#I have such an issue with my new supervisor and how my workplace is run. I’m 🤏 close to quitting (alas | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rageprufrock · 9 months

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Hi Pru, this is a career question... I am in my mid-twenties, female, not quite the most junior employee at my organization but treated often as one. The workplace is highly male-dominated, competitive, the older supervisors sometimes hilariously old-boys'-club, and the younger men (my age) mean well (feminist, etc.) but have their own territories to defend. For complicated reasons I cannot leave. I knew some of this coming in but am ashamed to say that

You’ll love this: my response is so late because I too girlbossed too close to the sun and have accidentally reached mid-senior leadership status at my organization and the past month has been the most hilarious cluster of fucks. Insert clown emoji herey.

ANYWAY.

I have a few thoughts on this one, and hopefully one, or some, of these are helpful as you're navigating your early career.

To address your most immediate question: is it meant to be this hard? I think "is it meant" or "is it always" are two different questions, and each with branching answers completely dependent on your field and profession. Some are notorious for early career hazing--banking, medicine, etc--and then the answers are that the suffering is a feature, not a bug, for these industries (this can be debated ad nauseum but you know what I mean), and then for many, many other professions, the answer is that while it's not meant to be this difficult, it still is, and that it's all we can do to survive it.

But setting aside the macro issues, of whether the role itself is objectively hard or if the environment you're in is objectively sub-optimal, the more nebulous and inescapable thing is that each one of us, individually, in our early career are undergoing one of many puberties and all its attendant implied indignities. I find it weird that culturally we don't talk about this much--at least not in Western or the Eastern cultures with which I'm most conversational--but think about it: in the first five to ten years of your working life, you're often simultaneously navigating a staggering number of life-changing systemic shifts that have a tectonic impact on your lived experience. I

For a lot of us, beginning your life as a working adult means you're likely moving out of your parents' home, which adds a huge amount to your mental load and financial burden.

For a lot of us, these early professional jobs are also the first time we're operating in a performance-reward system for which there is no clear rubric or understandable progression monitoring--there aren't any grades, and I can't tell you the number of people who I've spoken to in my career who have been shocked when they're told they're being put on performance improvement plans even though they thought they were doing fine.

It's like being sent to college with no class list, textbooks hidden in eight different departments run by varyingly helpful people, while trapped in an inescapable group project run by someone who seems just as frazzled as you are, and told "okay well you should need to bring me your completed degree by EOD Thursday." This doesn't even take into account your genetic assignment to play this entire game on hard mode by failing to be a cisgendered man in the dominant cultural demographic.

People who've had multiple jobs and career changes can attest, every new job, no matter how seasoned you are, is fucking exhausting. It's almost a joke among my friends at this point how often I change jobs, and every single time I do, there's at least a six month run where at the end of every day, I'm fucking spent. I couldn't calculate 1+3 if my life depended on it, because I've spent my working day so furiously trying to read the professional tea leaves and figuring out what the actual fuck I'm supposed to be doing--which, funnily enough, is never as clear as you would think! Even if you are at increasingly senior levels of responsibility! It's really fun and good! Your boss's boss's leadership team meetings? Surprisingly similar to when I used go get coffee during my break working at an ice cream shop to complain about our customers and equipment and boss! It's amazing how no matter how much changes, everything stays the same!

So I think in the end, my answer to your question is this:

Is it meant to be this hard? Depending on what you do, maybe.

But should it be this hard? Of course not. Life is short and lush and wonderful, but already so filled with challenges, and it's a shame that being rooted in capitalism, we're all forced to participate in a system that's so unbending and unforgiving.

But does that mean it's going to be forever? Or that you can't survive and thrive and have fun in the process? Absolutely not.

However awful you feel, however bad the job is, it doesn't have to be forever. This role you're in now may be just what you need to find your next, better, better paid opportunity. And maybe that one won't be the ideal for more than a year, maybe two, but that's why you keep an eye out and a keen focus on what you want, and what's most important, and like a shark, you continue to move and grow as you get clearer on where you want to move and how you want to grow. The person I was at 24 could not have imagined the person I am at 38, and I'm guessing that the woman I am today can't fathom who I'll be in another 10 years. Whoever she is, I hope she's still choosing to do hard things and--to the very best of her ability--having a good time in the process.

It's okay to cry about work. It's okay to cry at work, even though I strongly recommend that you do this huddled in a restroom in privacy because otherwise it gets messy--fairly or otherwise. It's okay and normal to do these things. It's okay and normal to feel like a fucking disaster, to feel--or to in actuality!--be categorically failing. It is okay and normal to hate and love your job, and to love money and hate the work. There is no right way to do this, and the only wrong way is to give up on yourself, or to create a situation where you cannot have the freedom of your choices or your future.

It's also going to get easier with time. Even if you don't feel it, every day you're getting more experienced, more confident, more discerning. Those microscopic, atomic changes in you accrue, and I'm sure if you're honest with yourself you can already identify how even today, you are a stronger, more capable person in your professional context than you may have been just a year or two ago. Even if you don't mean to do it, just the experience, the bruises, the callouses from throwing yourself at the brick wall over time will rewrite the person you are--if you do this with your eyes open and intentionally, all the better.

Five years from now, ten years from now, you might still find yourself crying about work. But hopefully you'll share the good fortune I have been privileged enough to have, and find yourself the type of good friends who say, "don't care during work hours, it's beneath you to give them the satisfaction--cry later," and actually have the wherewithal to follow that extremely correct guidance.

So anyway, it shouldn't be this hard, but it is. The good thing is, you're better and stronger than it is, and you can look forward to the day you get to look over the shoulder at all the worlds you've conquered as you get ready to do it all over again.

💖

#advice #career advice

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jaebird88 · 3 months

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The issues with my workplace’s in-house application came to a head when we finally(?) deduced the cause of most of the issues I have been dealing with. I say most, because there is no “one size fits all” problem as I have multiple bugbears with their software.

For context: I work in a privately own supply chain warehouse in which we order cheap tools from China and accessories for hardware stores and ship them out nationwide. I think we have another location in Texas, but honestly I can’t be bothered to invest myself in a company that’s been running on cheap labor and nepotism. Anyway…

The “auto stock run” function which has been the bane of my existence for the last two weeks is supposed to work as follows:

When we receive our inventory, we record how many items are contained in each case.

With that number as the main factor, the company can track how many items are pulled by packers for their orders. Once a case has been emptied, the system is updated to as how many cases remain in stock.

After a specified point, my application spits out a list to inform me on what I need to retrieve and restock. Rather than counting everything myself.

Simple, right? Should work as intended, yes? Unfortunately, the one consistent issue that kept recurring were the inaccuracies between what the system shows as the on-hand stock count and what I can see in person. The IT guy discovered that the count in the system was not adjusted correctly due to being based on a repackaged item’s quantity.

So instead of me updating things from my application to say I have four cases out of four on my line, each one containing twenty items each, the system showed there was six per case. Meaning for every six items removed, that’s one box emptied. And we often refurbish and repack returns or new items with an additional sticker to then put back out for orders, all of which are of varying quantities per box.

Until the jackass at the top who decided on this function to be made returns in a week, I’m going to be doing my job the old way, which is preferable. I know my line and all its problems (because there’s still far more bullshit to remind my supervisors about constantly), and can stay on top of things without such a flawed automated function. Plus, it keeps me busy, and I hate spinning my wheels waiting for something to prompt me to work.

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inghrafn · 1 year

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Every month, our employer issues a "system news" document which we're supposed to read from start to finish. That's how we discovered an odd item: a mysterious training scheduled to take place at our branch. No title, no topic, no named presenter. A total brick wall.

Our supervisors could tell us very little other than that attendance was mandatory. The lack of further information made them uneasy. It's one thing to withhold confidential details from the rank-and-file. But from management? Unheard-of.

To thicken the plot, something extraordinary was taking place within the branch calendar. To make room for the Unknown Seminar, every program, meeting, and class booked for that date had been hastily canceled. Events that had been months in the making, speaker's fees already processed, budgets already spent... poof. All for a single training, and not even a full-day one at that.

And ultimately, that was what gave the game away.

According to the plan approved by the commission, our branch would open for a few hours, then close to the public and remain closed through the afternoon, and then open again for the last few hours of the business day. Now, while we might have early closings, late openings, or even full-day/full-system closures for (planned) staff symposiums or (unplanned) weather events, the only reason to close ONE branch during the MIDDLE of the day is for an emergency evacuation.

Holy shit, I thought. I bet it’s an active shooter simulation.

Here I need to stop and say this. I think that our administrative team means well. But they work within a literal security enclosure, and that definitely influences how we customer service employees view their safety as opposed to ours. We're out on the floor, fully accessible to a public which often presents us with disruptive, illicit, abusive, combative, menacing, and occasionally violent behavior. At every crisis-situation training we take, we are told "Run, hide or fight". The implicit message is "You're on your own." We try our best to keep it together and provide excellent service. But our workplace is filled with employees struggling with massive anxiety, trauma, job burnout, and chronic stress-induced illness. Do we really need a live drill on top of that, complete with local cops tricked out in riot gear wandering around our workplace?

All of this is precisely what I told my department head. I asked her to please, PLEASE advocate on our behalf and impress it upon administration that such a drill would NOT be in their staff's best interest-- in fact, it would be a cruel breach of trust.

It already was. Upper management began to circulate a new version of the plan which I learned from a good friend who happens to also be a supervisor. One day, she openly agreed with my suspicions. The next day, she flagged me down and told me the following. I need you to know that a county agency that I am not allowed to name has requested our facility for their own training. During that time, all staff will stay in the building and work at their desks. They will not be participating in this training in any way. That is all I can say about it. But while saying all this (in a weirdly stilted manner, as if reading off an index card), she stared at me pointedly as if to say, You and I know this is bullshit, but play along, okay?

As it turns out, it WAS bullshit, and EVERYONE knew it. Eventually HR sent out a sheepish email admitting that the county agency booked to use the facilities was in fact the SWAT Team, and they would be enacting live exercises that might be potentially "triggering". As a result, ALL staff would be sent home-- but if you thought you could handle it, SWAT could use some civilian volunteers to take part in the drills...

So there it is. We called shenanigans. Our supervisors did the right thing and took our (and their) concerns up the ladder. Upper management reconsidered and modified the plan. But I do not feel better. Knowing that they were willing to lie - and to direct others to lie - to keep a lid on their real purpose is flat-out disturbing.

The benefit and curse of being an AuDHDer is that we are obsessive sleuths who fixate on details, clues, inconsistencies, holes in the narrative, plot points out of place. We are hellbent on uncovering the truth even when it only attracts odd “hmphs” and rolled eyes. Yes, I nailed it. Go me. But now my alarm bells are on a hair trigger. My sense of trust is shaky. My perseverative brain has been in fourth gear for weeks. I'm not sleeping, and I can't focus for shit; I feel like my entire quota of willpower has been used up on this wild hunt. And at the end of the day... who likes a Cassandra?

#inghrafn says #tw: the world being what it is

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sentrient · 9 months

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What Should You Consider Before Selecting a Manual Handling Course?

Risks related to manual handling tasks are not just present in factories and warehouses. Offices also may include activities that require careful monitoring for manual handling tasks. Manual handling training is the tool that helps businesses monitor, eliminate or reduce the risks of health and safety due to hazards.

If you are looking for a manual handling training program to be deployed in your organisation, we can help you consider a few important factors before making your final decision.

What is manual handling training?

Manual handling training is aimed at educating any employees engaged in any form of manual handling at their workplace, how to perform their tasks without risk to the health and safety of themselves or others at work. It also instructs them what to do in case of any workplace incidents.

Why is manual handling training important?

Manual handling training should be provided to reduce the risks associated with manual handling activities in workplaces. It helps educate employees and their supervisors on how to perform their jobs efficiently and utilise available processes, aids or technology to make their tasks safer.

Things you should know before selecting a manual handling course for your workplace

Considering the following factors regarding a manual handling course can help you make an informed decision.

What topics are covered by the course?

The first step is to get into the details of the available course option. Thoroughly discuss the content of the course with the vendor and find out if it contains topics that match your business requirements. A carefully crafted training course might begin with introducing terminologies related to manual handling and go on to explain them all in detail along with regulations and other important guidelines around reporting incidents or hazards/risks.

Is it relevant to your organisation?

Make sure the course contains knowledge that is relevant to your organisation and the type of work your organisation is related to. Also, the content of the course must be updated to include the latest information as per changing WHS rules and regulations.

Does it help maintain compliance?

By learning about the applicable regulations and guidelines, employees are made aware of the standards of work to be achieved. The course must also provide an option to measure the learner performance and other quantitative data. As an employer, you may be required to show evidence of the actions you have taken to guide employees about proper manual handling processes for their jobs. The data collected from the online manual handling course reports can help you be audit ready.

How do I roll it out in my workplace?

The course you select must also be compatible with the current technology being used in your workplace. Some courses are online and require only a computer system with minimum specifications and a running internet connection. Some courses might require high-end software to run. Choose a course that suits your technology requirements.

Is it scalable?

If you plan to increase your workforce in the near future, it is better to first discuss the scalability of the course to add new learners. Vendors may or may not provide this option. This will help you understand the available options and plan the rollout of the course.

What is the cost?

Manual Handling training is important however you must consider your budget. The investment you as an employer are about to make must also provide equal returns. Select the option that fits your budget.

Does the vendor offer after-sale maintenance?

Consider what support you may need after deploying the course in your workplace. This may require technical assistance from the vendor. Ensure that they provide such an option and will be there to attend to any issues after-sales.

Conclusion:

Employers should provide their workforce with manual handling training to encourage safe practices at the workplace. Sentrient has developed an online manual handling training course to help learners gain knowledge easily. If you are an employer looking for the best online learning tool to provide to your employees, contact us today.

This blog post was originally published here.

