that these ongoing progress prompted workforces to continue to improve products, systems and processes to compete fairly. To support Herzbergs view in financial rewards can be viewed negatively, citation by Hiltrop (1995) was used to stress that psychological contract by employers hinders employment continuity and opportunities for career progression [Bassett-Jones, et. al, 2005]. This finding by Hiltrop (1995) will be used as part of the study in this paper to determine whether or not monetary rewards are not the motivation factor in the low hierarchical organisation in Thailand. This paper based on the survey results obtained, study the statement made in Bassett-Jones (2005) paper cited Hiltrop (1995) that based on their contentious proposition, money does not motivate [Bassett-Jones et. al, 2005]. Bassett-Joness [Bassett-Jones, et. al, 2005] also cited Taylorism in their paper that basically people are lazy and work-shy and stimulation to motivate them comes externally. The authors also cited Hawthorn findings that people are motivate to work well for its own sake, as well as for the social and monetary benefits they received, and this is internally stimulated [Bassett-Jones, et. al, 2005]. In this paper will also use these two findings as based to study further to conclude its findings. Many theorists had been cited by Bassett-Jones in her paper such as McClelland, Locke, Vroom, and Alderfer. Unfortunately, this paper will omit their findings due to the constrained of this paper and its scopes. This paper will use some of Peter and Waterman (1982) work on empowerment and team work as part of the proof of this paper. Bassett-Jones (2005) cited that expectancy theory as well as equity, goal setting and reinforcement resulted in the development of a simple model of motivation al ignment [Locke, 1978]. Important suggestions that once identified and objectives are defined, rewards can be determined next to both serve the organization objectives and satisfied employees [Bassett-Jones et. al, 2005]. On the other hand Herzberg axiom stated that inadequate financial reward can demotivate and money [Behling et. al, 1968] is yet another hygiene factor that could cause dissatisfaction [Herzberg et. al, 1959]. To stress this point further, Herzberg (1959) stated that an improvement in one or more of a range of factors including pay, supervision and prospects for promotion would result in a move towards increased satisfaction, whilst a deterioration would prompt a move in the opposite direction; dissatisfaction was a result of an absence of factors giving rise to satisfaction [Bassett-Jones et. al, 2005]. Sense of achievement, recognition and work itself will be the key focus. Bassett-Jones (2005) wrote that Herzberg suggested that motivation is like self-charging battery and that employees become motivated themselves. Energy or desire must come from within and that motivation, by Herzberg definition, is internally generated not externally stimulated by incentives [Prendergast, 2002]. Most importantly the statement suggested that individuals do not require incremental incentives to drive the internal engine [Prendergast, 2002]. Critical success factors came from and integration of training, appraisal system, promotion and redundancy policies [Bassett-Jones et. al, 2005]. Bassett-Jones (2005) paper concluded that with Herzberg research result, whilst repetition produces frustration and alienation, it can also induce insight and understanding. These results from the research can used to curve the retention and skill dilution and use to improve morale and increase employee voice in the organization. The authors also cited the economy factors as well as socio-psychological perspective to human relations on cultural based and should be understood by management and unfortunately cannot be shared with the people at the bottom of the organization hierarchy [Bassett-Jones et. al, 2005]. This paper also demonstrated that motivators associated with intrinsic drivers outweigh movers linked to financial inducement. Finally the question is raised that whether employee need for recognition has become a hygiene factor in the contemporary employment contest? [Bassett-Jones et. al, 2005] Authors answer is while some inducements can move some employees to contribute id eas; the numbers involved are significantly less than those who are motivated by a desire to overcome frustration and contribute to organizational success. The organization needs to aspire to generate high commitment culture is likely to prove elusive without Taylorist paradigm persistence. In addition, systems and processes that enable employees to work together to define problems and overcome frustrations will resulted in great organization [Bassett-Jones et. al, 2005]. Independent Variable The independent in this study is Motivation. Motivation, as described by Robbins and Judge (2009), is The process that account for an individuals intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. To use this description in this study for small, multinational firms conducting businesses in Thailand where the organisational structures are quite flat, virtually no room for vertical promotion upward for employees. So to apply motivation by asking the employees to climb the corporate ladders is out of the equation entirely. The study will turn the focus upon an individual intensity of how to focus the individual is about his or her career direction. The persistence to stay with the objectives to attain the set goal will also be part of the study to find the motivation factors [Locke, 1978]. Dependent variables The work itself and the effectiveness of the workplace will be the dependent variables study toward the conclusion of this study based on the theory related to the study, what motivation technique the author may suggest for management to use in their firms. The effectiveness of work itself can be further compare the effectiveness within the group or individual (Robbins and Judge, 2009). What criteria used to define the level of the effectiveness in the workplace? Based upon effectiveness in a group, certain decision must be made. Obvious decision made would be group decision, the following question is that how could we gauge it accuracy in the decision made by the group. Would it lead to successfully completing the tasks on hand? To be effective, should the group be focus more on faster respond to any changes in the environment would this in itself one of the motivation factors? Would an individual decision making in the small firm studied be widely used instead of group decision? F urther, would group decision lead to creativity, perhaps yes since there are many others with ideas and if goals of organization are the ultimate goal [Locke, 1978]. With these dependents in mind, the study can draw a final framework based on the