General Musings Part 17

So, a few things have been going on lately. First off, I've taken some more assertive steps for 2 things I got communications on: a job offer & a meeting with the President of a local bar association I belong to. It remains to be seen if I'll ever get a definitive start date, salary & at a minimum, a written statement that some other attorney isn't going to get this job while I'm not being contacted.

Let's face it, you can't trust prospective employers not to do that stuff. This isn't the situation of a business partner, where you've got a written contract against that kind of thing. Nope, this is you blowing in the wind. Based on my experiences with people outright lying to my face + the stories I've read/heard about, I have very little trust when it comes to a business I don't own. Some of these people deserve some karma, as you're going to see an example of shortly.

Now, on to more stupidity:

I saw this & here's my thought: he ought to know if that's true. After all, he ran a Ponzi scheme for years. I was amused.

This has been something my husband, his co-workers & I have talked about for YEARS. Where were you, Daily News?

Let's not even talk about what it's like when they don't have weekend subway service. I couldn't even go into the city one weekend b/c my train line had shuttle buses over the ENTIRE way & there was no alternate to that crap.

In case you can't tell, I hate dealing with shuttle buses due to safety reasons (you're literally packed on there like sardines, sometimes unsafely) & the fact that it takes twice as long to get someplace on them as it does on the subway.

And this is total overreaction. Just another example of an overly sensitive parent who should just home school their child. What will this mother do if her son ends up a target of bullies? Or someone calls him a racist word sometime? I think this sort of thing is innovative teaching & is far more vivid, socially relevant, effective, etc. than having kids do a passive activity like reading or watching a film. I bet she's also one of those people who wants to keep the Censored 11 under wraps. Denying history is the easiest way to repeat it.

And shame on the school board who'll likely throw this teacher under the bus.

Now, here? Welcome to karma!!!

I honestly have to wonder when workers in this county are going to do that. Not saying I necessarily condone violence but if you act like a jerk to others, karma will generally kick your sorry behind. Kind of hard to have any sympathy for someone who profits richly off the backs of their employees while the employees are on welfare, especially when the executive in question brags about that kind of thing.

That's why I make it a point to treat all people with basic human dignity & respect. You can bet if I had employees, I'd not exploit them since I wouldn't want that done to my family members & didn't appreciate the treatment of people I knew who worked in "shit" jobs (defined as jobs that have no upward advancement & supervised by anti-education thugs who'd never let you advance).

Take note, big business owners. Treat people like shit & you could end up like this senior executive if you've left them in poverty with no chance to do anything better in life. If you weren't bragging about your deeds & showed some humanity, maybe it wouldn't happen to you.

Consider the mayor of Cincinnati who was on Undercover Boss last night. He did both jobs AND even wore a fat suit. That's dedication & I respect the guy for it since I know Bloomberg doesn't have the balls to do that kind of thing himself. He's too busy living in a bubble with the rich to bother with any public service duties. He also supports a Wal-Mart in NYC, forgetting that his rich friends will have to pay more to Medicaid & the welfare program b/c no one else will be able to afford it (remember, he either laid them off or Wal-Mart effectively shut down the small businesses) + these Wal-Mart employees will have to use it due to the poverty level wages Wal-Mart offers.

I know that the library director in my husband's area is too arrogant to that kind of thing as well based on his own past remarks. He also doesn't even drive on snowy/icy roads b/c he has a driver the taxpayers are probably paying through the nose for, but has no qualms demanding his employees to come in & work while risking their lives in such conditions.

Since the "have/have not" divide is getting larger & larger, one really has to consider that it's just a question of when this happens to a senior executive here vs. if it happens. People get pissed off & it's part of human nature.

Some sound advice here but this is how I view salary: it's the payment you make for me to dedicate my full energy to your work. Pay me too little & I'll be taking side jobs to make up the difference. That means if my side work pays more, you're not going to be my first priority.

You also risk my leaving your job to go to a higher paid competitor (myself as a freelancer or to some other company).

If you want to be the #1 priority, you're going to have to pay me a proper rate. I also adamantly refuse to sign anything restricting my ability to take side work if I'm making a pathetic rate. Some fields ban that practice anyway, including mine.

As long as we establish that, we're good. Too bad more employees don't approach salary discussions that way. These days, after getting my own legal clients, I certainly do.

Finally, this article. I'm truly skeptical about that kind of thing & think you should notice the contradiction at the end.

"No formal tone" but "maintain professional stuff." Yeah...so basically this means create an anemic Facebook profile that has nothing to do with your personality. That sounds like BigLaw logic.

Is anyone else concerned that as time goes on, places like Facebook will be filled with bland, vanilla, horribly banal profiles that make you just want to fall asleep because the people are that boring???

I've had people send me friend requests but have no way for me to message them to ask about them. For instance, why should I friend you? What do you do? What is your reason for your friend request to me, a total stranger? Are you violating policies directly stated on my profile, such as trying to get me to read your unsolicited material or ask me for a very personal favor?

Unless I actually know you in real life, you're going to have to answer that stuff before you see my personal Facebook page. Furthermore, my Facebook page is PERSONAL. I'm hardly a binge drinking, coke addicted whore but at the same time, I do have strong viewpoints & will not temper them for anyone's delicate sensibilities. I tell people that if their sensibilities are THAT delicate, then they should NOT be a Facebook friend.

I'd also never friend anyone who had employment power over me or any co-worker in such a job unless that person stated point blank in writing that any material on my personal page wouldn't be used against me. Face it, it's just better to work for yourself.