Chapter 134: The Wisdom of Johnson's Family - Part 1

However, regardless of anger, work must be done. When faced with a difficult situation that had already touched the law, Ethan felt that the best solution was to seek advice from a lawyer.

So, after picking up the car from the company, he took a detour to Stanford to seek help from Professor Barbara Babcock, the legal counsel for Destiny Game.

After explaining the situation and listening carefully, Barbara shook her head. "Ethan, personally, I think this kind of thing cannot be temporarily resolved through legal means. As for the reason, I think the police in Milpitas have already made it clear to you. This is not a labor dispute issue but an economic problem."

"When California, or even the entire United States, needs to rely on this group of disadvantaged young people to support the entire, or part of, the low-end manufacturing industry, regardless of which place's police or which place's court judge, they will not actively deal with these sharp issues."

"Because they cannot afford the consequences of labor cost increases, and they cannot solve the problem of a shortage of low-end labor. So, in this situation, even I would maintain the status quo."

"..."

Ethan could not accept this outcome.

He said, "What if we change our perspective? Start from the angle of their protests?"

This idea made Barbara laugh. "Oh, Ethan, if we could handle them from the angle of protests, I think the Milpitas police would have acted long ago."

"These hippies are cunning. They should have experience in confronting the police. They don't gather at the factory gate for a long time, nor do they rush into the factory to vandalize. They just occasionally come to the factory gate to shout a few times. With just this level of disturbance, it's really not a crime."

"Although the factory is yours, isn't the road outside the factory yours?"

"They pass by the factory gate because they feel uncomfortable and shout a few times."

"These are just the excuses we can guess."

At this point, Barbara shrugged even more helplessly. "There's no way. Since the 1960s, these people have been participating in protests in society. They may have entered and exited the police station more times than you have entered and exited school, so they know how to push the boundaries of the law to annoy people."

"More importantly, from the current situation, their intentions are still acceptable."

"They are not maliciously vandalizing, they just want a job. And if I'm not mistaken, they probably didn't have any problems while working before, right?"

"If that's the case, the police are even less willing to deal with them."

Fine...

With things at this point, Ethan thanked Barbara with a smile and left.

Since Barbara couldn't solve these things, or even she felt that compromising with the economy due to a single accident was a reasonable choice, Ethan didn't delve further into the legal field.

After leaving Stanford, he began to look for traces of Jobs. Because he wanted to know how Atari, in the absence of legal weapons, managed these hippies.

And when he found Jobs and told him about his problem, this sunny and cheerful young man scratched his head and looked at Ethan apologetically, saying, "You want to know how Nolan managed us?"

"Oh, let me put it this way, Nolan himself is quite a wild one—"

"Even took us... oh no, took the employees in the factory, to smoke together."

"What the fxxk?"

This news made Ethan frowned because when he was at Atari, he didn't see Nolan Bushnell make such a reckless move in public!

"Are you sure?" he was somewhat skeptical.

"Of course!" Jobs said, "If you don't believe me, you can ask the police in Los Gatos. I remember one time he was driving a Cadillac and smoking, then he got arrested."

"He was bailed out for a full ten thousand dollars!"

"The Los Gatos police warned him that if he drove dangerously like this again, next time they wouldn't overlook the fact that he was the boss of Atari and would definitely throw him in jail."

When this fact emerged, Ethan suddenly understood why Atari was so peaceful internally.

Damn! If the top boss himself smokes, what's wrong with the people below?

This kind of unreferenceable behavior was also thrown aside by Ethan.

Because no matter which era, he, Ethan, and gambling were irreconcilable!

And when both the legal and realistic channels were blocked, Ethan suddenly became troubled. At this moment, he really didn't know how to deal with these ever-present band-aids.

But by noon, when Evelyn, who was having lunch with him, heard about these troubles, the girl offered a solution, "Ethan, why don't you try to find Uncle Thomas?"