suggestions and nature of the findings based on the study. The main question that will be focus upon still be the question that what are the motivation factors of the people in the low hierarchical organization? Any attempts made by the management to help motivate their people? The findings hopefully will benefits some of these questions. If they chose to implement them, are there other effective tools or methods to use, perhaps. Would similar structure type organization would benefits from this endeavor, may be. Theory related to Independent Variable There are many theories of Motivation; the author will focus using the Herzberg Motivation Theory and will also mention the Hygiene factors that may cause the dissatisfaction in the job itself, hence lead to employee dissatisfaction or de-motivation (Herzberg et. al, 1959) factors as the base theory to study this subject firm of a small retail market audit in Thailand. Figure 1. Based on Employee Satisfaction Survey (ESS), questionnaires will be designed based generally on this with a major focus to tailor to try to answer the question about motivation in such environment with the requirement in these firms. Factors mentioned in Herzbergs will be tailored to be the major part of the questionnaires; factors such as Company Policy, Supervision, work conditions [Stead, 1972], salary [Behling et. al, 1968], relationship with Boss [Brown, 1976] and peers alike are the key focus areas that the survey questionnaires were designed to focus on these factors. This by far represent only one side of the concepts by Herzberg, others such as Job Satisfactions, Recognition, Achievement, Advancement, Responsibility and job itself will also be tailored in the questionnaires. That raised yet another question, that for companies this size, would this be the motivation factors are used correctly or incorrectly used, do they become the de-motivation factors? Discussion of Dependent Variable Another part of the questionnaires touch base on work conditions, the salary of the employees in these firms, again are they motivation factors, purely, or could it become the opposite factors that drive down moral among the employees. From the results, are relationships with coworkers and the involvement of the manager or senior managers important? Do employees appreciate this [Brown, 1976]? The job itself is the motivation factors? The survey will be touched upon job stimulation and challenging in many areas. Are achievements and recognition for the job well done is the key motivators? Is job quality among the employees frame of minds? Relationship of the Independent variable to the Dependent variables The relationships between the both the Hygiene factors and the Motivation factors can be summed up as correlated [Brenner et. al, 1971]. The hygiene factors such as work conditions [Stead, 1972], salary [Behling et. al, 1968] if not implemented carefully, and then these factors will become hinder to keep employees motivated. The relationship with the peers and the immediate supervisor are they in the acceptable range [Brown, 1976]? Would the educational backgrounds make them closer in the workplace, hence it is one of the factors? Methods to use in this study The questionnaires were designed to cover many areas such as job satisfaction, compensation, recognition, participation, management, relationship, working environment, the quality of work as the key indicators also on how engage the employees are with the organisation. The questionnaires will be sending via emails to the individual employees once the permission letters have to be approved by the firms. For those firms that contain field personnel which sometimes do not have access to computers or email accounts while on the roads, paper forms of questionnaires will be used in lieu of electronics email. The survey questions will base on the Likert system. In the questions about personal growth or invert looking of the employees, Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree and Strongly Disagree will be used to tally the results. Good, Average, Poor and Very Poor will be used in questions about the environment. Questions pertaining to employee engagement will also be used. Do they think th e company treating them right? Would they leave the organisation the first chance they get? Engagement also referred to how the organisation treats its employees. Does it care about basic conditions [Stead, 1972] of the organisation; is it too hot or too cold. Do people get a chance to participated in the decision making process? This aims to measure the retention and the measure if some of the motivation factors are being applied. As mentioned, the questionnaire will be distributed via email to all employees providing that they have access to email. If not hard copies will be used. The employee has about two weeks to complete the questionnaires. The questionnaires are in the Thai language as well as the English language. Once the employees fill the questionnaires in which by the way was design based on the Likert system of scales. With the size of the organisation, the study would expect 100% respond. When the tally is completed the results will be group into each category based on the responses. Approximately 250 responds will be expected and the Regression method of SPSS will be used to determine the results. Results will be representing in Microsoft Powerpoint format for ease of understanding. The presentation file then will be given to the senior manager in charge and actions to be taken discuss. Results- summary of the data to be collected 100% respond is expected since there are small numbers of firms chose and at the same time a small number of employees in each firm. However, the numbers expected in this study should not go below 200 responses to be conclusive to the findings. The data tallied will go through the process of regression analysis to conclude the findings and the final information prepare and present in Microsoft Powerpoint format. Hypotheses H1 Money is a key motivator One of the assumption or Hypothesis is: for the low hierarchical or flat organisational structure the money [Behling et. al, 1968] would be the key motivator H1. Herzberg (1959) in his theory about the money alone does not motivate [Herzberg et. al, 1959]. Would this study prove otherwise? H2 Is Job itself a motivator? Job satisfaction in doing a good quality job itself is self-fulfilling? H3 Advancement, personal achievement a key motivator Career and Training requirement from the employees as well as Responsibility especially in the Authority for decision making, are these key motivation factors. Discussion The working environment is also important. Per Herzbergs (1959) theory, if not implemented correctly, the working environmental would become an issue as a Hygiene factor, hence demotivate the employee or at least