#manual handling #manual handling training in the workplace

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watching-pictures-move · 3 years

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Put On Your Raincoats #21 | Double Chinn Double (Double) Feature (with Hyapatia Lee)

By the time the '80s rolled around, Bob Chinn, best known for his collaborations with John Holmes (the inspiration for Boogie Nights), had been directing movies for over a decade. For much of that time, he'd been making them for peanuts (in an interview with the Rialto Report, he recounts being once asked to make a movie for five thousand dollars, which was handed to him in fifties on the spot), but in the early '80s, he was directing for Harry Mohney's Caribbean Films, working with respectable budgets (by porn standards). Some of these films starred Hyapatia Lee, one of the most popular porn stars of the era and one of the first contract girls. Now, I suspect these aren't necessarily the defining works of Chinn's career, and I do intend to get to some of his movies with Holmes. But Vinegar Syndrome had a sale and there were two double features of their collaborations going for dirt cheap, and because I am weak and foolish with money, they ended up in my cart and a few weeks later in my grubby little paws. How did this happen? Through the magic of Canada Post, of course! Anyway, what I found was that these didn't represents any extremes of artistic ambition. They were neither seeking to elevate the genre, nor were they hackwork. Rather, they represent a happy medium, movies that seek to deliver the genre's goods in a polished, diverting package. Slick cinematography, courtesy of Jack Remy. Catchy theme songs that wouldn't sound out of place if you caught them on the radio. Flashy titles. Lee recounted the atmosphere on set as one of professionalism and engagement, where everyone present wanted to do as good a job as possible. Chinn claims to have been losing interest in his work at this point, but the results onscreen are the result of confident execution by somebody who had been doing this kind of thing for years and knew how to put the production's resources to good use.

The first one I watched was The Young Like it Hot, where the operators at a phone company worry about being replaced by computers. To keep their jobs, they scheme to go the extra mile in helping their callers. As this is a porno, most of this help is sexual in nature, as when Rosa Lee Kimball stays on the line while an obscene phone caller played by Bill Margold finishes. (In an interview on the DVD, Margold says after shooting his scene, he was invited to record additional dialogue. Being the method actor that he was, he insisted on whipping it out during the recording session despite the lack of cameras.) Sometimes they are informative, as when Bud Lee (real life husband of Hyapatia at the time) explains why the perineum is referred to as taint ("cuz it taint cunt and it taint ass"). But the highlight of their efforts are Shauna Grant's increasingly life threatening home improvement advice to one poor sap played by Joey Silvera. Hyapatia Lee is ostensibly the star, and has a certain charisma, playing the supervisor, but this is really an ensemble piece, and she's joined by more experienced actors like Kay Parker and Eric Edwards. The latter I've occasionally found bland elsewhere, but he has a nice obnoxious quality that serves him well as the villainous manager whose idea it is the automate the operators' jobs. The movie reflects a very real concern (that's very much still an issue in the modern workplace), but overall this is a breezy, affable comedy.

A bit more serious in tone is Sweet Young Foxes, a coming of age story whose dramatic parts are more sensitively realized than I expected. The screenplay was written by Deborah Sullivan, Bob Chinn's wife at the time, and this is a case where a movie definitely benefited from having been written by a woman, and it seems like an earnest effort to capture the anxieties and yearnings of its young women protagonists. Lee moves closer to a real starring role, and is joined by Cara Lott and Cindy Carver as her friends, who aren't quite as strong actors as her but do have decent chemistry. I can believe they're friends even if their line delivery can be stilted. (That the movie has a good ear for genuine sounding dialogue also helps.) Kay Parker is especially good as Lee's mother, hitting some of the same notes as Taboo, and has a credibly emotional masturbation scene in front of a mirror that did not leave me unmoved. (In what way? That's none of your damn business.) This was shot by Jack Remy, the same cinematographer who worked on The Young Like it Hot. That movie looked nice and slick, but this one is a little more stylish, with the solo sex scenes in particular resembling magazine centerfolds. There's also some nice new-wave-ish music that shows up on the soundtrack, which I certainly didn't mind. I do wish some of the sex scenes didn't run quite as long (the previous movie kept them refreshingly concise) as I'd prefer more of the runtime was dedicated to the dramatic elements, but what's there is still good.

Body Girls goes back firmly to comedy territory, where Hyapatia Lee and the members of her gym are trying to win a bodybuilding contest despite a rival gym's attempts to undermine them. This comes in the form of a pair of schlubs in yellow tank tops who break into the gym after hours to sabotage their equipment, only to be foiled by Hyapatia and her girls who just happened to be having sex in the locker room as people do. Of course, despite Lee's attempts to teach them a lesson (which depending on your proclivities, may have the opposite effect), they don't give up, and during the contest threaten the judge at gunpoint. Not one to take things lying down (okay, poor choice of words here), Lee finds a way to influence the judge back in her favour. (The judge is played by Francois Papillon, bringing a dopey charm to the character as he fumbles through his lines in his French accent.) Her method is pretty ridiculous and certainly in service of genre requirements, but I did laugh.

Now, there's probably a dilemma in audience sympathy here as both Lee and her rivals are cheating, but Lee's methods are more agreeable and directed at the judge instead of her rivals so I guess we ought to root for her. She's also buoyant, charismatic and has a real star quality, and is joined by such fan favourites as Shanna McCullough and Erica Boyer, all of whom sport wildly different hairstyles. As can be expected given the exercise theme, most of the ladies have toned, athletic bodies (and given the decade, voluminous coiffures), with the exception of Tigr, who brings a wiry punkish energy that stood out to me despite her limited screentime, and she also performs the miraculous feat of making a mullet look cute. (I'd previously been moved by her work in Kamikaze Hearts, the great mockumentary about a porn production and her relationship with Sharon Mitchell. She didn't stay in the industry for too long, but I'd be interested in seeing more of her work.) The screenplay was written by Lee with her husband Bud (who plays the judge's assistant with an agreeable presence that's neither too alpha nor too schlubby) and is full of exercise-related dialogue. Most of this is pretty clunky and calling it wordplay might be a bit generous ("sexercise" features at one point), but I did appreciate the effort. Also as is requisite for the premise, the longest set piece in the movie is an orgy in Lee's gym with the various participants snaked around different pieces of equipment. I must note that one of the male actors resembles Barry Gibb and that Francois Papillon is shown to wear a tiger-striped speedo. Did I enjoy the movie? Yes, but not for reasons cited in that sentence.

At the end of Body Girls, Bud Lee suggests to Hyapatia, "Let's get physical", which is the title of the next movie. (Body Girls also features a character looking at dirty magazine with stills from Sweet Young Foxes and ends with a plug for some of these other movies, anticipating the MCU's narrative and marketing strategies by a few decades.) Now, all of these movies have had decent theme songs, but the one in Let's Get Physical has lyrics that are plagiaristically close to those of Olivia Newton-John's 1983 hit. (The delivery however is more shrill but not unpleasing.) This movie is a drama where Lee plays a dance instructor trying to put together a ballet performance despite her strained relationship with her impotent husband played by Paul Thomas. (In the interview I listened to, Lee speaks well of almost everyone she worked with on these films, with the pointed exception of Paul Thomas. If there was bitterness behind the scenes, it arguably helps their performances.)

Lee wrote the screenplay for this one, and unlike Body Girls with its surface level references to bodybuilding and exercise, the dialogue here feels packed with knowledge of the real thing, which is understandable given Lee's real life interest in dance going back to her childhood. (I looked up "Luigi jazz dancing" after finishing the movie and was pleasantly surprised to learn it was a real thing.) This movie goes all in on her star power, and features a number of dance numbers that seem genuinely interested in the form rather than just leering at the performers. (There is one scene where the song Lee dances to sounds suspiciously like "Beat It".) I did appreciate that the sex scenes were kept relatively concise and tied into the dramatic aspects, although in some cases, the choices made could be goofy, like the scene where Lee makes love to her student Shanna McCullough while Thomas, in a dramatically justified but still awkward gesture, watches from another room and jacks off. (I assume he's playing the audience in this scene. Also, McCullough's character remarks "I've never done this before" when going down on Lee, and yeah, okay Shanna.) Other highlights include a car stunt that may or may not have been lifted from elsewhere but still looks decently executed, as well as a dream sequence where Thomas (or his character at least) plays the piano and sings a song. This is held back a bit by the genre's demands, like when it places a completely superfluous sex scene at the end after Lee's reconciliation with Thomas, but on the whole this is probably the best one of the lot.

#film #put on your raincoats #movie review #the young like it hot #sweet young foxes #body girls #let's get physical #bob chinn #hyapatia lee

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averycanadianfilm · 3 years

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Science diversified: The men who say no to manels. (manels = all male panels).

Two male researchers became gender-equity allies after witnessing how female colleagues were treated in meetings and job interviews.

For all sorts of reasons, women remain under-represented in senior-level jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

To overcome these blocks, what can male allies do to challenge discriminatory practices and unconscious bias, and to recognize their own privilege and the career advantages it has delivered?

Two male scientists saw how female colleagues were ignored or talked over in meetings and treated more harshly than male candidates in job interviews.

They discuss the need to take supportive action, including a range of measures that include a boycott of ‘manels’ — all-male panels.

This episode is part of Science diversified, a seven-part podcast series exploring how having a more diverse range of researchers ultimately benefits not only the scientific enterprise, but also the wider world.

Each episode in this series concludes with a sponsored slot from the International Science Council (ISC) about how it is exploring diversity in science.

The ISC is exploring diversity in science.

This episode looks at the role of allies in science workplaces and spaces of power.

How can being an ally help to make science more inclusive to diverse perspectives?

And what practical steps can we all take to support that?

Ineke Sluiter talks about successful interventions to increase the number of women members at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, of which she is president.

And Mary Robinson, who was the first female president of Ireland, discusses the value of having like-minded allies at climate negotiations.

TRANSCRIPT

Allies in action: What two male researchers did when they saw how female colleagues were being treated differently at work.

00:03: David Payne

Hello, I'm David Payne, careers editor at Nature. And this is Working Scientist, a Nature Careers podcast.

In this seven part series, Science Diversified, we're exploring how the scientific enterprise truly benefits when you have a team of researchers from a broad range of backgrounds, disciplines and skill sets.

Each episode ends with a 10-minute sponsored slot from the International Science council about its work on diversity.

In this third episode, we're in search of allies to support people from under-represented groups.

In this case, we meet two men who noticed how women were treated differently in the workplace, and did something concrete about it.

00:46: Paul Walton

So my name is Paul Walton. I'm a bioinorganic chemist at the University of York, where I'm a professor. Throughout my gender equality work, I come across two things that really have stood out.

One is the use of data. You can look at, say the percentage of female faculty in our universities globally, and see, whilst there's been progress, there's undoubtedly been progress, in many countries in the world, there's simply not at parity.

And there's some puzzles in there, right? You know, for instance, if you look at some countries where you may expect gender equality to have a hard time, (Saudi Arabia), then you see that percentage of female faculty in universities is pretty good.

And it's better than some countries where you expect gender equality perhaps to be better, even in places where there have been gender equity policies for decades. In Scandinavia, for instance, women are still under-represented in the senior positions.

The second thing is unconscious bias. The best examples are those when you talk about meeting dynamics and the way that people behave and speak in meetings, and that's often where decisions are made.

Women are talked over and often ignored, because people carry with them inside some notion of the value of men and women's contributions to discussion.

Moreover, that a woman will have an idea, put it forward, it will be ignored. And then five or 10 minutes later, a man will have the same idea and pitch it forward and get the credit for it.

And every time I speak about unconscious bias and give those examples, say, the meeting example, pretty much all the women in the audience will nod.

It doesn't matter which country I'm in, where I'm speaking, which subject. Pretty much all the men in the audience will think probably, no reaction.

Whilst I can only speak anecdotally, that awareness raising has for us being powerful and has changed meeting behaviours, and has improved decision making to a large extent.

So one thing we did, also, was to bring in observers to interview panels. Actually also, shortlisting panels. The job of these people was to watch out for any instances of unconscious bias during the decision making process.

And this is something that we do routinely now for appointments. And I would say, certainly the ones I've been involved with, I would say, on every occasion, we find that male candidates are spoken about 50% more of the time than female candidates.

And that female candidates receive roughly twice as many negative comments as male candidates.

And I have some anecdotes here, one of which is that I saw two candidates chat, discussed by my colleagues, which were roughly the same merit. And the male candidate attracted no negative comments, but the female candidate at the end attracted all sorts of negative comments.

But it took the act of observation to pick that up. And then to be reflected back to the panel, that there was there was an issue.

And it's powerful. You see it making a difference and I can think of several anecdotes. One of which is that we were shortlisting for a faculty member once and actually I was the observer. And I noticed that all of the female candidates did not have what I called sponsorship, whereas many of the male candidates would have sponsorship. What is sponsorship? Sponsorship is where we would say be talking about a particular resume, and one of my colleagues would say something like, "well, I've had a phone call about this candidate from his ex supervisor, his ex-postdoc advisor and this is a really good guy." And men would receive those informal sponsorships and women wouldn't.

And it was interesting, what was interesting is that when I pointed this out to my colleagues, through the observation, they were aghast that they'd even done this.

But of course, it's all part of the great network of unconscious bias. One, they may not be aware of their own biases and two, that the sponsorship in itself had come out of some notion of bias and how men are viewed and how women are viewed.

And that didn't lead to a correction of, of the, of the people that would shortlist and the people that we would interview.

05:49 Sean Hendy

Yes, I'm Professor Sean Hendy from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. I first got interested in gender equality, really, by just watching what was happening to some of my women colleagues and friends. My opportunity to do something about it came later in my career, as I moved into leadership positions.

When I when I was a junior scientist, I don't think I really felt like I had the ability to make much change, other than just trying to be a good colleague.

So one of the things that, you know, I feel quite strongly, about is setting yourself targets, and then taking steps to achieve those targets.

Then there are other the other sort of things that you can do, you know, once you climb up the, you know, the ranks of seniority.

So, I took the the “no manel pledge” about five years ago. I said that I wasn't going to appear on, panels that were all men, and then I wasn't going to appear in conference sessions that that that were all mail. You know, at first you think, you know, I'm going to look like an idiot, and I'm going to be making lots of trouble for lots of people, actually, my experience was completely different.

