I dislike election years and it's not because I despise politics, as I've led many who know me to believe. I am honestly quite passionate about politics although I do refuse to discuss it with a great number of people and for the simple reason that I do not wish to think less of them.
About two weeks ago one of my regular FM stations inexplicably turned into a talk-radio station, a political talk-radio station at that whose views are progressive. On my way to work I am now entertained by a man named Bill Press who I feel is highly entertaining as his views are incredibly skewed most of the time, but they're skewed in my favor and so I don't mind. One of the topics he's been discussing lately has been his view of "sharing the wealth." He believes that raising taxes on those who make over $250,000 a year is absolutely justified. He's mentioned he makes over that and feels a sense of duty to pay more in taxes for all of the benefits this country affords him. What a nice view. Unfortunately, most people are not that giving. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Most people who have a lot, give the least and this is what I feel the primary difference between Republicans and Democrats really is.
It was well over a year ago now and most likely two years ago that a friend of mine managed to engage me in a political debate. At one point in the conversation he directed me to a commencement speech given by a Republican. I've tried to find this speech, trust me, but apparently a lot of Republicans give commencement speeches. The culmination of this man's speech was basically this: He felt that the young college kids were silly in their ideals to go out and help others, to put effort into other people and to vote for the good of all. He ended his speech by saying that he would do his own work, further himself and vote to protect his own needs. My friend, who had given me this speech was a Republican and he thought this speech was the zinger that would end my argument, something my tender Democratic beliefs couldn't possibly recover from. He was right, I ended our friendship.
I cannot believe how so many people who have so much, want to help others so little. I do not understand why they think those of us who would work to make the world a better place are silly. What astonishes me even more is that so many people want to have wealth so badly, they idealize those who have it, going so far as to mimic the opinions of the wealthy. How else can you explain why the general public treats our teachers so poorly? How else can you explain why all of our public servants are treated so poorly? The wealthy look down on unions because they cost them money when they are forced to deal with their workers fairly. The wealthy look down on road workers, construction workers, plumbers, electricians... people without whom we would be utterly screwed. And why do people do these things? You tell me.
So, I will continue to make little money at an almost thankless job because I believe in people. I believe our children need a chance at a decent education and need someone who cares to teach them. I will continue to roll my eyes at those who wonder why I'd sign up for such a job, or even those who try to take advantage of my good nature. I'm compassionate... not stupid. Go check yoself foo.
30 October 2008
28 October 2008
Mama Never Told Me.....
With the onset of the cold weather, I've again had to think about my thermostat settings. Now, I strongly believe that the programmable digital thermostat is one of man's best inventions however, it does present something of a dilemma. At the beginning of every cold season you are forced to make a decision: Shall you live on the wild side and put the thermostat at a comfortable level or should you live as you know you're supposed to and set it to a level that is slightly chilly? This decision has become more than mere preference.
I remember the days when my mother and father were obsessive about the electricity. It was an expensive thing, something to be spared and used only when absolutely necessary. I learned to turn my lights off when I wasn't in the room, to be sure to double check to make sure radios weren't left running unnecessarily, and - most importantly - I learned to freeze during the winter. Something astonishing happened when I graduated college and got my own place. I skimped on food, clothing, shampoo and conditioners, beauty products of all kinds, but I splurged on my electricity. I reveled in leaving the lights on when I left and giggled when the electric bill came because it wasn't the five thousand dollar charge my parents would have led me to believe. A lot has changed since those days.
ComEd raising their prices so aggressively after their rate freeze wasn't the most brilliant idea, they have a lot of consumers upset. I'm also left to wonder why I don't get an option as for my electricity provider, but that's another story entirely. There is a small part of me that is grateful electricity is again expensive and the primary reason is that people (including me) will abuse it as long as it is cheap. Our planet cannot handle the waste of resources that the United States represents. We are consumers, there is no other nation that consumes like the United States. In fact, we like to consume AND not have to be bothered with clean up and so we use disposable products which is even worse. Unless being wasteful becomes prohibitively expensive, we will continue to waste. There are very few people in the US who take our current crisis seriously enough that they think about it on a daily basis. Until we can become responsible, we're just going to have to make things too expensive to waste.