caused the level dissatisfaction to rise [Brenner et. al, 1971]. In the small group of people, the relationship in the work place ranked high. Is this due to fact that the majority of the employees are in the same age group and mostly male dominated workplace environment with similar educational background contribute to this fact? Support between divisions and strong working relationship are they have been established? Compensation and other benefits such as bonus have taken any part [Blakemore et. al, 1987]? Usually, bonus for these firms is being given at the end of the year. The fact that most bonuses are profit based, the amount of bonus pool depends on the firm performance for the entire year. Would the motivation factors link to the end results at year end? Further to the amount given to the individual also based upon the results of the Performance Appraisal that is being done twice a year. Department goals and company vision take part in clarity for employees of not? This would indicate that the employers have fulfil their part in the company or division objectives and willing to ensure its success [Locke, 1978]. Conceptual Framework The frame work or this study based it finding on the Employee Satisfaction Survey of a small size of multinational companies conducting businesses in Thailand where the number of employees is approximately 50 people each and 5 of these companies will be chosen. Approximately 250 responses are expected. Once the survey is done, data will be collected and tally for concluding the findings. The question asked will be at any given time what motivates people in a flat or low hierarchical organisation structure in Thailand will be the focal point. The results from the survey will be shared with the management of the firms to help improve the firms. This study can also be used to further study on key factors that employees seek as motivation themselves. Also based on Herzbergs findings and also to view the survey results, this study will also view this from Taylorism point of view in an attempt to conclude its findings. Figure 2. Conclusion To conclude what are the motivation factors in the low hierarchical organization in Thailand, the study need to establish that the firms meet the criteria. Criteria such as small size, no more than 50 employees, multinational organization conducting business in Thailand, three levels of hierarchy within the organization functioning for five years. These are some the requirements. Also the facts that firms chosen have fulfilled their own clarity requirement to their employees are essentials. Even though bonuses for each individual are substantial and should be taken in to consideration as part of the monetary compensation, these facts remain the unknown factors due to the nature of the monetary compensation cannot not be revealed by the firms management [Prendergast, 2002]. Is it doing a good job that what motivate the employees? Does stimulation come from the job nature, this is the question posted. Is a chance to help make a decision a motivation factors? This motivation factor need s further consideration since the company is run by management and by its nature; it cannot afford to be democratic. The closeness in working relationship [Brown, 1976], is it also a factor? The findings in this study hopefully will answer these questions. Aforementioned, if the findings will help the management in the selected firms benefits from its findings, the study will be proven most successful. Further, if the findings can somehow finds its way to help other similar organization, this would be the ultimate achievement. References Bassett-Jones, Nigel and Lloyd, Geoffrey C., Does Herzbergs motivation theory have staying power?, Journal of Management Development, 2005, Vol. 24, No. 10, pp. 929-943 Behling, Orlando, Lobovitz, George, Kosmo, Richard The Herzberg Controversy: A Critical Reappraisal, The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Mar., 1968), pp. 99-108 Blakemore, E., Low, Stuart A. Ormiston, Michael B., Employment Bonuses and Labor Turnover, Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 5, No. 4, Part 2: The New Economics of Personnel (Oct., 1987), pp. S124-S135 Brenner, Vincent C., Carmack, Claude W., Weinstein, Mark G.,An Empirical Test of the Motivation-Hygiene Theory, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Autumn, 1971), pp. 359-366 Brown, Matha A., Values A Necessary but Neglected Ingredient of Motivation on the Job, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Oct., 1976), pp. 15-23 Herzberg, F.I. 1987, One more time: How do you motivate employees?, Harvard Business Review, Sep/Oct87, Vol. 65 Issue 5, p109-120 Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. and Snyderman, B. (1959) The Motivation to Work, New York: John Wiley and Sons, Locke, Edwin A., The Ubiquity of the Technique of Goal Setting in Theories of and Approaches to Employee Motivation, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Jul., 1978), pp. 594-601 Prendergast, Canice, Uncertainty and Incentives, Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 20, No. 2, Part 2: Compensation Strategy and Design (Apr., 2002), pp. S115-S137 Stead, Bette A., Berlos Communication Process Model as Applied to the Behavioral Theories of Maslow, Herzberg, and McGregor, The

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Communication is the backbone of human existence. Without it we would be nothing more than organized matter. It has allowed us to grow, learn, build, and survive. The fact that our species has managed to develop advanced methods of communication, such as language, is what has set us aside from other animals. When we talk to another person we are sending a message which is received, decoded, and responded to accordingly. But there is much more to communication than just its verbal aspects. The way we hold ourselves, tone of voice, bodily gestures, eye movement, all of these are types of nonverbal communication and are in truth more important to the communication process than language itself. According to Adler, Proctor II, and Towne’s Looking Out Looking In, nonverbal communication is defined as â€Å"messages expressed by other than linguistic means†. This type of message delivery is as complex if not more so than its linguistic counterpart. Non verbal messages are what shape the meaning of delivered dialogue and give it context. Without them the communication process would be severely impaired if not totally destroyed. There are several different components that make up the whole of nonverbal communication. Kinesics is the movement and positioning of the body and how it is interpreted by a receiver. This includes many of the more obvious nonverbal cues such clapping your hands or a thumb up. Oculesics refers to eye contact and eye positioning during communication. Averti...