Usually, when I, when I pointed this out to people organizing panels, or conference organizers, they were so thankful that I pointed it out, right, because that's just something that had slipped by them.

And they realized that it was not the right thing to do. And so by actually, me raising it, it wasn't, it wasn't seen as a negative thing or, or a difficult thing, it was actually seen as a helpful thing.

You know, and it is easy to just sort of, you know, when you're busy, and you've got to put together a list of speakers, to just not do the gender check.

You know, I mean, it happens to us all. Right, we're in a rush, you've got to get a list of names. And so but but one thing I've learned to do is to always run the gender lens, over any list of names I'm looking at, any list of colleagues that I'm collaborating with now.

We're trapped in our own social networks, right. And those social networks are often shaped by our gender and our socialization habits.

And so, you know, once you start sort of examining your own networks, and the people that you're working with, and your sort of "go-to" people, you'll start to see some biases on them. And actually, you know, you can correct it.

And over time, you'll actually build up a fantastic network of people that you can go to, that there's much more broad and diverse than it would otherwise be if you were simply relying on the old boys’ club.

08:27 Paul Walton

But a question I get asked a lot is why as a man, are you involved in gender equality? You know, why it's, it's a bit of a puzzle.

And I would say there's a different perspective on gender inequality, which is, goes as follows, is that is not so much a female deficit problem, but it's a male advantage problem.

And what do I mean by that? I mean, that, whether I like it or not as a white, middle aged man, I've enjoyed all the advantages that the scientific world can offer me, to the point where it's the analogy I draw, it's a bit like being in a cycle race, I've been given secretly some performance enhancing drugs and that, as we all set off on the race of this great competition in science, it's perhaps no surprise that occasionally I'll win a cycling stage, or put it scientifically win a prize or get a grant or get a paper published.

And from my perspective, then, as a guy who's enjoyed all the advantages, I can't then separate myself from the thought that that victory or that achievement is tainted It's tainted in some way because it's been gained unfairly. And that through that lens, I find myself wanting to speak out about gender equality, not only to raise awareness of the problem, but also to do my best to offset the advantages that I personally have had as a scientist.

09:56 Sean Hendy

Often the burden is placed on them, women, to drive change. Again that's not fair. That's holding them back from doing their science. I think the burden of making change has to be shared equally otherwise, it's simply going to perpetuate the same sort of inequity that we've had for so long, right?

Where you can, as a male, you can sort of focus on your work, you've maybe not got the same sort of expectations from your family, from society about the other roles that you might play, you know, crank out the publications, get the grants, and success will breed success.

And, and of course, that leaves people who are trying to make change, less able to get grants, less able to further their own careers.

And that kind of perpetuates the problem. So I think it is about sharing that burden equally. A lot of extremely capable women scientists who don't need the help of men. But actually, it's about sharing that burden equally, so that actually they can they can reach their potential.

Paul Walton: 11:01

You know, whether we like it or not, it's, it is an unfair world of which actually, I'm on the side of advantage rather than disadvantage.

And I'd hope that message would perhaps get out a little bit more, to engage a few more men in the whole business of gender equality, that, you know, we do have advantages, whether we like it or not, and that we benefit from those advantages.

And that, if we could recognize and understand that, then perhaps it will motivate more people to get involved, to make their own achievements be worthy.

Sean Hendy: 11:43

Science is a wonderful career. We all go out around telling people science is a wonderful career.

And it's not fair to be going around, telling people, you know, about the wonders of science, and not allowing them to share it not allowing certain types of people to share in that.

So there's just a basic equity issue there that I think is quite important.

But genuinely, it does make for better science, you know, particularly with the types of problems that we're grappling with today.

These are problems that that, you know, no single individual can own, and no single individual perspective can solve.

So we simply need that diversity in our scientific teams and that diversity of perspective, and lived experience.

And so, you know, your agenda does have an influence on your, on your lived experience.

And so that's, that's really important when we're trying to solve complex problems, like climate change, grappling with with the COVID pandemic, as we are at the moment, we need diverse perspectives.

It's not always so obvious. I'm a theoretical physicist, you sort of sit back and ponder, well, how would what I'd be doing be different If I was a woman, and some areas of science, it's not super obvious how how diversity changes things.

And these are often the most resistant areas of science to change, right? And we just don't know. Once we bring diverse teams to bear, we can certainly take science in different directions.

And increasingly, science is multidisciplinary, right? It's no longer simply based on a disciplinary basis, where one person can sort of master all of the knowledge.

We're having to build teams, we're having to build on that diversity. And if we can't build teams from a diverse set of perspectives, then you're not going to be doing good science these days. And that includes building diverse teams.

David Payne 13:35

Now, that's all for this section of our Working Scientist podcast. We now have a slot sponsored by the International Science Council, which looks at why diversity is so critical to advancing science, and the steps we can take to improve it. I'm David Payne, careers editor at Nature. Thanks for listening.

Ineke Sluiter 13:55

I see the talents, the upcoming young people, the ideas, the creativity, the way they bubble with energy. And it is very frustrating to me if I see that energy quenched.

Mary Robinson: 14:07

Initially, they needed to be kind of encouraged that their voice mattered. But once they were affirmed in that way, they were so eloquent and they spoke from life's experience. They were delighted and empowered, you could see it.

Marnie Chesterton: 14:27

Welcome to this podcast series from the International Science Council, where we're exploring diversity in science.

I'm Marnie Chesterton, and in this episode we're looking at the role of allies in the workplace and spaces of power. How can being an ally help to make science more inclusive to diverse perspectives? And what practical steps can we all take to support that?

Ineke Sluiter 14:54

If you ignore diversity and inclusion, it simply means you're going to miss talent. You're going to miss out on gifted people, and we simply can't afford that. I's a waste. That's a loss for academies as a whole.

Marnie Chesterton 15:07

This is Ineke Sluiter, professor of ancient Greek at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and president of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the ISC’s member organizations.

It was established at the start of the 19th century as an academy for all disciplines, the humanities, as well as the natural, social and medical sciences.

The academy's members are elected from Dutch universities, and like many science organizations, the profile of their members hasn't always been very diverse.

Ineke Sluiter: 15:39

So in 2011, about 16% of the academy's membership were female. So that's a really low number.

And it has steadily risen, through 19% in 2014. And currently, after several measures were taken in 2020 it was at 31%, which we're actually pretty proud of. Because I have to say that, in fairness, that initial poor representation was a reflection of the poor representation in Dutch academia in general.

And one important aspect of this issue for the academy was the leaky pipeline in Dutch academia at large, where among students women are even a little over represented. Then among PhD students, it's almost equal. And then that every further progressive step of the academic career, we tend to lose women.

Marnie Chesterton: 16:35

Through its work on increasing gender equality in science, the ISC has been looking at how to move from awareness to transformation, because although we've been talking about better representation of women in science for a long time, that isn't always reflected in the figures.

According to the Gender Gap in Science project, funded by the ISC, women's experiences in both educational and employment settings are consistently less positive than men's.

More than a quarter of women's responses across the sciences reported experiencing sexual harassment at university or at work. Women were 14 times more likely than men to report being personally harassed, and consistently reported less positive relationships with their doctoral advisors.

So given we’re aware of the issue, how can we transform the situation? This is a question Ineke has also struggled with.

Ineke Sluiter: 17:29

So then the question is, what could we do? We could either choose to reconcile ourselves to following this trend of very slow growth of the percentage of female academics, or show leadership from the top because that does make a difference.

I think it actually always comes down to the same couple of points. Awareness, visibility, and the courage to intervene

Marnie Chesterton: 17:54

And intervene they did. In 2017, 100 years after Johanna Westerdijk was appointed as the first female full professor in the Netherlands, the academy marked the centenary with a special call for nominations of women members.

Ineke Sluiter: 18:10

And the miraculous thing was sometimes the academy elect people that have been nominated more than once.

But this whole group of candidates we had never seen before. And the quality of the nominations was outstanding.

So think about visibility. Apparently, because we had invited nominators, presidents of universities, to send us the names of their best women, they now saw them with new eyes. They discovered them as they were, they were there all along with their great work. They discovered the talents in their own organizations, it was actually fabulous.

And as a result, not just of that measure, we now have over 30% female members in our fellowship, and so we're ahead of the curve. That's better than the average at the Dutch universities. It's actually at the high end of what any university has. And I think that's leading from the top, it's proven a very effective measure. It works. Quality as high as effort. And for the fellowship as a whole it's definitely an improvement.

Marnie Chesterton: 19:15

So does Inneke have any advice for others who are looking to start their own journey for change?

Ineke Sluiter: 19:20

First of all, it helps to find allies to form networks. Women can also really help each other there.

But this was actually a question that could be raised by men and women. Men are often very aware that something is going wrong. And the question is, what can you do? There's a couple of steps.

The first is be aware of these issues of unconscious bias.

So raise awareness, be aware yourself.

Second point. We would always recommend to find expert advice. There are people whose job it is to study these things and who know about this.

Ask them to analyze the processes in your organization, or your department, or your team. The facts, the figures, so that you can work based on correct information. Then formulate concrete goals and actions.

And finally, make sure you monitor the results so that you can see what works and what doesn't.

And maybe the most important thing is keep hope because we will be getting there.

Marnie Chesterton: 20:20

Having allies at all levels, from the grassroots to the leadership, is crucial for transformative action.

Someone else who can testify to this is Mary Robinson, the first woman president of Ireland, and a patron of the International Science Council.

During her first UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, COP 15, she noticed a real lack of representation from women,

Mary Robinson: 20:44

It was very male, it was very technical, and it did not incorporate a gender perspective.

The delegates tended to be professionals talking about clauses and paragraphs and fighting their corner on every word.

But they weren't sensitive to gender, sensitive to what it's like at grassroots level when such unpredictable weather patterns devastate your harvest, and you can't put food on the table and you have to go further for water.

Marnie Chesterton: 21:13

Mary began attending the COP meetings on climate change, just as several other women were coming to the fore in climate negotiations. And having like minded allies in those seats of power was really important.

Mary Robinson: 21:25

We decided that we would form a network of women on gender and climate that would include women ministers and heads of agencies.

And we called it the Troika+ of women leaders on gender and climate. We plotted to address a decision on gender parity, which was going to be 10 years old by the next conference.

It was very good for the wider gender constituency, which had been working very hard, but not to great effect, on gender.

And it was strengthened by this network of women ministers helping, and we then got the Gender Action Plan. And we've now got the extension of the Gender Action Plan, and gender is much more visible, though still not taken seriously enough, because we're still not seeing, you know, a full 50/50 balance parity in delegations and in committees. And we're still not seeing the gender responsiveness that would help in a climate context. So there's still work to do. But we've come quite a long way.

Marnie Chesterton: 22:30

Part of this progress has been through the network mentoring and promoting the voices of women, especially the most marginalized groups.

Mary Robinson 22:37

In the COPs before Paris, we realized the importance of getting different voices, diversity into the discussion, by the women leaders who were ministers having in their delegations, grassroots women, indigenous women, young women.

And their voices as full delegates at the table, and therefore able to be on panels with the delegates listening in, to speak from the floor, with the delegates listening, were really powerful.

Marnie Chesterton: 23:06

As well as curbing dangerous climate change. The UN Sustainable Development Goals include ending hunger and poverty, and improving sanitation and education around the world. Gender equality, which is itself, one of the 16 goals, is vital to achieving the rest.

Mary Robinson: 23:23

In my podcast, we have a byline, which is intentionally quite provocative, where we say that climate change is a man-made problem that requires a feminist solution.

And of course, I always explain that man made us generic includes all of us, and that a feminist solution hopefully includes as many men as possible. And that is where we really see gender being properly not seen as a women's issue, but seen as an issue of importance to all genders.

And, to me, you know, a diverse and inclusive scientific workforce draws from the widest range of backgrounds, of perspectives, of experiences, so that it will maximize creativity and innovation in science.

Marnie Chesterton: 24:07

Being an ally means recognizing that addressing diversity and inclusion is a task for us all. It's not just an issue for people who are less represented, whether that's in science workplaces, academies, or in science policy discussions.

By thinking about what each of us can do, we can all be better allies, and that helps science itself to move forward.

That's it for this episode on diversity in science from the International Science Council.

The ISC is working with partners to support two studies on the inclusion and participation of women in science, the Gender Insight Survey and the Gender Gap In Science project.

You can find more info about both of these online at council dot science.

Next week we'll be speaking to two early career scientists about the importance of making scientific workplaces safe and welcoming for all researchers.

#Nature #Women In Science #Science

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brokebuckkmountain · 3 years

Text

Today was the worst

(long rant ahead, mostly about workplace politics with irl problems sprinkled in for flavor)

So. I’ve already been in my feelings lately due to like: life sucking, it’s the plague times, I am struggling to find a psychiatrist despite being told it was imperative I get help immediately, it’s winter and winter makes me sad, I’m losing friendships left and right thx to Miss Rona, I hate my job, yesterday was the one year anniversary of my breakup, there’s tons of gossip about me at work for things I genuinely did not say, and some of my work buddies are ignoring me for no apparent reason (including my best friend who has been ignoring me since my literal birthday a month ago? It’s all her friends that are ignoring me to it’s hard not to think it’s something related to that). Also, those PMS mood swings are a bitch.

I wanted today to be a good day. I wanted to get up early. I wore my new clothes and new perfume and was excited to train a coworker I genuinely like who was never trained when she was hired a year ago and struggles to get through her shifts. I mean I volunteered to do it for free because she deserves the help. But no no. Today was not a good one.

-I was woken up at 3 am to a litany of text messages from an ex asking to hook up again. Promptly fell back asleep and missed my later alarm, causing me to have to skip my workout this am and rush my shower.

-My boss didn’t assign my trainee online learning or make a schedule, told me I was a “strong enough trainer” to just do what I felt needed to be done. That was all he said to me, no further instruction. This is important later. Trainers and trainees are considered non-coverage and I run into an issue with this everytime I train- shifts want us on the floor doing different tasks than what I’m actually teaching. I personally think being a little backed up for 30 minutes is preferable to new hires not knowing how to do things because they never got one on one time, but most supervisors think otherwise.

