In 2024, Etienne Constable of Seaside, California was ordered by the city council to install a fence to conceal the 19ft boat that he kept on the hard standing next to his house, or he would be issued a US$100 fine.
Constable was having a beer with his neighbour, Hanif Panni, and they came up with the idea of exactly what sort of fence should be installed. Panni works as an artist and was able to help Constable’s fence idea come to life.
Notice anything odd about the above picture of Constable’s boat? If we look a little closer, the left side gate is open and the right side is closed. Constable’s good neighbour, the artist Panni painted the boat onto the gate.
Here’s the work in progress picture:
When closed, the gate has an almost perfect rendition of Constable’s boat and hedges:
City councillor Alexis García-Arrazola told USA Today:
I applaud the constituent’s creative approach, which not only addresses compliance but also showcases a community-driven solution.
Constable has admitted that the cost of the gate and mural far exceeds the threatened fine, but felt it was a humorous point, well made about faceless bureaucracy.
Part one. Just a threat.
I was part of a special project within my company: Spanish factory, US company. It was early in the project and the company was still looking for people to join the core team. People from the core team warned me about an opening. I submitted my resume.
The hiring manager flew over for an interview and told me he hadn’t intended to interview me (a foreigner in a low-level job) until half the core team threatened with doing “what people at the Spanish factory call ‘Japanese strike’”. He’d asked what it was and they told him “ask her at the interview”. I laughed and promised I’d tell him – at the end.
What we called ‘Japanese strike’ is exactly that, malicious compliance. Doing your job 100% by the book. Working 8 hours to the second. Doing tasks one at a time. Rejecting any form which hadn’t been filled with perfect precission. He went whiter than the wall behind him…
Part two. I am good at reading rules.
I got the job (I’d been underemployed, not underqualified). And eventually the job transferred me to the US, specifically to the main office. And one day this idiot of a company VP sent an email to everybody in that site reminding us of this dress policy which had been written in 1958 and not updated since. We were all to follow it, starting tomorrow.
At my first meeting, the other two women were furious. The only man present, who’s always been a bit of a clown, was playing jack-in-the-box at the edge of the table and occasionally saying “please remember it’s just this one guy, I didn’t do it and neither did most of the guys!”
Eventually, one of the other women asked me “aren’t you mad?” “I’m mainly confused. And the thing is, I think I don’t even have… uh. Actually, I do have a dress which fulfills these rules, but I never would have thought of it as being professional. It’s a sundress I got at the boardwalk. The rules say it’s got to be skirts or dresses, under the knee. That dress does reach right under my knees.”
Silence.
Silence.
And then “oh. My. God! I’ve got this old dress I use for working in the garden! It’s got these huge sunflowers!” “My son is getting married next year. I’ve already got my dress!”
The guy came out from under the table, we had the actual meeting, and then we dispersed to our next meeting or to our offices.
When I got to our team’s office, the water cooler was a-boiling with furious women. “Haven’t you seen the email!?!?!?” “Well, yes, but we were at this meeting and…”
“Ooooooooh!”
So.
Next day, every woman in the building (about 60% of the workers in that site), including those whose usual outfit was a suit, was wearing a sundress. Or a cocktail dress. Or a bridesmaid dress. And we even had three brides!
It’s a dress. From Pronovias. And it does reach below the knees.
That same afternoon there was an email from the Idiot VP apologizing, as well as one from the CEO voiding the policy.