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Solutions to our Problems There are three level to the solutions to the problems that exist in the world today. They are the Individual Level, National Level, and Global Level. These solutions can help to eliminate the gap between the rich and the poor countries. The Individual level is were individuals do things to help eliminate problems that exist. The people are just as responsible as the nation states are. Things that we can do are: 1) Join a student group that creates awareness of these problems, 2) Minimize some of the waste that we create, 3) Sponsor a child in a poor country, 4) Change some laws and 5) Have a meatless day. If you join a group you can become more aware of the problems that exist and then spread this information to others. If we minimize our waste such as eat all the food that we make and not make extra food. This would leave food for people in poorer countries. You could sponsor a child which would give this child food, education and medical attention that he/she needs. There are many organizations that can help you to do this. Some laws that we could change would be allowing regular house hold to have a lamb. This would save on gas because it can mow your lawn for you. It also can act as a fertilizer and is good for the environment. Having a meat less day would save on the consumption of meet, so there would be more meat for the poorer countries. These little things can be a great benefit to the world and help to solve the world problems. The national level is when a nation does something to help solve the world's problems. This would be to solve the nations problems first. If we can solve our own problems then we could start to work and concentrate on the world's problems. There are 38 million people in the United States that are below the poverty level. If these people weren't below the poverty level it would be 38 million less that the world would have to worry about. The same goes for every country, if they could decrease their people below poverty then it's less the world has to worry about. This would help to take care of the gap between poor and wealthy in the individual countries before the world gap

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When sinners die, they are sent to the underworld to admit their wrongdoings and face the consequences for their actions. In the underworld there is a man named Rhadamanthus who listens to the sinners and sentences them to different penalties based on what they did. Once Rhadmanthus listens to the sinner’s story, he sentences them to different sections of the underworld. The underworld contains different sections that are based on levels of severity. The greater the sin someone commits, the greater the punishment that that person will receive. For example, in the sixth book of the Aeneid, Virgil says that, â€Å"Here come those who as long as life remained held brothers hateful, beat their parents, cheated poor men dependent on them; also those who hugged their new found riches to themselves and put nothing aside for relatives- A great crowd, this-then men killed for adultery, men who took arms in war against their right, not scrupling to betray their lords† (181:813-82 0). In this quote, Virgil gives examples of people’s sins that have gone to the Underworld for it. In the Aeneid, Virgil gives readers the idea that people who sin will be punished and sent to the underworld no matter what sin they commit. He also shows that there is an afterlife, but he does not discuss the idea of heaven and that all souls will travel to the underworld to face the consequences. Like Virgil, Jesus does believe in the afterlife, but he discusses the idea of both heaven and hell. He believes that once people die, their souls are lifted out of the human body and are either brought to heaven or hell. Jesus taught that people will be placed into heaven or hell based on their virtue and following the teachings of God. Jesus also bases it on people who either open or close up their heart for others. An example of the reflection of the heart and self comes from the Gospel of Luke. In the gospel it says that there was a rich man who had a poor man, named Lazarus, living o utside his gate. The poor man would beg to eat the food that would fall off the rich man’s table and he needed assistance. Once both men died, the poor man was lifted by angels to Abraham’s bosom, while the rich man was buried in Hades being tormented. When the rich man called to Abraham for help he said, â€Å"Son remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish† (Luke 16:25-26). He is saying that people who are poor are in need of assistance, but there were people who were wealthier that didn’t open up their hearts for others. So, those people of wealth would suffer in the afterlife unlike those were poor. Those who were poor would live a more comfortable way in the afterlife. Even though Virgil and Jesus believed in the afterlife, they differed when it came to the true idea of sinners. Virgil felt that all people would go to the underworld and be judged by Rhadamanthus to see their fate in the afterlife. He never discussed the idea of heaven, and