-My trainee and I had about 25 minutes until our joint lunch break. She had expressed to me that knowing more about the mechanics of coffee- what is the body of a shot, why does it expire, what’s the difference between blonde and regular- was helping her, so I decided 25 minutes whizzing through that part of training before lunch was fine. I was immediately chastised by someone we’ll call Manager 1 because that “isn’t part of the training”. It very much is, and is available on every training resource, it just never gets taught because of time constraints and corporate not really caring about coffee quality. Manager 1 has consistently made a scene every time I train a new hire over us doing training and not just whatever she wants to get done. Manager 1 is also known for berating almost every one, and has lied about altercations that never happened between me and customers before to our manager. So she’s not exactly a fan favorite of mine. I maintained that the coffee basics was part of training and returned to the back, planning to use that time to do coffee basics and more memory games for drink recipes.

-After about 5 minutes, my coworker came to the back and told me the two managers wanted us out there helping. I went out alone to tell Manager 2 (who was technically in charge and generally less awful) what we were working on and asked if they really needed us or if they’d be okay. She said they needed us and Manager 2 began snapping that we were floor coverage, that my trainee was supposed to be on the floor all day, and that she had no business in the back “staring at a computer screen” (which we were not doing, but I digress). Since this is about the fourth time I’ve had this issue with this particular manager, I responded that we were supposed to be doing whatever I felt needed to be done, not working the floor. When they maintained that they were “under the impression” from our boss that my trainee and I were to remain on the floor all day, and we were coverage, I said “I guess I got confused by the dashed lines on the schedule that signify non-coverage as us being non-coverage” and went to get my trainee.

-My trainee knew the situation because she had overheard, got super nervous, and started making drinks wrong that she had been making correctly all day. During this time I overheard Manager 1 and Manager 2 not-quietly discussing them both texting our boss to complain about me. Fair, I guess, since I planned on doing the same when I was on my lunch. At one point they both left the bar area to send their texts and squat by the safe while waiting for it to unlock (it’s on a timer and beeps when it’s ready, no need to hover) which only infuriated me more- they moved us to bar so they could leave it. When it was finally our lunch time I sent my trainee and was pulled aside by Manager 2. I tried to move the conversation to the break room (something I have always been adamant about- not publicly berating coworkers in front of others) but she stayed on the floor where multiple people were and reprimanded me for my bad attitude. I told her I was never instructed to stay on the floor, had a schedule, and would’ve been more flexible if they had actually spoken to me rather than yelling and demanding. She maintained that I had a bad attitude and needed to follow orders. I said, once again, “mutual respect goes both ways, if you want me to incorporate things into my training schedule then you need to have an actual conversation with me about it and not demand it at random”. She said that as my superior I wasn’t allowed to “talk back” (ignoring my point that they had both, indeed, begun yelling at me) and told me my bad attitude “wasn’t a good look” and that she didn’t feel I was understanding. I said I understood perfectly that I shouldn’t be rude, but that they shouldn’t yell at me either, and I wasn’t going to take unprofessional yelling to pull me off my job as a trainer. Manager 2 didn’t listen to a word I said and kept going “you can’t have an attitude, do you understand?” so after a period of staring at her silently I said “Can I clock out for my lunch now and proceed with training?” and walked away.

-After lunch I was able to continue training, only because that part of the training constituted us being on the floor helping. I apologized profusely to my trainee for putting her in that situation, reassuring her that regardless of who was in the “right” or the personal issues of the people on the floor, my first priority was her being able to successfully learn and feel comfortable. She told me she had a hard time focusing on drinks and was anxious after the scene, and that she felt the public reprimanding I received was far out of line and unprofessional. I told her I knew that, but being as it was two managers against one me, I would probably still receive a write up tomorrow morning and not to let it worry her when it did go down (tomorrow is our final day of training and my last day before a long break from work, so I know it’s going to happen in front of her). She said she would talk to my boss on my behalf and I told her not to worry, I didn’t want her pulled into workplace drama, but she insisted it wasn’t right (she is considerably older than everyone in the workplace and I think a little protective of me since we volunteered together and I’m the only one who doesn’t chastise her for small mistakes). We’ll see if she says anything tomorrow but I don’t want her to feel like she has to “go to bat” for me and involve herself in unnecessary drama against people who will lash out at her.

-While trying to clock out, I overheard Manager 2 trying to get other coworkers of mine to give accounts against our boss to his superior over not liking their scheduling. Perhaps I’m biased, because I am friends with my boss and literally vacationed with him this summer, but he is the type to listen to concerns and always give people the benefit of the doubt. I’ve never seen him give a write up and he bends over backwards to accommodate people. So whatever their issues are, something tells me they haven’t brought it up to him. Manager 2 frequently breaks safety protocols because she “doesn’t care if she gets Covid” and has vacationed out of state many times resulting in us not allowing her to come back to work and being short staffed. Despite this, I’ve never given my boss her name when he asks who is breaking safety protocols. Manager 2 is well known for being deeply unpleasant, her and my boss have been at odds for years from working together at another location, and has frequently tried to egg on other employees to get our boss in trouble while refusing to make any formal complaints herself. If you’ve been following for a while, she’s the same ass-kisser who used to say my old boss could break any rules she wanted and allowed herself to be constantly demeaned in hopes of a promotion (10 years without a promotion and she thinks it’s unfair rather than realizing she’s mean and unpleasant, chooses to attack the people who do get the promotions she wants). I know there’s a way to spin those two plotting against my boss as a way to cast some doubt on their accounts of me, but no way to do it without being a blatant shit disturber who’s just retaliating. Which is not how I want to live my life. But he deserves a heads up.

-Now I’m sitting at home with an arts and craft project I came up with to give my coworkers all a gift before the New Year and no desire to do it. Like, fuck these people, why should I do something nice for them? Even though I know the majority are good people, just not the ones in management. No energy, completely lethargic (yay depressive episode and still no antidepressants because I can’t get ahold of a goddamn psychiatrist even though my GP okayed the antidepressants herself), wishing I just could get a better job but I need the insurance at mine. It’s one thing to be constantly belittled and insulted by customers (and a very big thing, at that), but to get it from coworkers too just makes me feel awful, day in and day out. I know I’ve hated my job for the entire 3 and a half years I’ve been there and bemoaned how much less interwork drama I’ve had at every other job I’ve had (so I don’t think it’s all me, many agree it’s a toxic environment likened to a high school), but quitting a job you’re great at, passionate about (at times), live super close to, that gives you insurance, during a pandemic? Harder than it looks.

Life sux. Super anxious for tomorrow. Thanks for reading. Pls don’t reblog.

#i should text my boss since i KNOW he's gonna wanna talk tomorrow and my anxious ass will forget half of what i want to say #but thats also nerve wracking i guess #personal

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minotaurman-ayjay · 4 years

Text

ACAB - Leaving Wonderland

This will be a post on how I used to support the police, and how I’ve changed.

I will also write on this later. This will be detailing…

How increased coverage on Police Brutality changed my mind

Recollections on institutionalized racism, racism in police culture, and racism among civilian employees that I worked with as well as the police themselves.

How the very police department that I worked for mishandled my report, put me in danger, and how they treated me as a mentally ill civilian.

How police departments become corrupt, and how chain of command becomes compromised.

And lastly, how I was treated by my coworkers and supervisors after filing my report, and how they handled my mental and personal crisis, forcing me to quit and forever changed my outlook towards police.

I used to work for the police department in a civilian division. I was really good at my job, and loved the job that I did because I felt like I was helping people. I never really knew the outcome of those that I helped, and have helped many people out of volatile domestically centered situations. I helped spoke to fellow mentally ill citizens, especially those that were suicidal. I never really knew the outcome of my clients, because we weren’t really supposed to know unless it’s for official reasons. It’s a very thankless job, but it feels good to just be there for someone.

However, that slowly got tainted as 1) department wide corruption reared it’s ugly head and 2) how the division I worked for became toxic.

We had a black police chief for quite some time. Things were handled differently, and as painfully awkward he was on the PR front, he was really good at caring for people. And I feel like he legitimately did. He made a lot of changes in the department, and had different classes and training specifically for dealing with people who are mentally ill. Classes for “LGBT and Racial sensitivity”, and “Emergency De-escalation for Mentally Ill Civilians” that basically amounted to “Treat everybody like a human being. Yes. Everybody. Not just WASPs. “ and “Don’t just shoot that guy because he’s having a violent psychological breakdown” and was always de-escalation before violence for *everybody*.

And then he was fired, and the reason for it was very vague and flimsy. Something that we were spoonfed and expected to accept. Hindsight tells me that it was most likely was for racial reasons and hiding those reasons behind “He embarrassed us at Washington DC and he used police resources for personal gain”. Like if such crime was committed, where are the receipts for it? Seriously, where is the evidence??? We weren’t allowed to know that much.

I asked way too many questions on this matter, and I’m pretty sure this is what got the higher ups pissed at me just enough that they opportunistically struck on me and force me to quit.

--- more on that later, I’m trying to keep this as linear as possible ---.

A new police chief was soon appointed and to my (not) surprise, he is a Godfearing white guy who would suck Trump’s orange stump once he is within eyeshot of the guy.

Then the “LGBT and Racial Sensitivity” classes and classes how to handle the mentally ill disappeared for “budget cuts”. I’m certainly hoping that their crisis intervention that is de-escalation based and social worker run continues to be a thing and won’t be done away with because of this new leadership.

Now that the very top is corrupt and obviously not for the People, it enabled racist assholes with a god complex to come out of the goddamn woodwork. He started appointing people with his same views, etc.

Let’s get into Police Culture real quick. Police Culture is known for it’s Good Ol’ Boy mentality. Something that has supposed to have changed. It’s always been dominated by white men, and obviously, the white men within it are going to make sure that it stays that way. Again, hindsight has taught me, that police culture will never change because even though there are people on the inside who want to change it, white centric corruption will always be there to whisk it away.

I had been looking for another job to get out of the Department as my support for the police and for the Department itself began to wain. During this time, I would find an employer who sounded like they would move mountains to hire me... and then suddenly I would hear nothing.

Then, there was some massive leadership reshuffling in my Division, and these were people who should not have been there at all. Remember when I asked too many questions about why the recent police chief was fired? These people were against that chief and are very pro-this chief. Shocking, right? So of course, me who did not like this chief (but was not outward it) or at very least had the AUDACITY to question something that was so obviously bullshit instead of accepting what I was spoonfed like everybody else.

... this is another point on how police culture works. The nail that stands out the most gets hammered. The loosest screw gets screwed..

---This is how I get screwed---

then something happened to me that required me needing the police to help me.

TL;DR AND CW: PET DEATH, ANIMAL CRUELTY

I found my dog stabbed to death, most likely by my exroommates who still had a key... It happened while I was getting knew locks for my house. I called the police, and they took a report. But they did not collect any evidence that was obviously tied to what happened. The reporting officer pushed it through as an Information Only report because HE had concluded that my dog was mauled. He wasn’t even a detective. He was a REPORTING OFFICER who came to a conclusion and used that conclusion to dictate how my report went through ---

*This was how we USED to (or so I thought) treat people who were mentally ill and constantly, frequently, calling with bizarre cases* It was active discrimination against the mentally ill that puts them in danger. I was “mentally apped” a long time ago, (where they take you to a hospital against your will. This is on your personal record forever and can fuck with getting driver’s license, and other things) and concluding something just because it doesn’t add up for “information only” was an old practice that I thought had been done away with.

but did anybody care about this? No, of course not. We were on different management. Months pass despite me blowing up the phones of Sergeants and the Detective that was assigned to my case.

I was talking to peer support to help me go through this, I told them what was going on with my life and what I was doing. They told me not to call these Sergeants and Detectives again and to wait for them to contact me.

I was then put under investigation for “Using police resources for personal gain”, and my supervisor had told me that I was harassing detectives and sergeants. Harassing them to do their job and pick up evidence? Sure.

Since I was under investigation, I was given an alternative assignment. I was put on a different shift--- Something that should have never happened because the shift that I was working was for medical reasons. I was on a rough antipsychotic medical schedule to keep my bipolar disorder and psychosis in check. My shift changed, which caused my medication to not work like it used to.

I was also put in a room with a shitty chair that fucked with my osteoarthritis in my hip... another ADA accommodation that had been violated. They refused to give me a new chair and doctors notes were mysteriously never received. My ADA accommodations had suddenly disappeared, because we had changed to a 3rd party to handle ADA accommodations. We were told that resubmitting accommodations was not necessary as they are still active for the year--- That was a lie.

I eventually spiraled and had to go back to the mental hospital. I was under investigation for 3 months. I was stressed out of my mind and my medication was not working.

My therapist at the mental hospital had many one-on-ones with me, because she was concerned. She said that what I was going through was workplace abuse. This piled on top of the grief of losing my PTSD companion dog in a terrible, vicious, violent, senseless way, was not good for my already fragile mental health.

Before I went to the mental hospital, I had found out that Peer Support had told the administration what I was doing, and what I was going through. This was what triggered the investigation.

TW.... SUI IDEATION AND PLAN....

Because of this, I was probably a day or so away from running away to the creek and overdosing in a place where my girlfriend couldn’t find me. My life had been turned upside down, and nobody was helping me. My workplace didn’t care. Their treatment of me became abusive when I needed them the most.

I quit after getting out of the mental hospital. Ever since then, I’ve had an issue with becoming employed elsewhere.

There are no good cops. Good cops do not last long. If a good cop ends up becoming police chief, he ends up being overthrown by the white male majority, because of white-centric police culture. This caused a lot of changes that fucked a lot of civilians and civilian employees over. There was one police involved slaying shortly after these changes were made, and it’s the same ol’ song and dance that’s going on across america.

I will never support the police again. Not only because of my personal experience, but because I understand and have witnessed the culture, and how institutionally racist it is.

