Dissing Dissenter

A blog such as this will inevitably attract criticisms but surprisingly there have been very few over the four and half years it has existed. Most of the managers it attacks sensibly keep quiet, not so sensibly ignore it, or try to. But recently there have been two specific tirades at us, argumentum ad hominen, one from our unlamented departed head of HR, another from — well, it’s not clear, but possibly from Clarissa Wilks, Nona McDuff, or Annie Hughes, in response to this speech bubbled photograph.

Gratifyingly these attacks on Dissenter help do the job of this blog, which is to show up the management for what it is, a collection of self-aggrandising individuals who range from the incompetent to the bullying, managers who find it impossible to accept any criticism or doubt the policies that have helped place Kingston in this precarious position. While accusing the Blog of trolling (they should look up the definition) and making personal attacks, our critics do the same. We have been accused of — oh the irony — bullying and, weirdly, racism, which apparently stems from the lampooning of Stone’s Essex accent. We know that Simon Stone liked to make a thing of hailing from Essex, but if Essex Man is a distinct race, or if accent is a marker of race, that is news to this Blog and anthropologists everywhere. Stone also claims the Blog’s targets cannot answer. He seems to have managed to.

Other accusations suggest Dissenter is misogynist because of the joke at the expense of the terrible triplets. This assumes of course that Dissenter is male, just as one of our critics assumes retirement age, hatred of Kingston, bitterness and so on. The Blog has a go at anyone who is harming Kingston and its staff, overwhelmingly the managers, male and female. But far from being written in a climate of bitterness, we enjoy poking fun as well as digging hard when necessary; we like writing the jokes and the funny verses, and from the majority of comments here, we think the readership enjoys them too. Unpleasant and incompetent managers have certain distinctive traits; one of the most identifying is a complete lack of humour, another is a narcissistic self regard. Those characteristic are apparent in their responses to Dissenter’s Blog. It’s also worth noting here the high turnover of the SMT, whether leaving through choice or getting the sack. Not the hallmark of an effective management.

The point of the Blog is to amuse the long-suffering staff — and suffer is not an exaggeration for many — and get under the skin of the managers. The few hostile comments from the bosses, or those close to them, emphasise our success. Keep them coming.