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Dealing with Stress in the Workplace
What to do when the pressure is on
In the 1999 film Pushing Tin, a fierce rivalry brews between a cocksure air-traffic controller and a new kid on the block. The rivals conduct their competitive clashes in front of the rest of the control team, which comprises a collection of oddball characters, onto whose shoulders you would not expect to see placed the heavy responsibility of getting aeroplanes full of people safely onto the tarmac. One such character, nicknamed Doctor Freeze, makes a brief appearance but we never see him at his post as an air traffic controller. We learn that this character earned his nickname because the stress of the job had caused him to freeze at his post some time earlier. He completely lost his nerve, and has not been able to return to work since, as each attempt he makes ends with him retreating to the safety of his car.
The entire workforce is alerted to Freeze’s arrival in the car park, and banknotes change hands as bets are taken on how far he will get before he turns tail. As he prepares to leave his car, Freeze repeatedly assures himself that “it’s a big sky; lots of room.” By the time he reaches the doors of the building, however, he lives up to his name, and bolts back to his car. The losers groan and the winners collect their money.
It is quite a funny scene in what is a fairly good film, but if such a thing happened…