I am sorry that I ever supported the police. I am sorry that I worked for an entity that actively suppresses minorities and actively suppresses Freedom of Speech for the interest of corporations. I realize that I couldn’t be both a Black Lives Matter supporter and a police supporter. I chose Black Lives Matter as I saw the police brutality that I now realize that has always been there. I chose black lives matter as I watched a white police chief do away everything that was progressive. I chose Black Lives Matter as I increasingly worry about my friends of color as hate continues to spread and increase.

I was in the division that I chose because I felt that I was helping people. I thought working with the police was what was going to enable me to help people. That became apparent that wasn’t true the moment we switched police chiefs. We’ve become just like any other police department in the country.

I’m sorry.

#bloggy #personal #acab #no good cops #fuck the police

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yoshiscribbles · 4 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Fleur Delacour/Viktor Krum Characters: Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum Additional Tags: Enemies to Lovers, Enemies to Friends, i mean they're not really enemies more like rivals i guess, Medical School AU, POV Fleur Delacour Summary:

Fleur meets a terrible miscreant before her first day of Healer school, and is livid when she realises that man is meant to be her partner for the rest of the year. Maybe first impressions aren't the best though, because as time passes it's hard to remember why she dislikes him so much.

This fills square T017 of my @hprarepairbingo card, which was a Prince and Me AU. Seeing as I have never seen the prince and me, a quick wiki search told me it's about a foreign prince who asked a girl to show him her boobs in a bar, only for her to realise that they go to the same med school or something. In here, Viktor is a Bulgarian prince who asked Fleur to teach him how to kiss in a bar and has been feeling mortified since instead. Fic under the cut!

This is the last time she’s going out with friends to celebrate the start of a semester, Fleur thinks as she stomps toward her apartment with that man's dumbfounded expression still lingering in her mind. She takes care nonetheless to be quiet as she opens the door to her room; after all, it is late and her roommate Aurélie does not deserve to bear the brunt of her ire. It seems her efforts have been in vain though, for the light turns out right as Fleur tiptoes to her room and Aurélie appears, standing near their shared dresser.

“Now what kind of trouble has my precious little flower gotten into this time?”

The sound of her native language when she's gotten used to hearing English all the time doesn’t help to lift Fleur mood, and she very pointedly doesn’t roll her eyes. They’re not even dating anymore, but the older girl still hasn’t given up on using that nickname for Fleur, and nothing seems likely to dissuade her at this point. (Fleur doesn’t feel fond of that nickname, she doesn’t. At all!)

“I’ll have you know that I avoided trouble today,” she says instead of protesting the nickname, which was undoubtedly Aurélie’s goal. She drop her purse on her bedside table and lets herself fall over the covers after. “I didn’t even punch that- that-“ Fleur looks for a word good enough to express her utter disdain, but eventually gives up. “That imbecilic slug of a boy!”

With a grunt of rage, Fleur turns over to punch her pillow, immediately feeling better. Maybe she can imagine it is that stranger's face she is punching, the way she had wanted to after he asked her to teach him how to kiss. She drops heavily on the bed, not even bothering to avoid the various clothes piled haphazardly on it.

“You’ve never punched anyone in your life Fleur,” Aurélie points out, the ever unwanted voice of wisdom. “You’d have hurt yourself as much as you’d have hurt him.”

“I’ve kicked plenty of people, and if you continue with your unwelcome commentary you’ll be the next,” Fleur grunts into her pillow instead of dignifying that with a calmer answer.

Fleur hears Aurélie laugh, and thus isn’t surprised to feel a dip in her bed before her friend’s fingers begin running through her hair. “See, this is why we broke up: you’re so violent, little flower.”

Fleur doesn’t protest the nickname only because she is too comfortable with her current position to jeopardise it by running her mouth. She’s proven right when Aurélie’s hands continue their motions. “And you should also focus your energy for more positive things, right? Your healer apprenticeship begins tomorrow and I know you’ll feel livid if you lose sleep and get there at anything less than your best because a stupid boy has you out of sorts.”

Aurélie’s words are right as usual, and Fleur is still level-headed enough to see the wisdom in them. She won’t lose sleep over this unfortunate event and hopefully she won’t have to see that boy ever again.

---------

Of course that uncouth cad is the one in the room when she arrives for her internship assessment the next day.

“Yes, we’ve met already,” Fleur says, with a deliberately cool smile at her fellow student when her supervisor asks, but a polite tone of voice. He might be a cad, but she at least knows how to be professional.

“Oh, but that won’t do,” the Healer interrupts them before the boy can answer. “Healing might be a profession that seems solitary at first glance, but a lot of collaboration is necessary to ensure the adequate running of an institute such as ours. Therefore, the student at your side will become your most trusted confidant and partner for the entire duration of this internship.”

Fleur isn’t certain what her face does, but the other student’s face seems to have frozen in a mask of dread and unease that she feels mirrors her own feelings. He glances at her then quickly looks away, and she huffs, resolving to ignore him as much as possible.

“Go on,” the Healer says again, a wide beaming smile on her face. It's almost aggressively cheerful, and Fleur wonders if she feels relieved at the thought of a good-natured supervisor or exhausted by her enthusiasm. “Introduce yourselves, I’ll start. I am Healer Desrosiers, I like learning and traveling, I dislike lateness and when my cat doesn’t kiss me goodbye before I go to work, and I am here because I would like to impart my knowledge onto the future generation.”

She then gestures towards the two students for them to speak. Fleur does leave ample time for the boy to talk should he wish to, but seeing as he persists in stony silence while avoiding her gaze, she takes charge.

"My name is Fleur Delacour, I like... reading and most people, although I dislike presumptuous people and uncouth behaviour." There she makes sure, not to look at the man at her side, but she's sure he can feel how pointed her words are. With a bit of luck, maybe he'll understand that she doesn't want any further interactions with him. "And I am here because I want to help people recover."

Her supervisor smiles encouragingly, and Fleur likes her already. This would be the perfect assignment, if only... The boy speaks at last, his voice milder and quieter than Fleur had expected. "Viktor Krum. I like sports and family. I dislike being alone."

It's an... abrupt interruption to say the least, and Fleur can't help but expect him to continue. He doesn't, simply staring at Healer Desrosiers, who soon decides to make them visit their new workplace.

Throughout the day and the following week, Fleur keeps observing Krum. She doesn’t know exactly what kind of man she’d expected him to be. Outgoing perhaps, maybe even arrogant considering the abysmal first impression he’d made on her. Instead Krum is just… there. He doesn’t seem to go out of his way to be asocial, but he never approaches anyone first, and doesn’t bring anything to a conversation unless asked either. It takes a few weeks for her to notice, but it really seems like she’s the only one he talks to on a regular basis, and even that is only because they’re partnered for most their work.

He really doesn’t seem to have any friends, and first impressions aside, Fleur doesn’t know how to feel about that. It’s kind of sad after all. He’s quiet as they follow Healer Desrosiers around the hospital, but he’s also serious and diligent, nothing like the man she met so many nights ago. At first, she thinks he’s trying to impress her with his change of attitude, and resolves to not let her guard down. She’s met too many two-faced liars who behave differently in public and in private after all, and won't let herself be tricked by another one...

---------

Working with Krum isn’t as much of a hassle as she expected it to be despite it all. As… uncouth as he’d been in that first meeting, his work ethic is irreproachable. In fact, if she didn’t have that first impression of him running through her head, she would probably find him as lovely as the rest of the staff seems to. It stings a little to see him so taciturn with her when she’s used to being a social butterfly with just about anyone else, but it doesn’t sting enough for her to take additional steps to solve the issue.

It is as she’s working on literature review, slugging through articles with more and more frustration as none of them even approach what she’s looking for that Fleur finally sees another side of him.

“What’s wrong?” Krum asks, and Fleur is too irritated by her research to even think about being irritated with him.

“None of these people knows how to write a good article,” she says, glaring at the book like she could telepathically set those researchers on fire with her mind. As predicted, nothing happens. Not even the thought of her father’s disappointed face at her behaviour will make her regret the attempt however. If they didn’t want people to curse their names, then they shouldn’t have written a misleading abstract.

“Which subject did you pick?” Krum asks again. Fleur turns to him. She hadn’t expected more than a commiserating groan, based on their previous interactions. He seems sincere though as he stands up from his desk to peer at her screen.

Fleur blinks quickly and focuses back on the text in an attempt to try and ignore how close he is to her. It’s a lost cause, for in that moment, the room seems cooler than usual and the heat of his body all too warm in comparison.

“The one about tissue substitutes. I’ve narrowed it down to a few materials, but I need to ensure none of them interact badly with potion ingredients, especially for internal organ linings. Of course, some of these articles are deliberately obtuse about their findings.” By the time she finishes her speech, Fleur’s irritation with those articles has overwritten her hyperawareness of Krum’s closeness.

He simply hums thoughtfully, and Fleur closes her eyes with a sigh as she realises that he probably doesn’t have anything of value to bring to the table. Not that she expected him to, after. It had been generous enough of him to offer a listening ear and she doesn't expect anything more.

“I think I remember reading someone’s research about that. It’s in Bulgarian, but I can translate it for you.”

Fleur is so stunned by the offer that it takes a few moments for it to register. “You what?” She turns to him, not even registering how close the two of them are in her haste to get answers. “But Bulgarian isn’t even within the scope of most translation spells! And this project is due in three days, you can’t possibly have time to do that on top of your own work.”

Fleur doesn’t know why she’s suddenly attempting to dissuade Krum from attempting to help her, but everything she’s said is accurate and there is simply no way what he’s suggesting is possible. Strangely enough, he looks away, the slightest hint of red on his cheeks.

“I’m Bulgarian,” he mutters in the collar of his shirt, so low that Fleur thinks she’s imagined it for a moment. “And I know a spell that bases itself on my own language knowledge as well, so it will work. And it’s no trouble; you’ll have it by tomorrow.”

Then, under her stunned gaze, he turns on his heels and goes right back to his desk. Fleur stares after him, almost wanting to push some more and get answers. But if he really is helping her, now is not the moment to risk antagonising him and risk losing the faint trace of hope that’s started rising in her chest.

The next day, she finds a book and its translated copy on her desk. Attached to it is a folded note, and Fleur opens it carefully.

Sorry for being rude at the bar, it reads simply. There's no signature, no further words, but Fleur doesn't doubt who it's from nor its sincerity. She chances a look at Krum's usual seat and isn't surprised to see it empty. He doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd appreciate effusive gratitude, but she wishes he was there for her to thank him at least.

Putting the note back on the desk, Fleur sits down to open the offered book. She'll have to do something nice for him in return.

#fleur delacour #viktor krum #fleur x viktor #hp fanfic #medical school au

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tanushree · 4 years

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How to Overcome Workplace Negativity

Negativity runs rampant in an office environment. Whether you’re feeling low on your own accord or catching some heat from your boss for something that went wrong, it’s incredibly easy to get caught up in a dark cloud of negative thinking.

After a bad experience, it’s common to seek out a place to vent. We spend time recounting each moment to anyone who will listen, hoping this regurgitation of the situation will be therapeutic and make everything better. But, could all that negative talk actually lead to more issues?

A study in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology suggests that not only can those temper driven conversations after a negative experience at work lead to more negativity, but it can hinder your performance for at least a day after it happens.

We’ve all had those moments. A boss or coworker does something to agitate you and then you feel the need to tell another coworker, a friend, or a significant other. Imagine constant streams of negativity flowing from you to people you care about. It happens. Work life bleeds into home life and then suddenly brings down everyone and everything around you.

So, how do you combat this attitude of negativity?

Simply learn to keep those negative thoughts to yourself. It may sound a bit unnerving if you are in a habit of sharing your feelings every time something goes awry, but silence is power during these times.

Now, this isn’t to say that you should hold on to those negative moments until they are grudges that come steaming up once they’ve reached the boiling point. Instead, this same study says it’s all about being a good sport.

Having an attitude of “sportsmanship” is defined as “tolerating less-than ideal circumstances or minor workplace distractions and discomforts without complaining.” The study suggests that “avoiding negative conversations immediately after a negative event can promote better psychological adjustment.”

Get back up, dust yourself off, and come back stronger.

When you’re facing frustrating moments, don’t get lost dwelling on the problem, refocus your attention and get back to work. A few things that can help include writing down your thoughts and throwing away the evidence or taking a few moments to meditate and let go of those feelings.

With that attitude of sportsmanship, you can actually improve your productivity, workplace happiness, and be more apt to stay in your position – or maybe get that promotion you’ve been seeking. It can even help to cultivate a more positive work environment by influencing the people around you.

The best advice I ever received from an executive leader was this simple phrase: keep your head down and work hard. He had twenty years of experience in that company and I knew that these words would come in handy someday, so I put them in a little corner of my mind for when I’d need them again.

Thankfully, I saved them because there were many times when I needed to pull it out of its little organizer drawer in my brain. There was a particular supervisor I worked for that made decisions that caused headaches, tears, anguish, and endless days of agony for many of his employees.

He’d call us into a room where he’d ramble about why we were doing all the wrong things and needed to shift to another project to fix the mess. It would take a few weeks to reset our course of action, bin all the work we had done and setup a new plan.

I could have yelled, or cried, or challenged it, but in business, you have to learn to pick your battles wisely. I would recite in my mind that phrase – keep my head down and keep working. I avoided engaging in negative talk with my coworkers, put on a smile at the end of each meeting, and encouraged everyone to get to work as fast as possible.

After several rounds of this routine, my supervisor finally gave up trying to break us. We became more collaborative and the positive attitude encouraged him to listen to us more openly. We were able to finally complete a project with success and no one quit in the process.

Agonizing over the situation

Realistically, there is nothing that can be done when someone, usually your boss, decides to pull a project after putting in hours of work. If the boss says to do it, then you must. Spending time agonizing over the situation only results in having to stay late to catch up or in someone breaking. Plus, that released negative energy only leads to feeling unmotivated and makes it much harder to accomplish anything.

While bucking up and moving on from a negative situation never feels good for the ego, it will feel great long term. It does get easier over time. Plus, you’ll be an inspiration for others to continue working hard and make the team stronger for that in the end.

