FAMILY AND MEDICAL SHIRKING ACT? Apt. 11d passes along two tales, one of a colleague with no children who resents picking up the slack for colleagues who plead sporting events and the like as a way of leaving the office early, another with children who regularly takes work home. (The tales are incomplete, as the resentful colleague has not introduced evidence that the early-leavers aren't taking stuff home to work on after the kids are in bed, and the overstressed colleague has not explained why she doesn't mention her responsibilities at work.)

I have to wonder what my ancestors would have made of the pressures of the modern economy. There was no artificial lighting to prolong the working day. There wasn't much distinction between paid work and home work for many of them, particularly the dairy farmers. Equally clearly, I have to wonder how much longer the One Path to Promotion model is going to go without competing career paths. Too much stress, too much resentment, too much discontent. It has to contribute to turnover problems for employers as well.