Enterprise-D as a workplace

[KayArr]

The last month at work has been unbelievably awful--my boss deposed, backstabbers appointed in his place, syncophants going along. I really enjoyed Enterprise and had started to rank it alongside TOS as my favorite--TNG had faded a bit for me, and I started to think that it hadn't aged well. But this weekend, I chanced on TNG season 5 in a used dvd store, and I've had a nice marathon going with my favorite episodes. Boy, they took me back to graduate school, well before 9/11, when I really believed that that the Star Trek future was possible. I know that it gets knocked for bland characters who always get along and never fight--but this weekend, darned if it wasn't plumb soothing!

Anyone else have that reaction to TNG? What would be the pros and cons of the Enterprise-D as a workplace?

 

[Kegek]

Bluntly?

There aren't any cons. Who the hell wouldn't love to work in that pristine, hotel-like, 80s Pollyanna Paradise where everybody's your friend, there's a replicator in your room and a holodeck down the Hallway?

TNG isn't bland. TNG is optimism and hope. TNG is utopia. TNG is dreams of worlds never lived. TNG is being five years old and watching a beautiful grey ship course across the TV screen as a grave English voice narrates.

I like TNG.

 

[KayArr]

Yeah--wasn't it grand!

 

[mattwitz]

I found the whole hotel-thing a little disconcerting. I much prefered the NX-01 because even though the ship wasn't as nice and there were no holodecks, I felt like you could run into captain archer in the hall and be casual with him. Of all the captains in star trek, picard is probably the least approachable. Thats not to say he's a bad captain, but he doesn't really interact with the crew or make an effort to get to know them.

 

[Kegek]

^
He's your boss. A dignified, literate boss who knows how to talk his way out of a crisis, not fumble through it with a chipper smile in the general expectation all will be well.

 

[Holdfast]

It's a great workplace but the rooms would need a lot of personalisation to be comfortable in the long term. Some years back, I lived in a hotel for a month or so between house moves and when you come back to a souless hotel room after a day of work, it can get boring real fast.

But that would be true of any military vessel I guess and the crew of the E-D seem to have been able to make their rooms their own.

 

[KayArr]

I just love the idea of a group of people working together for a common purpose in harmony. That's fantasy, of course--any group of people will have a variety of personalities, and a few will piss you off. But spending the weekend watching TNG crew made me smile and think about people in the world that think like I do--the people who made the show and the people who loved it. I'm 100% sure no one at my workplace (in my department anyway) is a Star Trek fan.

 

[The Old Mixer]

^^The E-D is a luxury liner compared to the accomodations found on real world military vessels. Mostly cramped, shared berthing, stacked two or three high, with hot bunking (people on different watches sharing the same bed) and tiny locker spaces for personal effects. Only the highest ranking officers get a private room, and they're pretty modest affairs. Even what we saw on TOS is luxurious compared to that.

 

[WalkinMan]

Just curious, what is a single TNG season going for at used DVD stores? On eBay there usually is a feeding frenzy for Trek DVD seasons...

 

[KayArr]

Pretty expensive actually--$45 when I could get it off Amazon for $62 new. It was an impulse purchase, though. And I enjoyed my weekend very much because of it, thanks very much! Deep Discount has them for $50, but they're never in stock. I don't trust ebay or Amazon's used dvds, too many bootlegs out there. Actually the real steal months ago from the same store was a Voyager season 4 set, those never seem to be under $100 on Amazon new. It didn't have the outside plastic "case," if that's the word for the flimsy thing.

 

[Philo]

Kegek Kringle said:
Bluntly?

There aren't any cons. Who the hell wouldn't love to work in that pristine, hotel-like, 80s Pollyanna Paradise where everybody's your friend, there's a replicator in your room and a holodeck down the Hallway?

TNG isn't bland. TNG is optimism and hope. TNG is utopia. TNG is dreams of worlds never lived. TNG is being five years old and watching a beautiful grey ship course across the TV screen as a grave English voice narrates.

I like TNG.

I'd like to set a nice table and invite this post to dinner.



Oh, and as a boss, Picard is that Philosopher-King that could actually make you think The Republic could work.