"Because in my memory, in the decades that our family has been running the orchard, there has never been an accident, never has anyone come to our orchard to cause trouble. And even during the years when the San Francisco gangs were rampant, Thomas never charged those people for transporting oranges."

"Although I know these two things cannot be equated, but what if?"

This suggestion brightened Ethan's eyes.

Right!

Their family does have a landlord!

Ah, no—

A grower!

Since Thomas has been working in the fruit planting industry for so many years, he should have some wisdom in dealing with laborers, right?

With this thought in mind, after lunch, Ethan drove directly to his family's orchard.

As it was the golden autumn season, the initial ripe period of navel oranges, when Ethan arrived at the orchard, the scene of picking greeted him with the music of harvest.

Workers wearing straw hats hung large cloth bags around their waists, shuttling through the grove, picking the fruits.

Once a bag was filled, they would carry it out and hand it over to the personnel stationed outside for counting and sorting.

Sized into baskets, they were weighed on the scales.

At this point, Thomas would closely monitor the dial, fearing any mistakes that would damage their reputation.

With his personal confirmation, those fresh navel oranges would be immediately loaded onto trucks and sent to the dock.

"Oh, Ethan, what brings you here?"

With Ethan's appearance, Thomas also stopped his work.

Raising his arm, wiping the sweat from his forehead, he smiled, "Are you here to experience life? If you want to pick oranges, there are bags over there."

"You used to love doing this kind of thing the most. When you were a child, because you were not tall enough, you couldn't reach, so you asked me to carry you on my shoulders..."

The memories of the past made Ethan smile. Slightly waving his hand, he said, "Oh, Thomas, if you lack manpower, just tell me directly. I can help you. There's no need to trick me into being a laborer!"

"If I remember correctly, you used to say that you would give me one dollar for picking a bag of oranges?"

"And what happened in the end..."

"You just gave me the money, and Linda asked me to pay for the meal!"

"I worked hard all day and got nothing!"

"Hahaha—" Ethan's joking words made Thomas burst into laughter.

He raised his right hand and gave him a punch, then Thomas said, "Okay, okay, you've grown up. You can't fool you anymore. Speak up

, what's the matter?"

At this point, Ethan said with a solemn expression, "Thomas, I'm here today to seek your advice on how to deal with a group of unreasonable hippies who are disturbing the company's operations."

"Unreasonable hippies? Disturbing the operation?" Thomas frowned.

Seeing Thomas' expression, Ethan nodded earnestly, "Yes, it's like this—"

With a detailed explanation, Ethan described to Thomas what was happening at the factory.

When he heard this, Thomas showed a thoughtful expression.

In the end, he sighed and said, "Ethan, you've seen it all, our orchard is the same as your company. Although it's different in scale, it's the same in essence—both are private properties."

"In dealing with labor issues, or any other problems, the same methods apply."

"The key is to communicate."

"Whenever there are some minor issues, as long as you actively communicate with the workers and explain your ideas clearly, many conflicts can be avoided."

"For example, if those people want to hold a protest at the factory gate, why don't you let them in for a tour?"

"When they see how the products are produced and understand the difficulties and processes of the industry, perhaps they will stop making trouble."

"But if there are deeper reasons behind their actions, such as dissatisfaction with salary or working conditions, then it's time to sit down and have a good talk with them."

"Understand their demands and see if they can be met."

"After all, these people are not bad people. They just have their own difficulties."

"If possible, why not give them a chance?"

"After all, a win-win situation is the best outcome."

Listening to Thomas' words, Ethan nodded thoughtfully.

Communication!

It's so simple!

But it's also so difficult!

However, for the sake of the overall situation, he should try it. At least, this method was more reliable than other methods.

With this idea in mind, Ethan thanked Thomas with a sincere smile.

Then, after returning to the company, he immediately contacted Isaac to arrange a meeting with the group of hippies at the factory gate tomorrow.