he would make up certain punishments for different people. Unlike Virgil, Jesus looked at sinners in a different way. Instead of punishing and treating sinners differently, Jesus would forgive those who have sinned. An example of Jesus forgiving a sinner is in the Gospel of John. It talks about people gathering around the temple with a woman who committed adultery. The scribes and Pharisees brought the woman to Jesus to test and see what he would do to her. The reason the people wanted to test Jesus because in the Law of Moses, it states that the person who commits adultery shall be stoned. The remarkable part of the story is when Jesus says, â€Å"Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her† (John8:7). As he said this, everyone backed away one by one and Jesus was left alone with the adulterer. Once he was with her by himself he said, â€Å"Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?† She said,† No one Lord† And Jesus said, â€Å"Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again† (John8:10-11). Jesus is saying that people cannot judge or punish a sinner if people themselves have sinned before in the past. Also, Jesus teaches that sins will be forgiven by the Lord as long as people learn from their mistakes and faults. When comparing Virgil and Jesus, they both have somewhat, similar thoughts of having an afterlife, but they differ greatly with people’s consequences. Virgil believes in certain sentences and reprimands. Jesus believes in the idea of mercy with sinners as long as they learn their lesson for the future. They both understand that sinning is a bad thing, but how one deals with sin is the true test. The real question is,† If someone commits sin against you, what will you do in reaction to it?†

The Stupidest Angel Chapter 3

Chapter 3 HOSED FOR THE HOLIDAYS Tuesday night. Christmas was still four days away, and yet there was Santa Claus cruising right down the main street of town in his big red pickup truck: waving to the kids, weaving in his lane, belching into his beard, more than a little drunk. â€Å"Ho, ho, ho,† said Dale Pearson, evil developer and Caribou Lodge Santa for the sixth consecutive year. â€Å"Ho, ho, ho,† he said, suppressing the urge to add and a bottle of rum, his demeanor more akin to that of Blackbeard than Saint Nicholas. Parents pointed, children waved and frisked. By now, all of Pine Cove was abuzz with expat Christmas cheer. Every hotel room was full, and there wasn't a parking space to be found down on Cypress Street, where shoppers pumped their chestnuts into an open fire of credit-card swipe-and-spend denial. It smelled of cinnamon and pine, peppermint and joy. This was not the coarse commercialism of a Los Angeles or San Francisco Christmas. This was the refined, sincere commercialism of small-town New England, where a century ago Norman Rockwell had invented Christmas. This was real. But Dale didn't get it. â€Å"Merry, happy – oh, eat me, you little vermin,† Dale grinched from behind his tinted windows. Actually, the whole Christmas appeal of their village was a bit of a mystery to the residents of Pine Cove. It wasn't exactly a winter wonderland; the median temperature in the winter was sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and only a couple of really old guys could remember it ever having snowed. Neither was it a tropical-beach getaway. The ocean there was bitterly cold, with an average visibility of eighteen inches, and a huge elephant seal rookery at the shore. Through the winter thousands of the rotund pinnipeds lay strewn across Pine Cove beaches like great barking turds, and although not dangerous in themselves, they were the dietary mainstay of the great white shark, which had evolved over 120 million years into the perfect excuse for never entering water over one's ankles. So if it wasn't the weather or the water, what in the hell was it? Perhaps it was the pine trees themselves. Christmas trees. â€Å"My trees, goddammit,† Dale grumbled to himself. Pine Cove lay in the last natural Monterey-pine forest in the world. Because they grow as much as twenty feet a year, Monterey pines are the very trees cultivated for Christmas trees. The good news was you could go to almost any undeveloped lot in town and cut yourself a very respectable Christmas tree. The bad news was that it was a crime to do so unless you obtained a permit and planted five trees to replace it. The Monterey pines were a protected species, as any local builder could tell you, because whenever they cut down a few trees to build a home, they had to plant a forest to replace them. A station wagon with a Christmas tree lashed to the roof backed out in front of Dale's pickup. â€Å"Get that piece of shit off my street,† Dale scrooged. â€Å"And Merry Christmas to all you scumbags,† he added, in keeping with the season. Dale Pearson, quite unwillingly, had become the Johnny Appleseed of the Christmas tree, having planted tens of thousands of seedlings to replace the thousands that he had chain-sawed to build rows of tract mansions across Pine Cove's hills. But while the law stated that the replacement trees had to be planted within the municipality of Pine Cove, it didn't say that they