#Tanu🤗

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kylendooleydesigns · 5 years

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Hazbin Hotel and My Thoughts on Feminism

This review is in no way aimed at any one specific group or ideology. These are mere opinions that people can choose to agree or not agree with. I am no way trying to sway the minds of anyone who chooses to read this review, people have their own opinions and have the right to express them. Thank you.

First, let me begin with my thoughts on the "modern feminist", I'll get to what I mean by that in a moment. For now, let's start with what the definition of feminism is; Merriam-Webster defines feminism as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes and the organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests.

Now, with that said, I'd for everyone to pay attention to the word "equality". Feminism's roots can be traced all the way back to Plato and his classic Republic, where he advocated that women had the "natural capacities" that were equal to that of men for governing and defending Ancient Greece. (Olson, John, History.com) Ever since Plato's advocation for women's equal standing to men, women have been protesting and fighting for their rights to stand at the same political and economic point as their male counterparts. It wasn't until the late 18th and early 19th centuries when women were finally given their right to vote, New Zealand being the first sovereign state to give these rights to their women. After this revolutionary change, women joined in the war efforts of WWII, the Civil Rights movements, and began the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which still continues to this day.

Now, while I admit that the idea that the Equal Pay Act was created in 1963 and we are still dealing with the unfair distribution of pay between men and women, I'd like to bring up a personal point. My mother, who was born in 1963 mind you, has been working since her teenage years. She joined the military, got married, had a kid, divorced, remarried, and had another kid after her time in the military had come to an end, she fighting in the Gulf War before then. With only a military background and no college degree, my mom continued and still continues to work for the government through checking military helicopters for cracks to keep them from falling apart from atmospheric pressure. She's worked like this for over thirty years, seeing people come and go, men getting laid off or getting paid more than her fellow female co-workers. With that said, my mom actually gets paid more than most the men she works with, not only because she's the only one at her workplace who has the qualifications to do her line of work, but because she rarely ever takes time off. In fact, while she was pregnant with me, my mom refused to take maternity leave and went on working in this hazardous workplace despite the many objections of her male co-workers all the way up to my birth, my dad having to travel back and forth to see both my mom and me while he got our current house ready, meaning he wasn't always there to take care of her.

Years later, a female co-worker of hers got pregnant, took her maternity leave and when she got back, she found out a male co-worker had gotten paid more than her since her time away. She of course went off on her supervisor, but here's the thing: because she had taken her maternity leave and was unable to work, her male co-worker had to basically take on a double-shift and do the work she was in charge of, thus receiving pay for doing so.

Growing up in an environment with a mother who was a strong, independent woman after her divorce with a daughter and having to fight in an actual war that may or may not have lead to her sleep apnea and a dad who supported my mom from a different state while she was pregnant, I never saw there being that big an issue with the equality of men and women.

Now, I will say the unequal pay issue does get under my skin; however, the thing about equal pay and equal rights, is that women have to put in as much work and as much effort in their workplace as their male co-workers. Like I said, my mom worked while she was pregnant, thus getting the pay she deserved for the work she put in and her female co-worker who took her maternity leave and got mad for the work she didn't do went to her male co-worker. I can only imagine how she'd feel about it if the co-worker was a fellow woman.

This brings up my issue with the modern day feminist. Back in the day during the early growth of feminism, the issue was about equality. Now a days, it seems that "equality" is being replaced by "superiority". Here's an example of what I mean, I have more guy friends than girl friends, and most my guy friends are huge gentlemen, always wanting to support and keep us women's spirits up, meaning they enjoy paying for their food and opening doors for them. One such friend was sweet enough to open a door for a complete stranger who happened to be an older woman. Instead of thanking him for his kindness, with no real care that she was a woman, she went off on him and told him that just because she was a woman didn't mean he had the right to treat her like some delicate flower. He was, rightfully so, very confused and a tad hurt. I, Original Fox, a woman, upon hearing this story, called her a "bitch". Here's the thing ladies, people who are nice and do things out of the kindness of their hearts do it because their cool people, they're not doing it to make fun of our physical differences.

With that said, my conclusion to the feminist movement is that I believe in equality, equality meaning we are all treated, act, and do things as equal beings, not one being above the other. I don't care who you are, what you identify by, what your background is, how you handle a situation as a person, or what issues you're dealing with, if you put in the time, effort, strengths, and fight to do what you think you deserve without blaming a certain group: men, women, religion, politics, whatever, I'm rooting for you. Don't listen to the racists, sexists, and closed minded people who want to bring your personal views down and prove to them without putting yourself at the top of the advocate pillar and saying you deserve better without even proving it.

Now, on with the review of Hazbin Hotel.

For those who don't know, Hazbin Hotel is a pilot two years in the making created by YouTube Animator Vivziepop or Vivienne Medrano, who is best known for her Die Young music video by Kesha using her Zoophobia werewolf character Jay Jay. The story centers around Charlie Magne, the princess of Hell, and her hopes to open a hotel for rehabilitating demons and sinners. This plan contrasts with that of the yearly "cleansing" where non-angelic looking angels come and slaughter the inhabitants of Hell to make room for more sinners. Wanting to find a less violent way of hindering this overpopulation, Charlie, along with her manager/girlfriend, Vaggie, and their first client, porn star, Angel Dust, must prove their cause will work in order to keep the Happy Hotel running.

When I heard of this, I was excited and had high hopes. I had been a fan of Vivziepop's work for a long while, enjoying her animations and loving her now on hiatus, Zoophobia webcomic, and when I heard a project she had a huge passion for was going to air a pilot with the help a whole production team, voice actors, and some genuine talent, I was at the edge of my seat and had anticipated the pilot being aired. Does it live up to all the hype? Let's find out!

Well, off the bat, I wasn't all too crazy about the opening. I had been, admittedly, overly excited for the pilot and was expecting something... Different. The opening is your basic musical opening where the main character sings while images of what the world is like moves about around them, which wouldn't be so bad, if the musical number was original. The opening song "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" was written by Joseph McCarthy and was first performed by Dolly Sisters in the musical Oh, Look! When I found this out, I was a little disappointed. I was probably expecting way too much from this pilot, but at the very least, I was expecting a more original musical number written by the team Vivziepop worked with in bringing this pilot to life. But that's probably just a nit-pick on my part, like I said, I was expecting a little too much from these people.

After the opening, we're immediately introduced to everyone's favorite, slutty spider, Angel Dust and his sassy attitude toward people who want to slut shame him. What follows is what I can only describe as being a story on crack. Everything is shown to us super fast with little time to breathe and explore the setting we are in, which I can understand with Sir Pentious and maybe Cherri Bomb, but with just getting out of the musical number of Charlie singing about how her world isn't the way she wants it to be and being introduced to Angel through a "don't slut shame, because it's their body and no one else's", it just seems like everything happens way to fast and everything is thrown at us without really letting us appreciate what we're looking at, the news scene being no better as they zip through the report of the fight going on and the introduction of Charlie and her "passion project". Again, that may be a little nit-picky as I did have higher expectations.

It's here that I also would have liked to know what the two little demons that help Charlie with her second musical number were and what role they play in her life. I mean, they must be either her mom or dad's henchmen or "help" wherever Charlie's used to live, but I would have preferred they played a bigger role than just singing and playing their instruments.

The third issue I have at this point is the use of sound effects. Again, a little nit-picky, BUT, I feel the use of sound effects with every movement and moment a character is on screen is a little too much. It doesn't help that the soundtrack never shuts up. Music or a sound is always playing, never allowing for us to take in what the character is saying on a more complex or understanding level. The only parts that are quiet are the limo scene and the Charlie calling her mom scene, which are honestly two of my three favorite parts because we get to see and meet these characters, understanding them and their personalities, as well the relationships they have with each other. Except maybe Charlie and Vaggie's, but I'll get to that later.

I enjoy the relationship Charlie does have with Katie Killjoy (in fact I enjoy Katie's relationship with Tom as well), the only critique I have here is Katie's "I don't touch the gays. I have standards." This just seems to be an add-on to make us despise Katie as a character, because of her views on the gay community, basically saying homophobia is a bad trait of a person and makes a character more of a villain, which I've known homophobes. They're not evil, they've just been raised in an environment where being gay isn't the norm and, in a strict background, "the gays" is a mental illness that can be easily taken care of through the proper therapy. As for Katie's "standards", again, this doesn't mean she's a terrible character. In fact, look at it like this, it's an adult cartoon and the jokes are meant to make you laugh, not judge a certain group in a cold and harsh way.

However, Charlie's relationship with the people of Hell as their princess and heir to the throne, I find a little off pudding. I'm sure there's some kind of hidden meaning to how the royal family is treated as celebrities over that of rulers of a certain area, but for now, I'm just gonna nit-pick a little more. My opinion on princesses in the media is at a bit of an all time low. Ever since the birth of the Disney Princess Trope, the views of a princess in any form in the media has been to hate being a princess, sing about how much it sucks to be a princess, remain princess when it's obvious they're no longer a princess and should take the title of Queen. Charlie is sadly part of this trope, the only good part of this being that no one but her girlfriend takes pity on her. What I mean by this is that Charlie shows signs that her father has high expectations of her becoming the heir to Hell and taking rule in his place as the future queen, making her status something to sing about how much that sucks, of course her dreams contrast with that of her father's expectations, like most Disney Princesses. That being said, I'm not exactly sure I see the purpose of her being the princess of Hell when no one treats her as one nor do they seem to care that Lucifer is her father, other than to make her relationship with her father strained, which isn't bad don't get me wrong, but there are other ways to work that subplot in without adding the title of princess to her name.

After the whole fight scene, we get the scene where Vaggie goes off on Angel for making the hotel look like a joke. This coincides with my issue with the whole feminist aspect and her and Charlie's relationship, so I'll get to that later. But I like this part because of the quiet moment we get, so there we go for whatever that was.

When the trio gets home, I do like how we see a subtle hint to the fact that Angel does want to reform and go to Heaven and escape his abusive sugar daddy by how he makes a crack at the lack of food to feed all of the non-existent souls and immediately feels bad. Of course, you can't force change on someone in the blink of an eye, so I give him a pat on the shoulder for not knowing how to apologize for his assholiness.

This then leads us to the calling mom scene where we see Charlie struggling to prove her father wrong and asking her mom for advice for feeling this way. From what I can assume either her folks are divorced, her father is dead and Lilith is in charge of Hell, or Lucifer left that part of his family to marry Narissa from Zoophobia and had Damian. I mean in the opening we see a shadow of Lucifer taking the shape of Zoophobia's version of the Devil, so that's my fan theory and I'm sticking to it! And before people say that's impossible, if that's the case, then Charlies is no longer the heir to the throne, but here's my response to that: Charlie was born first and is the daughter of Lilith, who I'm not gonna get into, because this isn't part of the review, therefore making her take the throne before Damian by political standards. Anyway, this scene was fine, I wish there was more info on exactly what her relationship is with both her parents, seeing as they never make a real appearance in the pilot to show their personalities, but I'd also like it if there was a main character whose relationship with their parents isn't severed because of the character's dreams, a strict family, or dead.

And then HE comes into the picture. THE one character I lost my mind over. Alastor, the Radio Demon!!! I LOVE this character! While I'm sure most fans find Angel to be their favorite character and don't get me wrong Angel is awesome, Alastor is what has me hooked to the show. To compare him to Charlie, Vaggie, or Angel, Alastor, in my opinion, is an optimistic pessimist, something I find myself as being on a daily basis as I too find good entertainment in the destruction of others as they fall into the fiery pits of failure. Not only that, but each moment he's on screen there's this mysterious vibe about him with his permanent smile and his end goal in helping Charlie, something I find rather attractive of my demon... I mean... Men. His interactions with the other characters is fun, he's got a classy excitement to him, wanting to provide and receive entertainment in the most morbid and old times of places. His version of "Inside of Every Demon is a Rainbow" is a hilarious change to Charlie's cheery, uplifting view of her people, his version being a look at the souls in Hell as lost causes, their punishments being eternal, there being no escape except for the life they've lived before and the agony they have to face now is bliss. His take down of Sir Pentious was like a huge "bitch please" which was absolutely wonderful, from his power to his facial expression in the end.

With that said, is this pilot flawless...? No, absolutely not, far from it. There's some things, like the soundtrack, the opening song, and the sound effects I'd think about doubling down on and allow us to take in the world we're being introduced in to. If someone came into this show completely blind, they'd probably be a tad confused as to what's happening and why. Fans already know Charlie is an overly optimistic demon spawn, Vaggie is a pessimistic feminist with no care for men, Angel Dust is a cross-dressing spider who enjoys being the "bad boy", and Alastor is a deer with a need for endless entertainment. People who don't know VivziePop and her work, won't know/care much about these characters going straight in and will most likely like to explore the world and its why.

And now, the coup-de-gras: my one issue with this pilot and what it seems to be shoving down pessimistic people like me's throat. Women rule and straight men suck. Do NOT quote me on this. I do not know Vivienne or the people she worked with to make this pilot. This is MY opinion after having watching the pilot, listening, reading, and following the creation of this show from the beginning. They can correct me on this in future episodes or deeper dives in to characters and development.

So, off the bat, we're introduced to a male gay character who dresses like a woman and is slut shamed by everyone except his friends who have similar views as he does. In my opinion, this doesn't work for me. I get wanting to "represent the minority"; however, the depiction of straight, heterosexual characters slut shaming or having sexual encounter/feelings toward said character with cruel intentions to bring someone down isn't something I see as a good representation. Granted, there are several people out there who will make a person feel like shit for having views that do not conform to what society deems as normal, but in today's world, where media and the children of today are exposed to these views, the "minority" becomes the majority. I get it, life sucks, oh darn, well then fight for equality, don't fight to make straight cisgender community seen as the closed minded community that doesn't give a damn. There are plenty of cisgender heterosexuals who support the LGBTQ+ community and have no problem with anyone who doesn't fit the old views of the world. It just seems, from what I've experienced, that if you're a straight, cisgender human being that has no real tie to the Pride Movement, you're a homophobic monster who takes the side of all the haters. That's not true, we just aren't playing for the same teams nor do we believe we were born in the wrong body.

