Appearing idle at work threatens the social order more than actual distraction does

Evidence

The Trainee epitomized Takala’s method. As observed by a writer at Pumphouse Gallery, which showed her work in 2017, there is nothing inherently unusual about the notion of not working while at work; people commonly look at Facebook on their phones or seek other distractions during work hours. It was the image of utter inactivity that so galled Takala’s colleagues. “Appearing as if you’re doing nothing is seen as a threat to the general working order of the company, creating a sense of the unknown,” they wrote, adding solemnly, “The potential of nothing is everything.” — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 241

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the book’s core thesis that refusing productivity is a genuine act — this is a concrete instance of the ‘doing nothing’ that Odell is defending against the withdrawal misreading; also pairs with her final chapter on refusal vocabulary. — connects to: Service jobs require workers to perform and suppress feelings for pay — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 506
• DEFINE: Establishes what precisely threatens company order: not distraction but the image of total inactivity — key for defending Odell’s ‘doing nothing’ against the withdrawal misreading.
• SEED: An essay angle: the distinction between sanctioned distraction (Facebook) and unsanctioned inactivity (staring at a wall) as a map of what employers actually police.