So, while I will grumble as I pay my outrageously high electric bill... I will also smile deep inside knowing the same expense is causing many people to use resources wisely.
I remember the days when my mother and father were obsessive about the electricity. It was an expensive thing, something to be spared and used only when absolutely necessary. I learned to turn my lights off when I wasn't in the room, to be sure to double check to make sure radios weren't left running unnecessarily, and - most importantly - I learned to freeze during the winter. Something astonishing happened when I graduated college and got my own place. I skimped on food, clothing, shampoo and conditioners, beauty products of all kinds, but I splurged on my electricity. I reveled in leaving the lights on when I left and giggled when the electric bill came because it wasn't the five thousand dollar charge my parents would have led me to believe. A lot has changed since those days.
ComEd raising their prices so aggressively after their rate freeze wasn't the most brilliant idea, they have a lot of consumers upset. I'm also left to wonder why I don't get an option as for my electricity provider, but that's another story entirely. There is a small part of me that is grateful electricity is again expensive and the primary reason is that people (including me) will abuse it as long as it is cheap. Our planet cannot handle the waste of resources that the United States represents. We are consumers, there is no other nation that consumes like the United States. In fact, we like to consume AND not have to be bothered with clean up and so we use disposable products which is even worse. Unless being wasteful becomes prohibitively expensive, we will continue to waste. There are very few people in the US who take our current crisis seriously enough that they think about it on a daily basis. Until we can become responsible, we're just going to have to make things too expensive to waste.
So, while I will grumble as I pay my outrageously high electric bill... I will also smile deep inside knowing the same expense is causing many people to use resources wisely.
27 October 2008
On the Productivity of Meetings
Perhaps one of the most telling aspects of one's personality is the way he/she deals with stress. There are those of us who seem to be constantly in a "stressed out" state; running around with wild hair, disheveled clothing, a stack of disorganized papers and a wild look in the eyes. Then there are those who usually have things under control, moving through life almost flawlessly. These are the people who are annoyingly punctual, who always come prepared like the proverbial boy scout and who, aside from a few personality quirks, always seem to have it "sooo together." There is a third category of people who never become stressed and they, obviously, have prescription medication and while I might envy them, I'm not here to write about them. It is the other two categories I'm interested in.
Now Category A, the perpetually stressed, has seemed to me to be the category to put the whiners and complainers in. It is my perception (and boy don't I know it's just my perception) that these are people who just generally cannot deal with problems. They lack foresight and run into hurdles constantly. These people fail to complete a grocery list, relying instead upon their amazing mind powers of remembrance envisioning themselves walking briskly in and out of the grocery store deftly placing all necessary items into their cart as they glide through the aisle. What really happens is that, once in the grocery store, the sensory overload makes them forget everything but the most mundane item on their mental list. This will create a need to return to the grocery store two more times, the final time will be successful only because our mental prodigy has now decided to write out a list. This does, however, place them an hour behind schedule as whatever they were creating was remembered at the last moment due to a failure to have written the date down on a calendar. Our Category A person will be late to their event, their culinary masterpiece will have failed due to repeated stopping and starting and they will need to stop and buy something at the nearest bakery. Not only will their eyes be wild but their children will be raving lunatics due to having been carted to the same grocery store three times and denied a candy bar all three times. Yes, I am saying that Category A creates their own stress.
Now Category B, these people are planners. They may not have elaborate weekly calendars, but they are writing things down. These people create grocery lists in their spare time; written neatly on a napkin while they eat their lunch. When something goes wrong, the Category B individual will take a moment to consider the best course of action. Instead of returning to the store two more times for forgotten items, our Category B person would have quickly calculated the time wasted on additional grocery trips and made a mental note to stop by the bakery after they are done preparing for their event. They will even arrive annoyingly early due to having set aside too much time for running to the bakery. The most annoying part of being a Category B person is waiting for all those Category A people. While our Category B person is sitting and waiting for Category A to show up, they are calmly running through upcoming events, reminding themselves of important dates and most likely balancing their checkbook.