Next is Charlie and Vaggie's relationship. Don't get me wrong, having a gay lead is no skin off my nose, if anything, I don't give a damn what their attracted to. If their a good character and have good development and don't let their sexual identity get in the way of their goals, I'm good. But when it comes to Vaggie and Charlie, there's just something I personally find "off". For one, VivziePop actually brought this up in a Tumblr post in response to another about how they didn't like the idea of Charlie and Vaggie being a canon couple because it'd just be another way of representing the gay community through the media's abuse of showing how open minded they are, to this VivziePop revealed that Vaggie and Charlie are indeed a couple, but she'd rather not focus on their relationship and instead focus on the story. But upon the pilot's release, their relationship is already put a slight focus on from Katie's "I don't touch the gays" afterwards touching Charlie who Vivzie revealed may be a Bisexual characters having dating a male character in the past and to the overly cutesy peppy girl and her overly protective, pessimistic girlfriend. I honestly don't care about whatever relationship these two have, so long as it doesn't effect the plot in a negative way, one example being that they fight, break up, and get back together through some TV show bullshit that has little to do with the rest of the show's running. This show is about getting demons into Heaven, it's not an after school soap opera.

This brings me to Vaggie's character as a whole and to her views affecting that of the central tone of the show itself. Vaggie is clearly a feminist, this being brought up when Angel reminds her that she doesn't seem to trust any man, any men... Men. She punches a guy who calls her girl a bitch, gets angry at Angel only when Charlie screwed up too by both singing and getting in a fight with Katie when Vaggie specifically told her not to sing as what they were doing was serious, refuses to trust Alastor without allowing him a second chance, something she is helping Charlie to achieve and support despite Charlie herself being open to helping Alastor understand where she's coming from, and calls the hotel a "man cave" just because Husk gets a bar in order to keep him working at the hotel. I get it, alcohol is somehow a sin to the hotel, most likely because it can lead to drunkenness or sloth and gluttony, but that doesn't make it a brothel or a man cave. In fact, she doesn't seem to argue having Nifty, a female character as part of the staff as she just zips around cleaning, but here's the thing about Nifty: it's clear she's straight and how they portray how straight she is contrasts with the other female main characters. Nifty is boy crazy and a clean freak, being confused as to why the hotel is such a dump when everyone living there is ladies, not knowing Angel on a personal level yet and wonders where all the men are. This to me, is a stereotypical straight cisgender female: wanting to clean, make new friends, and meet some men. Being a cisgender, straight, female myself, I can tell you, that's not who I and I hope some other girls are. I've never been much of a clean freak or boy crazy, in fact I'm a bit of a slob and don't really give two shits about men; I've honestly got more important things to concern myself with than over getting a boyfriend. Nifty is a fun character and I enjoy her place in the show, but I would have liked it if Vaggie immediately wanted her out of the hotel as she did with Husk and Alastor, showing some God damned equality as a feminist and if Nifty was a little less concerned about gender roles and having men around. Depicting feminism is fine in media, but don't go overboard with it. Make some straight, cisgender males actually great people who support the ideals of women and don't want to see them fail, show the equality we as women fought so hard to achieve, by making the roles of men and women equal, not one gender being better than the other morally. Alastor is a great character, but he did slap Vaggie's ass, which was unneeded, but I'll admit I found that hilarious. I can only hope Alastor is only fucking with Vaggie and her views on men and turns to a pretty awesome guy who, while not believing in her cause, supports Charlie anyway he can.

All in all, I loved this pilot and see great things coming its way, I just think things could be tweaked and lessened down to be less of a huge middle finger to certain groups of people and less of an Ed, Edd, and Eddy soundtrack of unnecessary sound effects. I'd recommend this pilot to anyone with a passion for animation and wanting to put something you've worked years for to give them that jolt of ambition. If you're bothered by too many loud moments, less quiet moments, too many jabs at the heterosexual cisgender community, and lots and lots of sex jokes, this probably isn't for you. Check it out on YouTube and give it a try.

P.S. to those of the religious community, me being part of it, if the version of this Hell is off pudding and isn't how it should be depicted in comparison to that of the biblical version and it offends you, I suggest either ignoring the pilot completely and its growth, or you can see the horrifying reality behind it... It's... An... Adult... Cartoon!!! *collective gasps* for more information please check Family Guy, South Park, and, I know I'm dating myself here, but literally every episode of the Simpsons ever.

I hope I didn't offend anyone with this rant/review. These are just my personal views and should be taken with a grain of salt.

Eat chocolate.

Imma take a nap!

#hazbin hotel #feminism #vivziepop #vivienne medrano #alastor #hazbin alastor #personal rant #rant #sorry for the rant #review #hazbin review #dont take this the wrong way #grainofsalt

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kyndaris · 4 years

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Chasing Numbers

If there is one thing I’ve always dreaded about as one of the many active participants in the workforce, it’s the corporate focus on KPIs. So many businesses are intent on meeting impossible target numbers at the expense of worker morale or work/life dynamics. Even governments are not immune to this, as directors and assistant secretaries are pressured by ministers to crank out statistics that sound impressive. All in the hope that they can use it in the next bout of elections, so that they can remain in office. It is one of the many issues of living in a capitalist society - where goods and services are considered paramount to maintaining the bottom line (hence why I wanted this blog post to come right after I finished The Outer Worlds. Alas, that did not happen and the connection is a little strained).

I can’t be sure where I read or heard it, but it has been my view that if you require your employees to consistently work overtime in order to deal with the amount of work, you either have set your targets much too high or you need to hire more workers. It’s a simple matter of mathematics. And yet, so many big companies are intent to ensure maximum output with the minimum number of staff to ensure that profits are in the black.

In the long run, such a business model is unfeasible. Something will give. And it will all come tumbling down. Perhaps, yes, if you use robots to replace human workers, you will be able to pump out more product for sale. But if one hopes to have their goods sold, you need to ensure that consumers are able to buy it. Price it too high and only the very rich will be able to afford it. If this is something essential to survival, then you’ll have revolts.

Despite interest rates plummeting, people have still been reluctant to spend what little money they have on things they do not need. With wage stagnation and inflation, the cost of living has risen. And if it isn’t necessary for survival, then it is often left on the wayside. Is it any wonder that it feels like Australia is finally reaching the point of no return when it comes to a possible recession?

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World dystopia managed to maintain society by mixing eugenics into the creation of humans while also giving roles to the Alphas, Betas, Deltas, Gammas and Epsilons. What then, was the need for AI, if there is a rigid caste system and people were satisfied with their lot in life, despite the conditions? The conditioning that was also central to civilisation also ensured people were able to constantly consume. Tailor-made humans for tailor-made jobs that they were well-suited for. Of course, to live in such a world also sounds terrifying to our current sensibilities. Where is the self-determinism that underpins our perception of what it means to be human?

Humans, however, have always found it difficult to look towards the long-term. It is why we have climate crisis is so severe. We only tend to solve the problems on our immediate doorstep. As such, current societies find it difficult to balance the demands of the business with the requirements of a fulfilling life. Often, it feels like CEOs are merely trying to increase their immediate bonuses rather than ensuring the livelihood of their employees. If some of them were willing to sacrifice just a little of their livelihood, or if the Board of Directors

Chasing numbers in the workforce only serves to churn out sub-par performances. In fact, it wastes even more money to go back and fix the mistakes made by the demands of meeting KPIs. This is particularly true for business that cannot afford mistakes such as in shipping and freight forwarding. A delay in goods being delivered could mean thousands in lost sales. It could mean additional detention fees. In other areas, it means managers and supervisors are forced to step in. This means labour is lost for clean-up duty.

That is not to say that having set goals is a bad thing. They can motivate workers by providing a target to reach. But pouring too much focus on numbers rather than the well-being of your employees means that they burn-out quicker and negatively impacts output. Things such as crunch in the gaming industry are never truly positive. Rather, they are detrimental both to the quality of the game, and the people that are pouring their hearts and souls into these mediums of entertainment.

Statistics have their place in the workplace, true, but it should not be central to how the workplace is run. Here’s hoping that we can finally see quality of life improvements with companies recognising that workers all have their strengths and weakness. One slight dip in the first quarter might equate to bigger profits later down the track. Happy workers, rather than sad, desolate workers are the best means of ensuring quality and efficiency.

#personal blog

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dzxoxian · 5 years

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Classic Josh: The Best Thank-You Note EVER

Originally posted in December 2003

Small note - So, I had I few problems with an order at work. I actually wrote this and sent this in to the supervisor of the three poor, unsuspecting service representatives that were force to deal with me. I'm told it had been passed around the whole office within three days of sending it, and was printed out on a poster and mounted on the wall of their customer service center.

To Whom it May Concern:

My name is Josh, and I'm the Purchasing Agent at the <Workplace>.

Almost a month ago, I purchased your 46" Lane Bi-fold Executive desk and hanging Keyboard tray from Staples National Business Advantage. When it arrived, I had a tray. I had the top of the Desk. I was missing four legs for said table.

No problem, I thought...these things happen. I alerted their Customer Service, explained my problem, and they agreed to pick up the limbless desk and bring me a new one.

I waited, again, and soon enough, the new desk arrived. Guess what? Still no legs.

After what I felt was an extremely warranted session of cursing, I got back on the phone with Staples and attempted to reason with them without crying, whining, or otherwise throwing a hissy fit. I was successful with controlling my behavior, but not with finding any kind of solution...they told me they had done all they could, gave me your company's phone number, and told me I would have to take it up with your people.

So, I called on July 17th, timid and fearful, hoping that I would meet with kind and useful souls who could help me with my tragic lack of desk legs. I talked with Brandon, who, in a matter of minutes, had everything in hand, told me that an order had been placed, and that I would see my new legs in 5 business days.

I was relieved, and proceeded to move on with my life, which is usually far less wrapped up in concern over table legs.

Cut forward to yesterday. Author's note - Monday was 7 business days later.

I start receiving calls from the Director of our Marketing department, curious as to why her people have no legs for the desk of their brand-new multimedia center. She expressed even louder curiosity in what my proposed response would be to this dilemma. This distressed me greatly, as I am a simple, peaceful soul, who goes to great lengths to keep such exalted individuals such as Department Directors from taking personal interests in his affairs.

Once again, I flew to the phone and spoke to your representative Justin. He agreed that the delay did seem a bit odd, and promptly supplied me with the UPS tracking number for the package containing to legs.

Filled with gratitude, I thanked him, and flew to the UPS website to find the package's location. I then discovered UPS had no idea where the package was. They knew who they were supposed to bill for the package, and had already done so, but they didn't seem to see how taking money to deliver something in any way obliged them to know the item's location, or, indeed, even deliver it.

At this point, panic began to bloom at the root of my soul. I called your people back immediately and spoke to Nate. He was as surprised as I was in hearing of UPS's Zen-like "non-delivery" deliver policy, promised me that he would attempt to get to the bottom of the issue, and would call me back.

Somewhat pacified, I left for the day, feeling confident that my problems were over, that Nate would call me back, assuaging all my worries by telling me the package did, indeed, exist somewhere, and was not stuck in some forgotten delivery Limbo.

I came in today to a phone message from Nate, informing me that UPS had never picked up the package, and that it was looking like he would have to order me a new one.

This was a regrettable situation.

What made the situation MORE regrettable was the selfsame Director of Marketing from earlier in this Saga calling me roughly 43 seconds after I had finished listening to this message, demanding an update. I (reluctantly) informed her of all the current facts of the situation.

What followed was an inelegant and barbaric dance of bureaucracy, finger-pointing, and generally throwing me under the bus. My call sheet now included not just said Director, but my boss, my boss's boss, the Vice President of Marketing, and our General Manager. Apparently, they all felt that the most vital thing they could do to speed up the process of my acquisition of their needed table legs was requesting explanations, full reports, and status updates for two hours.

At this point, the aforementioned panic in my soul was in full blossom, and I was seriously considering taking holy orders in a quiet, remote monastery where people take oaths of silence, and vow to never trouble themselves with earthly matters, such as wealth and desk legs.

Now, my soul wounded and my heart heavy, I could only pick up the phone and once again cast my voice, weak and tremulous, across the digital divide of phone cable and electrical pulse to your operatives' waiting ears. The ears waiting this time belonged to Nate again, who listened with what I felt was saint-like patience and angelic compassion to my heavy tale of sorrow, Vice Presidents, and woe.

I, in unmanly fashion, actually broke down and implored Nate to show mercy on my wretched self, and send the legs as swiftly as he could, whether by plane, costumed superhero, cartoon Roadrunner, or possibly even sub-atomic light speed transmission, if he had it available.

"Damn the expense," I proclaimed, "I'll pay it and more to conclude this matter."

Nate not only agreed to expedite the shipping, but he even volunteered to investigate your warehouse and see if he could lay physical hand upon the accursed legs in question, so he could verify with his own two eyes that they were packed up, picked up, and shipped, ensuring I would get them with no further delays. He told me he would call me back as soon as he had it all set.

Confident at last, I hung up the phone a new man...relieved, calm, at peace. Your representative had proven to be a balm to my soul.

"Surely," I thought to myself, "this must conclude this matter...he seems to be so sure, so dedicated to his goal of the acquisition and shipping of desk legs. Why, it would take an act of God to keep my legs from me now."

Alas... I was proven correct.

I was preparing myself to leave around 5pm (here in Tampa, so around 2pm your time, Author’s Note – the customer service center/table leg repository was in California.) when it suddenly occurred to me that I had not heard back from Nate. So calmed I had grown that I foolishly went about all the other varied and demanding business of my day, giving the savagely crucial business of the chair legs nary a further thought.

But now... now, doubt had begun to creep in, and I thought to myself, "Why, I'm sure everything fine. But wouldn't it be remiss of me if I didn't check? Can I endure another day of being the object of attention for such godlike and influential beings as Vice Presidents? No, no... I am a simple man, and long only for peace and harmony when completing my duties. Let's give Nate a call, and make sure all is well."

