The word sabotage, its definition stated innocently in plain words, conjures up all manner of aggressive, hostile action. When the word is bandied about, thoughts of World War Two saboteurs come readily to mind. Most of these people were resistance fighters - many were communists - who saw sabotage as a way to curtail or destroy or stop the enemy, the hated Nazis. In the main, they did good work and despite their suffering dreadful retaliation by the Germans, were moderately successful; today, we hold them as heroes, and rightly so.
There is, however, another form of sabotage that has crept into daily commerce recently in the Greater Vancouver area. First, a bit of background. Canada Safeway and its unionised employees have been in a 72-hour strike mode for weeks. As time of writing, no work stoppage had been begun as the two sides continued to talk.
About ten days ago, one of my sons bought sixteen pork chops in two packages at a local Safeway. He looked at the price and was rather surprised to learn that one of the packages was priced at seventeen cents and the other slightly more at nineteen cents. [Together, the chops normally would have cost about fifteen dollars.] Fearing that it might be a gross error on Safeway's part, he said nothing about the prices. After the cashier had rung the items through, mention was made of the low price. The cashier agreed but said that the items had been coded as such and that was the end of that.
A few days later, I learned of another 'mistake' at a Greater Vancouver area Canada Safeway. Again, it was meat and again a roast that normally would sell for almost twenty dollars was priced just over three dollars. As with my son's experience, the purchaser said little until after the item was checked through. As with the first, there was nothing that could be done to correct the obvious error.
At first, the thought was that the marker had misplaced the decimal point; however, as more people spoke about their purchases more and more the thought became that some unionised employees, probably disgruntled, were sabotaging Canada Safeway. It would seem that if this were the case, the disgruntled workers were striking back at Safeway for what they considered poor wages or poor work scheduling or simply because they were ticked off with the company. If so, they would not be the first unionised or non-unionised employees to become less than enamoured with their employer. In Canada, it seems to be a common feature.
The difference between the saboteurs of WWII and the saboteurs [speculated] of Canada Safeway is that the first were fighting for their freedom while the second are fighting possible wage cuts and/or layoffs. Both classes can claim some justification but only the former can make a strong case for sabotage. The former are heroes while the latter are not.
I am reminded of a Canadian destroyer that was the victim of sabotage. On the morning that the ship was to depart its homeport on an extended cruise, sailors discovered that someone had opened a hatch that covered gearing and had dropped in many steel pieces. When the order was given to engage the gears, they crunched, gave out a hellish noise and ground to a halt. The ship had been sabotaged.
A subsequent Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation turned up the culprit but not before the ship was sidelined for three months at a cost to the taxpayers of several hundred thousand dollars. That was in the early-to-mid 60s; were that to happen today, the price of repair would be much greater.
Why the sabotage? It seems that one of the engineering types had a rather strong feeling [some might suggest that it was lust] for a girl and he and she saw the impending long separation as being something neither was prepared to accept.
The engineering type was aided and abetted by a fellow shipmate; both were found guilty and appropriate action was taken.
The RCMP investigation was interesting but especially so in one aspect. The ship's company knew whom the three Mounties -dressed in civilian clothing - were and why they were onboard. The policemen had installed listening devices in two or three areas of the ship and tape-recorded all that was said. The tape recorders were monitored 24 hours for as long as it took to nail down the felons [a term no longer used in Canada]. The round-the-clock watch spanned several weeks. Although everyone onboard knew of the taping, it was difficult for sailors and officers not to speak to each other. After a time, most people, certainly those who had nothing to hide, went about their business in a normal fashion. In time, the felon was identified - actually through a dumb move on the part of one of the two prime suspects. The lustful sailor's accomplice had been granted leave and had left the area. He sent a letter to his friend. In the letter, mention was made of the misdeed. Viola, the jig was up! Don't ask how the RCMP became aware of the letter or how they knew of its contents. Some secrets must remain just that.
Sabotage, such an innocent word but a word packed with volatile action.
Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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