Surviving the Workday

Made in Italy label: Read the fine print suggests that Chinese workers in Tuscan sweatshops are responsible for many “Made in Italy” goods. Interestingly, some of this is decribed as ”self-exploitation,” because the Chinese workers incurred debts to come to Italy and need to work to pay them off so they live in squalor and work in sweatshops. So much for buying from Western European countries with better labor laws.

Hide your wallet!

Researchers at Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, and Pitt demonstrated that people are willing to spend more money if they feel sad:

The scientists ran an experiment where one group of participants watched a depressing video about a boy whose mentor dies, while another group watched a more neutral program on the Great Barrier Reef. Then participants were asked how much they’d pay for a “sporty-looking, insulated water bottle.” Those who’d seen the sad program offered nearly four times as much money as those who watched the nature program.

Four times as much!

Good Lord. I think this is especially relevant to those of us who have jobs that we find depressing. Watch yourself with the retail therapy to feel better. I know I’ve fallen into this trapping of wanting something (anything!) to make me feel better when I’m sad, and many of us shop online during the workday.

And, on an evil note, there is a lovely paragraph in the story describing how retailers can capitalize on these findings. All I can say is if you’re in a store, and they’re playing Old Yeller on a TV screen, just walk away.

Hours of fun can be yours with the interactive Minimum Wages Worldwide.

 What do you notice as you click around? I’m seeing how many Western nations have a much higher minimum wage.

I’m going to add to this post as I encounter more language abuse. I’ve definitely received emails that use the imperative like this one described in the employment news at the SF Chronicle:

I received an e-mail that in its entirety said: “Be advised that your cubicle is now E-15,” with the signature block of the administrator — no greeting and no cheery goodbye. Now, I understand the need to move people around, and E-15 is a bigger cube with a window view so I’m not complaining about the move. Am I right to be peeved by the tone of the message?

I would first be puzzled (When should I move? Will someone help me move the bigger objects or shall I drag the computer down the hall?) and then peeved (One sentence to uproot my worklife? And what if I’m simply too busy to move right now?).

Business language seems to be evolving in the direction of “less is more,” whereas in this case, “less is simply less.” Less information, less politeness, less dignity, and less respect all around. And David Robinson is a senior lecturer at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, seems to agree.

Be peeved. “Be advised” is the imperative (really a contraction of “Be thou advised”) just like “Be silent!” No one in their right mind would speak that way to a colleague in person or by phone. The correct form, of course, is, “Katie: As you know, we’re consolidating work groups and that results in some changes in cubicle assignment. As of next Monday, we’ll be moving you to E-15. I hope you enjoy your new view! Best regards, Mike Pham, Office Manager.”

The “be advised” form is just another example of how people adopt a false formal language in the workplace. There’s no need for it — it didn’t enhance the meaning of the message and inadvertently communicated that you were being bossed around.

Other language issues you’d like to note?

Hearings Planned on Poultry Workers explores how a series of investigative pieces in the Charlotte Observer has raised serious issues about the safety of workers and started public hearings. It sounds as if the workers are regularly injured, fired when injured, and because they are often illegal aliens, they don’t feel they can complain and worry about being deported.

“It’s unacceptable that in 21st century America any employees are subjected to inhumane and dangerous work conditions,” Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who chairs the Senate committee on Health, Labor, Education and Pensions, said in an e-mail. “The Observer’s reports vividly demonstrate OSHA’s ineffectiveness in protecting the nation’s poultry workers. Instead of strong action against abuses, its responses are clearly inadequate and our Committee is beginning an investigation.”

If you haven’t had a daily dose of inhumanity, you might glance at the comments on the article, which seem to suggest waterboarding the illegal aliens as an alternative. You know, the Abominable Treatment of Workers is the Fault of the Workers Rhetoric.

Being a manager drives me insane. I am not a “people person.” I hate dealing with conflict. Politicking gives me hives. The thought of having to coach, reproach, and honestly assess people freaks me out.

 But hey, I finally found a benefit to being boss lady: I am less likely to get cancer.

Managers and administrators were significantly less likely to suffer neoplasms, or cancerous tumours, than all other level of workers.

On the other hand, apparently all my years in retail will give me arthritis and back pain (that latter is starting already) and lord knows what the pizza biz did to me–does that count as the hospitality trade?

However, I would like to call shenanigans on the “moderately lower risk of developing mental health problems.” I think I am enough to skew the data on that one.

Although the number of types of women’s perfumes has increased greatly, consumption of women’s perfumes (and by consumption, I think we mean purchase and application) has declined. Women just don’t seem as interested in perfume, says the New York Times, and they speculate about why (Executive Summary: perfume is an intimate gift, we aren’t as intimate with one another, and lots of perfumes are gross).

