Long known for it’s continuing series of prison surviving, detection avoidance and child torture, it seems WikiHow has collaborated with Northwest on a recent manual handed out to soon-to-be-terminated employees, offering great words of inspiration, like this tip about how to save money and how exactly to start “Preparing for a Financial Setback.”

* Shopping can be a much less expensive if you shop at a thrift store.
* Dating does not need to be expensive when you can take “a date for a walk along the beach or in the woods.”
* What better way that to get something for free - there is no need to be “shy about pulling something you like, out of the trash.”

Yes, I said trash.

The No. 5 U.S. carrier, which has slashed most employees’ pay and is looking to cut jobs as it prepares to exit bankruptcy, put the tips in a booklet handed out to about 50 workers and posted for a time on its employee Web site.

The section, entitled “101 ways to save money”, does not feature in new versions of the booklet or the Web site.

Northwest spokesman Roman Blahoski said some employees who received the handbook had taken issue with a couple of the items.

“We agree that some of these suggestions and tips … were a bit insensitive,”

Blahoski told Reuters.

The four-page booklet was part of a 150-page packet to ground workers, such as baggage handlers, whose jobs will likely be cut after their union agreed to allow the airline to outsource some of their work, Blahoski said. Prepared with the help of an outside company, the booklet encourages employees to manage their money better and prepare for financial emergencies.

Northwest employees who are seeking to learn more about trash inspection and retrieval should refer to ‘How to Dumpster Dive.’

[ Source: Reuters.com ]

WikiHow and Northwest are not really collaborating. But it’s the perfect marriage of two completely inept writing teams.