Yes, I would put myself in Category B. My gripe of the moment is that I seem to work with a massive amount of people who belong to Category A. This leads to meetings where we discuss what we should have done to prepare for the meeting. We will then set up an additional meeting to discuss what should have been discussed in the original meeting but couldn't be due to no one being prepared. When we meet the second time, only half of them will have remembered to prepare so the meeting will only be semi-productive. This frustrates me to no end. The reason they give you a meeting agenda a couple of days before the meeting is so that you can prepare.
I'm also quite certain it is the Category A people who sit and chit chat about mundane things during the planned meeting time, pushing back the meeting start time about fifteen minutes. This not only frustrates me, but puts me behind schedule. The Category A people would realize it puts them behind schedule as well if they were keeping a schedule. And I guarantee, at some point during the meeting, not only will Category A say "Oh, I hate meetings, they take up so much of my time and nothing ever gets done." but they will also complain about never having enough time. You do it to yourself people.
Now Category A, the perpetually stressed, has seemed to me to be the category to put the whiners and complainers in. It is my perception (and boy don't I know it's just my perception) that these are people who just generally cannot deal with problems. They lack foresight and run into hurdles constantly. These people fail to complete a grocery list, relying instead upon their amazing mind powers of remembrance envisioning themselves walking briskly in and out of the grocery store deftly placing all necessary items into their cart as they glide through the aisle. What really happens is that, once in the grocery store, the sensory overload makes them forget everything but the most mundane item on their mental list. This will create a need to return to the grocery store two more times, the final time will be successful only because our mental prodigy has now decided to write out a list. This does, however, place them an hour behind schedule as whatever they were creating was remembered at the last moment due to a failure to have written the date down on a calendar. Our Category A person will be late to their event, their culinary masterpiece will have failed due to repeated stopping and starting and they will need to stop and buy something at the nearest bakery. Not only will their eyes be wild but their children will be raving lunatics due to having been carted to the same grocery store three times and denied a candy bar all three times. Yes, I am saying that Category A creates their own stress.
Now Category B, these people are planners. They may not have elaborate weekly calendars, but they are writing things down. These people create grocery lists in their spare time; written neatly on a napkin while they eat their lunch. When something goes wrong, the Category B individual will take a moment to consider the best course of action. Instead of returning to the store two more times for forgotten items, our Category B person would have quickly calculated the time wasted on additional grocery trips and made a mental note to stop by the bakery after they are done preparing for their event. They will even arrive annoyingly early due to having set aside too much time for running to the bakery. The most annoying part of being a Category B person is waiting for all those Category A people. While our Category B person is sitting and waiting for Category A to show up, they are calmly running through upcoming events, reminding themselves of important dates and most likely balancing their checkbook.
Yes, I would put myself in Category B. My gripe of the moment is that I seem to work with a massive amount of people who belong to Category A. This leads to meetings where we discuss what we should have done to prepare for the meeting. We will then set up an additional meeting to discuss what should have been discussed in the original meeting but couldn't be due to no one being prepared. When we meet the second time, only half of them will have remembered to prepare so the meeting will only be semi-productive. This frustrates me to no end. The reason they give you a meeting agenda a couple of days before the meeting is so that you can prepare.
I'm also quite certain it is the Category A people who sit and chit chat about mundane things during the planned meeting time, pushing back the meeting start time about fifteen minutes. This not only frustrates me, but puts me behind schedule. The Category A people would realize it puts them behind schedule as well if they were keeping a schedule. And I guarantee, at some point during the meeting, not only will Category A say "Oh, I hate meetings, they take up so much of my time and nothing ever gets done." but they will also complain about never having enough time. You do it to yourself people.
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