How does this apply to the workplace? Some workplaces are going perfume-free, and the New York Times claims this is sort of a new thing:

Now a few workplaces and cultural sites are trying to become fragrance-free zones. Some doctors’ offices ask patients not to wear perfume because some medical personnel or patients may have allergies or asthma that could be exacerbated by scent. Some schools ask students to forgo perfume and even scented deodorants if a teacher has a fragrance allergy — much like peanut butter has been removed from some cafeterias.

Although the paragraph above seems to suggest that teachers might be overly sensitive, I can remember when I taught that fairly frequently a male student would show up wearing roughly a half-bottle of cologne. It’s hard to function around that much cologne without being ill (again with the puke-theme).

But fragrance-free zones certainly aren’t new. At least not in California. The UU church in which I grew up always had a little announcement at the bottom of the order of service about not wearing perfume. I was never sure what you were supposed to do if you showed up in perfume, and then read that in order of service. Swim in the fountain in the garden? Feel uncomfortable throughout the service? Likewise I showed up at a state conference last year and then it was announced that we should not wear anything strongly-scented, a problem in that I was using the stinky hotel-provided shampoo and lotion. Our tax preparer always sends a note about not wearing perfume to your appointment. So not so new as a phenomenon.

The bottom line seems to me that you have to be careful about smells in shared spaces. When you wear perfume (or lotion or even deoderant), you may not know how strongly you smell. It’s like bad breath in that sense. You just can’t smell yourself accurately. You have to ask someone to give you a whiff and an honest opinion.

Via Feministing

That is the sound I made when I read this article about a man whose job it is to TASTE TEST pet food products. And he likes it.

“It has the taste and aroma of chicken and some of what you call the red flavours - things like heart and liver; gutsy, savoury notes.

“Then you get a mealy, green pea, pulse aroma and occasionally a sweeter note from the carrot.”

I have no words. Other than, “hurgh.”

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of giving up. Our culture is so focused on sticking with it to the bitter end, that it can be a source of public shame and shunning to admit that you don’t want to finish what you started.

But giving up can be a relief, a time saver, even a healthy life choice.

(more…)

This isn’t actually the most offensive workplace culture story of the week (for that see here), but that really isn’t saying much. Here’s the resignation letter from the state editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette describing the atmosphere at work through specific incidences:

 From: mmitchell
Subject: Fuck the glass
Date: February 14, 2008 8:36:31 AM CST
To: to-all

Cc: to-all-LR, to-all-NW

All I wanted to do at this newspaper is to do a good job. I came here because I thought it was a good newspaper. But, it’s not. It’s a good ole’ boys club made up of old white males. Nobody else has a voice. This is a newspaper in which: The city editor can verbally abuse another editor in the presence of the managing editor and nothing is done. The managing editor in a news meeting slugs a potential 1A story as blonde bombshells - a story in which bombs were strapped on two retarded foreign women and sent into a crowd. Male editors are allowed to talk about penis size during news meetings. Editors call Hispanics wetbacks in news meetings. Editors are proud to call blacks niggers in news stories. A city editor gets his feelings hurt over coverage of a story and I’m penalized for it. The managing editor is a bald face liar and the executive editor doesn’t give a damn. So to “the glass,” I resign effective immediately. Marilyn Mitchell

The response from another editor is pretty funny in a galling way (a la “In my dozen years here, I have NEVER seen anybody (editor or otherwise) “proud” that the “n-word” was used anywhere. ” and “I suppose some males will discuss penis size in the news meetings (boys being boys)”) 

Via Feministing

I was thinking about why exactly Children are not decor sickened me so much, and think I’ve identified part of the reason. The families, as described in the article, seemed to fit into the narcissistic family model, which coincidentally relates to the book I’m reading right now, The Narcissistic Family. (more…)

It’s the last day to vote in the UU Blog Awards. You can vote for Surviving the Workday. Or not. You don’t need to be a UU to vote in the awards, just a reader.

so, it’s time for a quiz. Here’s a quiz on Mortal Threats from Psychology Today.

How good is your grasp of risk?

1. What’s more common in the United States, (a) suicide or (b) homicide?
2. What’s the more frequent cause of death in the United States, (a) pool drowning or (b) falling out of bed?
3. What are the top five causes of accidental death in America, following motor-vehicle accidents, and which is the biggest one?
4. Of the top two causes of nonaccidental death in America, (a) cancer and (b) heart disease, which kills more women?
5. What are the next three causes of nonaccidental death in the United States?
6. Which has killed more Americans, bird flu or mad cow disease?
7. How many Americans die from AIDS every year, (a) 12,995, (b) 129,950, or (c) 1,299,500?
8. How many Americans die from diabetes every year? (a) 72,820, (b) 728,200, or (c) 7,282,000?
9. Which kills more Americans, (a) appendicitis or (b) salmonella?
10. Which kills more Americans, (a) pregnancy and childbirth or (b) malnutrition?

Answers here (scroll down).

And why not have the entire town judge it at a public hearing?

JC sent this story yesterday, and I thought, gosh, there’s nothing like the entire town knowing your business.