had to go in anywhere near where they had actually been cut down, so Dale planted all of his trees around the cemetery at the old Santa Rosa Chapel. He'd bought the land, ten acres, years ago, in hope of subdividing it and building luxury homes, but some hippie meddlers from the California Historical Society stepped in and had the old two-room chapel declared a historic landmark, thus making it impossible for him to develop his land. So in straight rows, with no thought for the natural lay of a forest, his construction crews planted Monterey pines until the trees became as thick around the chapel as feathers on a bird 's back. For the last four years, during the week before Christmas, someone had gone onto Dale's land and dug up truckloads of live pine trees. He was tired of answering to the county about having to replace them. He didn't give a damn about the trees, but he'd be damned if he'd put up with someone siccing the county watchdogs on him over and over. He'd fulfilled his duty to his Caribou buddies of passing out joke gifts to them and their wives, but now he was going to catch a thief. His Christmas present this year was going to be a little justice. That's all he wanted, just a little justice. The jolly old elf turned off Cypress and headed up the hill toward the chapel, patting the thirty-eight snub-nose revolver he'd stuffed into his wide black belt. Lena hefted the second Christmas tree into the bed of her little Toyota pickup and snuggled it into one of the ten-gallon cedar boxes that she'd nailed together herself just for that purpose. The underprivileged were only getting four-footers this year, maybe a foot or so taller once in the box. It had rained only once since October, so it had taken her nearly an hour and a half to dig the two saplings from the hard, dry ground. She wanted people to have live Christmas trees, but if she went for full seven-footers she'd be out here all night and only get a couple. This is real work, Lena thought. By day she did property management for vacation rentals at a local realtor, sometimes putting in ten- or twelve-hour days during the peak seasons, but she realized that hours spent and actual work were two different things. She realized it every year when she came out here by herself and got behind her bright red shovel. Sweat was pouring down her face. She wiped her hair out of her eyes with the back of a chamois work glove, leaving a streak of dirt on her forehead. She shrugged off the flannel shirt she'd put on against the night chill and worked in a tight black tank top and olive drab cargo pants. With her red shovel in hand, she looked like some kind of Christmas commando there at the edge of the forest. She sank the shovel into the pine straw about a foot from the trunk of the next tree she'd targeted and jumped on the blade, pogoing up and down until the blade was buried to the hilt. She was swinging on the handle, trying to lever up the forest floor, when a bright set of headlights swept across the edge of the forest and stopped with a stereo spotlight on Lena's truck. There's nothing to worry about, she thought. I'm not going to hide, I'm not going to duck. She wasn't doing anything wrong. Not really. Well, sure, technically, she was stealing, and breaking a couple of county ordinances about harvesting Monterey pines, but she wasn't really harvesting them, was she? She was just transplanting them. And†¦ and she was giving to the poor. She was like Robin Hood. No one was going to mess with Robin Hood. Just the same she smiled at the headlamps and did a sort of â€Å"oh well, I guess I'm busted† shrug that she hoped was cute. She shielded her eyes with her hand and tried to squint into the headlights to see who was driving the truck. Yes, she was sure it was a truck. The engine sputtered to a stop. A slight nausea rose in Lena's throat as she realized that it was a diesel truck. The truck's door opened, and when the light went on Lena caught a glimpse of someone in a red-and-white hat behind the wheel. Huh? Santa was coming out of the blinding light toward her. Santa with a flashlight, and what was that in his belt? Santa had a gun. â€Å"Dammit, Lena, I should have known it was you,† he said. Josh Barker was in big trouble. Big trouble indeed. He was only seven, but he was pretty sure his life was ruined. He hurried along Church Street trying to figure out how he was going to explain to his mom. An hour and a half late. Home long after dark. And he hadn't called. And Christmas just a few days away. Forget explaining it to his mom, how was he going to explain it to Santa? Santa might understand, though, since he knew toys. But Mom would never buy it. He'd been playing Barbarian George's Big Crusade on the PlayStation at his friend Sam's house, and they'd gotten into the infidel territory and killed thousands of the ‘Rackies, but the game just didn't have any way to exit. It wasn't designed so you could ever get out of it, and before he knew it, it was dark outside and he'd forgotten, and Christmas was just going to be ruined. He wanted an Xbox 2, but there was no way Santa was going to bring it with a home long after dark AND a didn't even bother to call on his list. Sam had summarized Josh's situation as he led him out the door and looked at the night sky: â€Å"Dude, you're hosed.