“U SIGH”

This acronym comes to us courtesy of Antoine Williams, an aspiring criminologist educated at Carleton University, who appeared on The Agenda with Steve Paikin in the first installment of the “Dude, where’s my future?” series. It describes social interactions between the marginally employed (precarious) and the gainfully employed (Antoine’s term: “stable,” meaning full time permanently employed, and not having experienced sudden job loss). The letters in the acronym are intended as follows:

U

Understanding—The stable person doesn’t understand that the labor market is in a state of crisis.

S

Suggestions—The stable person suggests all the courses of action that the precarious person has already tried. Williams didn’t bring up transactional analysis terminology, but I would say this is the opening gambit of a game of “why don’t you—yes, but”

I

Ignorance—Stable people are ignorant of the issues facing precarious people.

G

Gaffe-ing—After a certain number of rounds of this game, the precarious person commits gaffes, or faux pas, or “lose their cool.”

H

Hibernation, Hiding and becoming a Hermit—Social isolation sets in.

The entire process just makes you sigh…