A deputy clerk broke an employee handbook policy forbidding co-habitation with another town employee - specifically, the director of public works - and stands to be promoted to the now-vacant position of town clerk, members of Vernon’s Board of Supervisors must decide whether to enforce the policy or condone breaking the policy by giving her the job.

You’d think the town would have better things to do. It does seem that there is some ethical shakiness here, though it’s not clear from the article if one of these folks supervises the other or will be promoted to a position of power or if simply a silly rule was broken.

In any case, I particularly like the part of the story where a town resident refers to the relationship as “a cancer” as a public hearing. Nice.

If you have a lot of sympathy for the rich (or the shallow), you’ll be able to read Parent Shock: Children are not decor without actually puking. I am so sorry that your Noguchi coffee table is childproofed and your dining room now functions as a play space. The New York Times would be such a better paper if it didn’t print these faux lifestyle trends of the rich articles.

Finding Your Valentine at Work devotes considerable attention to how to hide your relationship with a co-worker from other co-workers. This amused me to no end, possibly because it reads like an episode of The Office.

A few tips from the article:

 1. Don’t sit or stand too close.

2. Don’t spend time with each other during the workday (e.g., coffee breaks and lunches).

3. Don’t arrive or leave at the same time.

I suppose if you did those three things consistently people probably wouldn’t suspect a thing. Now why exactly might you want to hide your relationship from co-workers? I think new relationships need nurturing and often public critique does not seem particularly helpful. And, of course, depending on your workplace, relationships may not be allowed.

Jacqueline and I were chatting via email about our blogs being nominated in the non-UU blog category in the Unitarian Universalist blog awards and how that’s funny as we’re both lifelong UUs who probably don’t mention that enough. Did I mention I was raised a Unitarian Universalist? And even though I have theological tantrums and threaten to go to the Zen Center of LA or get myself baptized and go UCC, I’m really still quite UU. So here is a bit more of my UU background with YRUU.  (more…)

The Career Builder workplace romance survey is out, and it includes some interesting information:

• 40% of workers have dated a co-worker at some point in their career;

• 20% of workers have engaged in an office romance more than twice;

• 29% of these workers ended up marrying their workplace sweetheart;

• 98%of those who dated a higher-ranking co-worker say the relationship had no affect on their career advancement;

• Workers between 35 and 44 years of age are the most likely demographic to date a co-worker.

You think?

Florida’s former prison secretary has some unpleasant sharing to do. He claims to have cleaned up Florida’s prisons, which included all sorts of corruption, drugs, women as chattel, and, most disturbingly, obsessive softball.

This doesn’t sound like the worst workplace ever if I consider, say, war time atrocities, but other than that, I’d say this is probably one of the worst description of a workplace culture that I’ve read.

The personal essay is such a tough type of non-fiction writing. You have to express enough of yourself in a limited space to seem real, and you need to be able to show that you understand you (or we certainly won’t).

Want Fries with that Frustration? is a Gen Y rant in the Washington Post on graduating and not being able to find a decent job. Yes, she went to Dartmouth, she knows Arabic, she was a Fulbright scholar, but she ended up in the same retail boat as many of us who graduated during 1991-1994. It’s a tough job market out there, and every decade or so it seems just about impossible:

Looking at my Dartmouth investment banking and consulting friends, I am starting to think I may have made the wrong decision coming to Washington as an idealist. My dreams of someday starting a nonprofit to foster Western and Middle Eastern cultural understanding and to reform public diplomacy through media — maybe those are dead dreams in this city, especially in this economic slump.

I scored a temporary job long enough to pay my phone bill. Tired of potatoes and fearful of eviction, I am waiting to see whether Borders thinks I’m qualified to work as a cashier. Next on the list are Starbucks and McDonald’s. The next time you are craving fast food, keep in mind that an Ivy Leaguer might be asking, “Would you like fries with that?”

I could make snarky remarks, but IvyGate has already done that job. I kept thinking that this was such a good example of how difficult it is to write a satisfying personal essay that reveals just the right amount of personal information with self-awareness. She has clearly described what has gone on upon graduating, but hasn’t delved into any of the deeper issues such as why she feels entitled to a job upon graduation.

I’ve wondered before about the iron-clad rule for changing the oil in your car every 3000 miles. For one thing, the owner’s manual says 7500 miles in between oil changes for our Civic and 5000 miles for our Corolla. For another thing, the cars use very little oil and when I check the oil even at these limits, it is essentially light and clear, just like it went in.

Apparently this is a widespread myth that you need to change your oil every 3000 miles, a myth that is essentially perpeutated by JiffyLube and places that seem intent on using more oil. Now the state of California has come out officially to say we are changing our oil too frequently. So before you get your oil changed for that commute, presuming you have one, check the owner’s manual and not the little JiffyLube windshield stickie that insists that you’re overdue.

Resource

The 3000 Mile Myth