† â€Å"I'm not hosed, you're hosed,† said Josh. â€Å"I'm not hosed,† Sam said. â€Å"I'm Jewish. No Santa. We don't have Christmas.† â€Å"Well, you're really hosed, then.† â€Å"Shut up, I am not hosed.† But as Sam said it he put his hands in his pockets and Josh could hear him clicking his dreidel against his asthma inhaler, and his friend did, indeed, appear to be hosed. â€Å"Okay, you're not hosed,† said Josh. â€Å"Sorry. I'd better go.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Sam. â€Å"Yeah,† said Josh, realizing now how the longer it took him to get home the more hosed he was going to be. But as he hurried up Church Street toward home, he realized that perhaps he would receive an emergency reprieve on his hosing, for there, at the edge of the forest, was Santa himself. And although Santa did appear to be quite angry, his anger was directed at a woman who was standing knee-deep in a hole, holding a red shovel. Santa held one of those heavy black Maglite flashlights in one hand and was shining it in the woman's eyes as he yelled at her. â€Å"These are my trees. Mine, dammit,† said Santa. Aha! Josh thought. Dammit was not bad enough to get you on the naughty list, not if Santa himself said it. He'd told his mom that, but she'd insisted that dammit was a list item. â€Å"I'm only taking a few,† said the woman. â€Å"For people who can't afford a Christmas tree. You can't begrudge something that simple to a few poor families.† â€Å"The fuck I can't.† Well, Josh had been sure the F-word would get you on the list. He was shocked. Santa pushed the flashlight in the woman's eyes. She brushed it aside. â€Å"Look,† she said, â€Å"I'll just take this last one and go.† â€Å"You will not.† Santa shoved the flashlight in the woman's face again, but this time when she brushed it away, he flipped it around and bopped her on the head with it. â€Å"Ouch!† That had to hurt. Josh could feel the blow rattle the woman's teeth all the way across the street. Santa certainly felt strongly about his Christmas trees. The woman used the shovel to brush the flashlight out of her face again. Santa bopped her again with the flashlight, harder this time, and the woman yowled and fell to her knees in the hole. Santa reached into his big black belt and pulled out a gun and pointed it at the woman. She came up swinging the shovel in a wide arc and the blade caught Santa hard in the side of the head with a dull metallic clank. Santa staggered and raised the pistol again. The woman crouched and covered her head, the shovel braced blade up under her arm. But as he aimed, Santa lost his balance, and fell forward onto the upraised blade of the shovel. The blade went up under his beard and suddenly his beard was as bright red as his suit. He dropped the gun and the flashlight, made a gurgling noise, and fell down to where Josh could no longer see him. Josh could barely hear the woman crying as he ran home, the pulse in his ears ringing like sleigh bells. Santa was dead. Christmas was ruined. Josh was hosed. Speaking of hosed: three blocks away, Tucker Case moped along Worchester Street, trying to exercise off his dinner of bad diner food with a brisk walk under the weight of a large measure of self-pity. He was pushing forty, trim, blond, and tan – the look of an aging surfer or a golf pro in his prime. Fifty feet above him, a giant fruit bat swooped through the treetops, his leathery wings silent against the night. So he could sneak up on peaches and stuff without being detected. Tuck thought. â€Å"Roberto, do your business and let's get back to the hotel,† Tuck called into the sky. The fruit bat barked and snagged an overhead limb as he passed, his momentum nearly sending him in a loop around it before he pendulumed and settled in upside-down attitude. The bat barked again, licked his little doggy chops, and folded his great wings around himself to ward off the coastal cold. â€Å"Fine,† Tuck said, â€Å"but you're not getting back into the room until you poop.† He'd inherited the bat from a Filipino navigator he'd met while flying a private jet for a doctor in Micronesia; a job he'd only taken because his U.S. pilot's license had been yanked for crashing the pink Mary Jean Cosmetic jet while initiating a young woman into the Mile-High Club. Drunk. After Micronesia he'd moved to the Caribbean with his fruit bat and his beautiful new island wife and started a charter business. Now, six years later, his beautiful island wife was running the charter business with a seven-foot Rastafarian and Tucker Case had nothing to his name but a fruit bat and temporary gig flying helicopters for the DEA, spotting marijuana patches in the Big Sur wilderness area. Which put him in Pine Cove, holed up in a cheap motel room, four days before Christmas, alone. Lonesome. Hosed. Tuck had once been a ladies' man of the highest order – a Don Juan, a Casanova, a Kennedy sans cash – yet now he was in a town where he didn't know a soul and he hadn't even met a single woman to try to seduce. A few years of marriage had almost ruined him. He'd become accustomed to affectionate female company without a great deal of manipulation, subterfuge, and guile. He missed it. He didn't want to spend Christmas alone, dammit. Yet here he was. And there she was. A damsel in distress. A woman, alone, out here in the night, crying – and from what Tuck could tell by the headlights of a nearby pickup truck, she had a nice shape. Great hair. Beautiful high cheekbones, streaked with tears and mud, but you know, exotic-looking. Tuck checked to see that Roberto was still safely hanging above, then straightened his bomber jacket and made his way across the street. â€Å"Hey there, are you okay?