 

[WillsBabe]

I think the Enterprise D would be a great environment to work in. There are great ameneties, the boss seems pretty much everything I'd want in a boss, the equipment is top of the line, there's probably a great deal of kudos working on the flagship, the assignments are interesting and varied. Other than the moments of bliding terror, the tendancy to run into trouble every week and the fact that there's no payslip at the end of the month, it'd be a top-notch workplace.

 

[Kegek]

Philo said:
I'd like to set a nice table and invite this post to dinner.



Oh, and as a boss, Picard is that Philosopher-King that could actually make you think The Republic could work.

Agreed, Philo.

As to whether the Enterprise-D would be soulless... no. It just looks so damn pleasant. I can't imagine not loving living there.

Really, the only downside is when something weird happens like the Borg or nanites. All in a day's work, eh?

 

[Forbin]

If I'm gonna be away from Earth exploring unkown and dangerous places for ten freakin years (the original concept of TNG), you betcherass I'm gonna want my ship to be a big comfortable hotel in space, with lots of light and potted plants and soft-colored carpets. And big guns.

 

[Holdfast]

The Old Mixer said:
^^The E-D is a luxury liner compared to the accomodations found on real world military vessels. Mostly cramped, shared berthing, stacked two or three high, with hot bunking (people on different watches sharing the same bed) and tiny locker spaces for personal effects. Only the highest ranking officers get a private room, and they're pretty modest affairs. Even what we saw on TOS is luxurious compared to that.

Sure, yeah, I know. Blame it on stream of consciousness in my last post. What I really meant/was trying to say was that all military vessels are depersonalised and boring to live in after a while, and the hotel luxury of the E-D wouldn't really alleviate that much after a while. It would make life easier than a regular military vessel, but the rooms - like most chain hotels - are still just as soulless. So a lot of personalising quarters would be needed to make it bearable I think.

 

[broberfett]

KayArr said:
The last month at work has been unbelievably awful--my boss deposed, backstabbers appointed in his place, syncophants going along. I really enjoyed Enterprise and had started to rank it alongside TOS as my favorite--TNG had faded a bit for me, and I started to think that it hadn't aged well. But this weekend, I chanced on TNG season 5 in a used dvd store, and I've had a nice marathon going with my favorite episodes. Boy, they took me back to graduate school, well before 9/11, when I really believed that that the Star Trek future was possible. I know that it gets knocked for bland characters who always get along and never fight--but this weekend, darned if it wasn't plumb soothing!

Anyone else have that reaction to TNG? What would be the pros and cons of the Enterprise-D as a workplace?

All that nice sweet Enterprise-D living is for the bridge officers. The way the rest live is like the way Picard is treated in the episode with Q where he changes his life by avoiding his heart injury(Tapestry, I think). Troi and Riker treat him like a total tool and so does Worf. Then there is that lower decks thing and we've seen that the little guy doesn't even get his own room.

I'm still convinced that the Enterprise Bridge Crew are just privelaged Party officials in a communist type system. Remember those waiters on DS9. They do that for free with no tips(because waiting tables is so rewarding). While Troi is eating chocolate Sundaes the regular people are going to bed crying from hunger.

 

[Luckyflux]

The Enterprise as a work place?!?! Count me in! I'd love it for all of the reasons mentioned above. Exploring Space, a holodeck right around the corner. Pulling into Risa for alittle R&R.

I guess it depends who your boss (ranking officer) was? Worf would be a b_tch to work for!

 

[WalkinMan]

Thx for the pricing info; still quite pricey I see. I'm still amazed by the VOY DVD cost, still very high.

Anyhow, the E-D is the best environment, most comfortable starship I've seen on Trek, hands down. Would LOVE to work there.

 

[HRHTheKING]

It's very high tech. The holodecks I'm sure would be a lot of fun. Unfortunately the interiors are bland and it would become boring very quickly. I'd prefer to be posted on DS9, which would IMO be a more interesting workplace.

 

[The Mule]

i remember pouring over the official blueprints and deciding that i would not hang out in 10-Forward but in a lounge overlooking the main shuttle bay on the starboard side, towards the aft.