E. J. Ludwig

E. J. Ludwig

Just finished reading this intriguing book. I spent so many decades in educational bureaucracies and in corporate bureaucracies, I was drawn to this book which categorizes the stagnant interpersonal world of the bureaucrats. The flavor of workplace harassment is beautifully captured as is the cronyism. The rigid dehumanized mindsets that one finds dominating our public workplaces, the legal profession, the medical profession, and the EEOC are all revealed in their naked banality and disdain for the plight of individual while, at the same time, portraying themselves as existing for the sake of the individual. The book captures the putrid flavor of excessive search for personal security, money, avoidance of complicating one's life, and, in short, covering one's ass. Yet, the tone of the writer, despite many more-than-unpleasant experiences, is not bitter. She has, it seems, made her peace with 19 years of stressful litigation. She draws positive lessons for the reader about they might expect from doctors, lawyers, employers, and government if they are filing a workplace discrimination suit. It seems that this process radically undermined the author's health, but again, her view of this is within a context of pride and victory over the circumstances through which she had to make her way. The texture of the book is so realistic, that it was a non-stop read for me.