† The woman jumped, screamed a bit, looked around frantically until she spotted him â€Å"Oh my God,† she said. Tuck had had worse responses. He pressed on â€Å"Are you okay?† he repeated. â€Å"You looked like you were having some trouble.† â€Å"I think he's dead,† the woman said. â€Å"I think – I think I killed him† Tuck looked at the red-and-white pile on the ground at his feet and realized for the first time what it really was: a dead Santa. A normal person might have freaked out, backed away, tried to quickly extract himself from the situation, but Tucker Case was a pilot, trained to function in life-and-death emergencies, practiced at grace under pressure, and besides, he was lonely and this woman was really hot. â€Å"So, a dead Santa,† said Tuck. â€Å"Do you live around here?† â€Å"I didn't mean to kill him. He was coming at me with a gun I just ducked, and when I looked up – † She waved toward the pile of dead Kringle. â€Å"I guess the shovel caught him in the throat.† She seemed to be calming down a bit. Tuck nodded thoughtfully â€Å"So, Santa was coming at you with a gun?† The woman pointed to the gun, lying in the dirt next to the Maglite â€Å"I see,† said Tuck. â€Å"Did you know this –  » â€Å"Yes. His name is Dale Pearson. He drank.† â€Å"I don't. Stopped years ago,† Tuck said. â€Å"By the way, I'm Tucker Case. Are you married?† He extended his hand to her to shake. She seemed to see him for the first time. â€Å"Lena Marquez. No, I'm divorced; â€Å"Me, too,† said Tuck. â€Å"Tough around the holidays, isn't it? Kids?† â€Å"No. Mr., uh, Case, this man is my ex-husband and he's dead.† â€Å"Yep. I just gave my ex the house and my business, but this does seems cheaper,† Tuck said. â€Å"We had a fight yesterday at the grocery store in front of a dozen people. I had the motive, the opportunity, and the means – † She pointed to the shovel. â€Å"Everyone will think I killed him.† â€Å"Not to mention that you did kill him.† â€Å"And don't think the media won't latch onto that? It's my shovel sticking out of his neck.† â€Å"Maybe you should wipe off your prints and stuff. You didn't get any DNA on him, did you?† She stretched the front of her shirt out and started dabbing at the shovel's handle. â€Å"DNA? Like what?† â€Å"You know, hair, blood, semen? Nothing like that?† â€Å"No.† She was furiously buffing the handle of the shovel with the front of her tank top, being careful not to get too close to the end that was stuck in the dead guy. Strangely, Tuck found the process slightly erotic. â€Å"I think you got the fingerprints, but I'm a little concerned about there where your name is spelled out in Magic Marker on the handle. That might give things away.† â€Å"People never return garden tools if you don't mark them,† Lena said. Then she began to cry again. â€Å"Oh my God, I've killed him.† Tuck went to her side and put his arm around her shoulders. â€Å"Hey, hey, hey, it's not so bad. At least you don't have kids you have to explain this to.† â€Å"What am I going to do? My life is over.† â€Å"Don't talk like that,† Tuck said, trying to sound cheerful. â€Å"Look, you've got a perfectly good shovel here, and this hole is nearly finished. What say we shove Santa in, clean up the area a little, and I take you to dinner.† He grinned. She looked up at him. â€Å"Who are you?† â€Å"Just a nice guy trying to help out a lady in distress.† â€Å"And you want to take me out to dinner?† She seemed to be slipping into shock. â€Å"Not this minute. Once we get this all under control.† â€Å"I just killed a man,† she said. â€Å"Yeah, but not on purpose, right?† â€Å"A man I used to love is dead.† â€Å"Damn shame, too,† Tuck said. â€Å"You like Italian?† She stepped away from him and looked him up and down, paying special attention to the right shoulder of his bomber jacket, where the brown leather had been scraped so many times it looked like suede. â€Å"What happened to your jacket?† â€Å"My fruit bat likes to climb on me.† â€Å"Your fruit bat?† â€Å"Look, you can't get through life without accumulating a little baggage, right?† Tuck nodded toward the deceased to make his point. â€Å"I'll explain over dinner.† Lena nodded slowly. â€Å"We'll have to hide his truck.† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"Okay, then,† Lena said. â€Å"Would you mind pulling the shovel – uh, I can't believe this is happening.† â€Å"I got it,† Tuck said, jumping into the hole and dislodging the spade from Saint Nick's neck. â€Å"Call it an early Christmas present.† Tuck took off his jacket and began digging in the hard ground. He felt light, a little giddy, thrilled that he wasn't going to have to spend Christmas alone with the bat again.