Heavy Metal Addiction
Power chords. Screams. Virtuoso electric guitar, skirling. Lyrics that would make Coleridge wince and Keats cringe.
Ah, heavy metal: a minority taste. The big hair, open shirts, leather pants, and minatory jewelry are designed to freak us out. I guess that’s why Roger Tullgren, from Hässleholm, Sweden, has had trouble holding a job. He’s an addict.
He heard a Black Sabbath album 36 years ago. Today, the aging rocker keeps his hair long and black, sports a freak show of tattoos, and wears skull-and-crossbones jewelry. He attended nearly 300 concerts last year, often skipping work. So he got fired.
While living on state handouts, he consulted three occupational psychologists, who declared his “heavy metal addiction” a disability. This entitles his wages to be supplemented by the government of Sweden, and prevents employers from discriminating against him.
He recently got a job as a dishwasher. His new manager lets him wear his silly costumes and listen to his music on the job . . . “though not too loud when there are guests.”
Should I rant here about so much law about addiction, mental illness, and the like? The story screams, er, speaks for itself. Besides, the newspaper reporting Tullgren’s classification quotes several experts in Sweden who are almost as dumbfounded by the story as I am.
Well, I wish the people of Sweden the best.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