Resolved, I picked up the phone, waited for an answer, certain that all was well and that I would suffer not further disappointment. My call was answered, and I was once more vocally reunited with Brandon, who informed me that Nate had left for the day.

Now, I will at this point admit, not proudly, mind you, that in my heart of heart, I cursed your employees, wondering what selfish, callow excuse they could offer for not ensuring the safe and speedy delivery of my legs.

"What!?!" I demanded. "Why?" I felt keenly that if his reason for leaving early was anything less drastic than the earth itself opening, I would start screaming.

"There's been an earthquake," came Brandon's reply.

Ah. Well.

At this point, I was devastated. At this point, despair rushed back into my soul, and I hoped that the earth would crack under ME, and swallow me whole, because I was a cursed man, burdened with a figurative albatross around my neck, and that even God himself was arrayed against the delivery of these desk legs, and thus, arrayed against my salvation.

I sighed, and offered my condolences, and asked Brandon (because, really, at this point, what did I have left to lose?) if Nate had mentioned anything about shipping out my desk legs. Though Staples, UPS, and the Almighty Himself had turned against me, I still obviously held onto the smallest sliver of hope.

At this point, however, a miracle occurred.

Your gentleman told me that no, no mention had been made, but he would check. What followed, gentle reader, was amazing. Brandon could find no mention of my order having been shipped, and could not locate the legs.

However, he did not stop there - he went and looked for them personally, and when THAT failed, he even contacted Nate by his cell, and they collaborated to see if any progress could be made. I begged Brandon not to trouble his co-worker with such trivial business in the wake of such a disaster, but he assured me that there were no fiery homes, deceased relatives, missing pets, or severed limbs at the other end of Nate's phone that he was attempting to deal with, and that I shouldn't worry.

Finally, in the end, no legs could be located, and I thought that my luck had finally run empty...but no. Brandon girded his loins, picked up the phone, and returned to do battle with my original sparring partner in this office furniture train wreck, the Staples National Business Advantage Customer Service Department. He asked for me to please be patient, and to stay on the line. As if, by this point, I was even CAPABLE of hanging up with seeing this through to its resolution.

I waited, breathless with anticipation, the minutes seeming like hours as I waited on the phone, with Brandon returning occasionally to ask me for some clarifying point or miscellaneous ordering info. In the end, he uncovered the gross error the Staples people had made with my initial order, negotiated a price 66% of the original, and arranged for free overnight shipping to ensure that I would not have to wait one second longer for my order.

It was done...Madam (or miss, I intend no disrespect,) your three customer service representatives had, at last, proven successful.

In an order I did not even directly place with your company, they had fixed an error made by several people a continent away, battled through the incompetence and confusion of two major megacorporations, and even overcame obstacles sent by God Himself to get me my desk legs.

They did so while displaying panache, tact, courtesy, patience, and undeserved compassion to a poor, broken man who had been driven beyond reason by what are, essentially, glorified metal sticks.

I sincerely appreciate all there hard work and dedication, and can unreservedly say that I have need had such excellent service, never been treated so well, by any company in the history of my (admittedly young) life. You are lucky to have them in your employ, and I wish them nothing but success in whatever field they choose to follow.

Thank you, and more importantly, thank them.

All that being said, I hope that for the rest of my (hopefully long) life, I am never forced to become so deeply emotionally and spiritually invested in furniture components ever again. I think we can all agreed that this would be for the best.

Thank you, and good day.

#funny #funny post #Conversationswithcoworkers #ClassicJosh #workplacehumor #thank you notes #ettiquette #Conversations With Coworkers #Classic Josh #Workplace humor #legs #office supplies #customer service #customer service win #good business practices #earthquake #vice presidents #table #table legs

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businessinstantmessaging-blog · 5 years

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10 Ideas For Using Instant Messaging For Business

An occasional laugh stresses the silence. Yet nobody is chatting. They are interacting with each other practically solely with instant messaging (IM).

A modern technology designed initially for individually personal chats has gotten to the work environment. Several business individuals are choosing text-based Instant Messaging over call and email. They like its immediacy and efficiency in getting real-time info from companions, suppliers and also associates working from another location.

Instant messaging is essentially the message version of a call. At businesses huge as well as little, a growing number of individuals are using it to connect. For numerous, it serves as a backstop for e-mail issues and also other emergency situations-- witness the spikes in usage after the Sept. 11 terrorist assaults.

The Wall Street Journal keeps in mind that even more than 100 million people are now sending instant messages. In a record, "IM: The Resting Titan," innovation specialist Gartner Group forecasts that by 2005, instant messaging will exceed email as the key online interactions tool.

That said, IM will certainly benefit services that operate in teams or on jobs greater than it will certainly many stores, independent experts and others. That's because IM improves partnership, however does not provide itself to opening new relationships. Nonetheless, in addition to the possibilities for time as well as cost financial savings, there are risks as well as disadvantages to its usage.

Do adopt an individual policy for business instant messaging. If you're a proprietor, your workers require to know whether you view instant messaging as a proper vehicle to connect with, claim, customers or business partners. Any plan needs to include at the very least general standards for its usage. You may not think this is very important-- unless you understand the tale regarding the hedge fund supervisor that created a significant commotion by purportedly making use of IM to spread unreliable rumours concerning a publicly traded software company. (Word obtained out, the software program company's supply plunged, and the bush fund manager and his firm entered some serious problem.).

Do not utilize instant messaging to connect personal or sensitive info. Take a lesson from the above example. If your business is in business of giving professional recommendations regarding stocks, finances, medicine or regulation, possibilities are it's not smart to do so through instant messaging. IM is much better suited to fast details concerning project status, meeting times, or a person's location.

Do organise your call checklists to separate business get in touches with from family and good friends. Make certain your employees do the same. Get rid of even the remote opportunity that a social contact could be included in a business conversation with a companion or customer-- or vice versa. MSN Carrier [link] lets you arrange your calls very carefully.

Do not allow extreme personal messaging at the workplace. Yes, you make individual telephone call at the workplace, send personal emails, and also enable your staff members to do the very same. Yet you urge them to keep it to a minimum as well as (with any luck) do the exact same yourself. For instant messaging go even additionally. Prompt that personal chats be done throughout breaks or the lunch hr-- or that the chats generate new clients or revenue to business.

Do realize that instantaneous messages can be conserved. You might think IM is great due to the fact that you can allow your guard down, make vibrant declarations, upbraid an employer, employee or associate, as well as have everything wiped far from the record when you are done. What you aren't realising is that one of the celebrations to your discussion can copy and also paste the whole conversation onto a note pad or Word document. Some IM services enable you to archive whole messages. Be cautious what you claim, much like you would certainly in an email.

Don't jeopardize your firm's responsibility, or your very own track record. The courts may still be figuring out where instant messages stand in terms of libel, libel and other lawful considerations. It's most likely that any kind of declarations you make about other individuals, your firm or various other firms probably aren't mosting likely to land you in court. But they might damage your credibility or integrity. Be mindful what you claim.

Do understand virus infections and also relevant safety and security risks. The majority of IM solutions permit you to move files with your messages. Alexis D. Gutzman, a writer and also eBusiness specialist, says her current study for a book located that IM data accessories bring infections pass through firewall programs much more conveniently than e-mail accessories. "Immediate messages [carrying viruses] will run and also dip right into a firewall program till they locate an opening," she states. You would certainly be smart to discover even more concerning the high quality of your very own firewall security, to choose whether or not to limit transferring data with IM.

Do not share personal data or information with IM. Even if you have the utmost trust in the person or individuals you are messaging, including individual information you prefer to keep confidential (like a contact number) is not a great suggestion. That's due to the fact that the text of your chat is relayed via a server en course to your contact. "If any individual is on the connection and also can see that web traffic, they can see the individual information," claims Chris Mitchell, lead program supervisor with MSN Messenger. Not likely, perhaps. Yet it's much better to send out such info through an encrypted e-mail, or not in any way.

Do maintain your instant messages simple and also to the factor, as well as know when to say goodbye. Just how you ought to make use of IM is hard to specify. Kneko Burney, supervisor of eBusiness study at Cahners In-Stat Team, favors it merely for seeing if an associate is at his/her desk, readily available for an in-person or phone call. "It resembles looking into somebody's office." Gutzman, on the other hand, sees IM as a method to do fast research and also obtain fast information from consultants and also lawyers. She recently used IM in looking into a book, conserving whole messages in her individual archives. Both concur, however, that you need to restrict your questions, specify as soon as possible, and also prevent unneeded blather. "With instant messaging, you do not require a great deal of pleasantries," Gutzman claims. "I virtually can claim, 'Exactly how's it going?' and afterwards get on with my inquiry.".

Don't confuse your contacts with a misleading customer name or status. IM individual names, like email individual names, should be regular throughout your business. As well as individuals ought to do the thanks to updating their standing throughout the day, so get in touches with know whether they are readily available for messages.

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mary3854-blog · 5 years

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Best wireless charger: Ditch the headache of cables with our top pick

As accommodation goes, remote charging can't be beat. You basically drop your telephone onto the charger and leave. Gone is the cerebral pain of overseeing links that definitely break or get lost.

As of not long ago, the primary downside to remote chargers has been moderate appropriation and moderate charging. This style of charging is as yet not universal, yet you would now be able to discover Samsung, LG, Sony, and Moto telephones that help it on the Android side, and Apple has embraced it for its iPhone lineup too. What's more, the innovation itself is at long last achieving a point where its speed is simpler to live with, as well.

Since it's a decent time to go out and get a stand or cushion, we've tried probably the most well known models out there for both Android and iPhone, and found our top choices among the bundle. Peruse on for our discoveries, and return intermittently for our most recent updates.

Upadated 2/7/19 to incorporate our survey of the RAVPower Alpha Series Fast Charge Wireless Charging Pad, an essential, moderate remote charger that additionally incorporates a 24W divider connector plug for quicker charging. Look to the base of this article to see the majority of our charger audits.

The best remote charger for Android telephones

Anker's PowerWave 7.5 Stand is our present best pick. It charges quicker on Android than some other cushion we tried, looks decent, and has a stand that makes checking warnings extremely simple. A cooling fan in the base can be noisy in a calm domain, yet it is anything but a major issue—only something to remember.

From its alluring texture complete—produced using hemp and reused water bottles, no less—to its adaptable structure factor that gives you a chance to charge your telephone upstanding or inclined, to its sensible value, we officially loved the Nimble Stand. At that point we saw its execution! It was the quickest at charging an iPhone of any of the remote chargers we've inspected, and praiseworthy at charging Android too. (Peruse our full audit.)

What to search for in a remote charger

Up to this point, there were two distinctive remote charging measures that you must know about when acquiring a remote charging cushion: the Power Matters Alliance (PMA) standard, and the Wireless Power Consortium's Qi standard.

Powermat has since consented to join the WPC and grasp the Qi standard. (We've noted in our individual remote charger surveys on the off chance that it underpins the PMA standard, on the off chance that you have a more established Android gadget that just backings PMA.) Now you possibly have one factor to think about while picking a remote charging cushion: Does it bolster quick charging?

As innovation has developed, so too has the speed at which a telephone can remotely charge. You should check the speed at which your telephone can remotely charge, which is typically given as far as 7.5 watts (W), 9W, or even 15W.

In some cases programming has an influence in the speed. For instance, an iPhone 8, 8 Plus, or X running iOS 11.2 or later charges at 7.5W, while any of a similar running iOS 11.1 charges at 5W.

The bundling for most remote chargers will show its speed. Search for the wattage speed on the container or in the determination posting for a charger, at that point contrast that and the speed at which your telephone can charge.

Do remember that as quick as remote chargers have turned into, the included charger for most telephones will be your most logical option when you're in a rush and need as quick a charge as could be expected under the circumstances.

How we tried

So as to legitimately test and quantify to what extent a remote charger takes to charge a cell phone from 0 to 100 percent, we pursued the means beneath each time we put a telephone on the charging cushion. For the underlying round of tests, we utilized an opened Samsung Galaxy S9.

We empowered flight mode on the Galaxy S9 to keep notices or associations from affecting battery life all through each test.

To totally deplete the battery on the Galaxy S9, we circled a film in VLC with screen brilliance set to 100 percent until the telephone controlled off.

In the event that a remote charger incorporated its own capacity supply, we utilized it. If not, we utilized Samsung's standard divider connector and a proper link.

The telephone was set on a remote charging cushion, and a clock was set for four minutes (the base time required to breath life into the telephone back over every one of the cushions we tried). Following four minutes, the telephone was controlled on and opened.

A period slip by video was recorded of each charging session utilizing a Wyze Cam, with a photograph caught at regular intervals.

Charge time was determined by taking a gander at the video and taking note of when the dependably in plain view of the Galaxy S9 would enlist 100%.

We rehashed the test multiple times for every remote charger, at that point arrived at the midpoint of the outcomes.

Testing a remote accusing cushion of an iPhone requires an unexpected method in comparison to with an Android handset. The iPhone doesn't have a dependably in plain view highlight that always demonstrates the present battery rate. In view of this we selected to charge our iPhone X for a time of a hour and measure the accomplished charged dimension following the means underneath:

We empowered standalone mode on the iPhone X so as to keep any pointless notices or associations from affecting battery life all through the test.

Utilizing VLC and a showcase splendor set to 100%, we totally depleted the battery until the iPhone X fueled off.

In the event that a remote charger incorporated its very own capacity supply, we utilized it. If not, we utilized Samsung's standard divider connector and proper link.

The telephone was then put on a remote charging cushion, and a clock was set for 7 minutes (the base time required to breath life into the telephone back over every one of the cushions we tried).

At the 7 minute imprint, the iPhone would be opened and after that put back on the charging cushion. Another clock was set for a hour.

After the hour long clock terminated, the telephone was expelled from the cushion and the battery rate was recorded.

We rehashed this procedure multiple times for each charging cushion and found the middle value of the outcomes.

For an inexact ballpark of to what extent it'll take to achieve full accuse of an iPhone, you can separate 60 (the quantity of minutes utilized for this test) by the rate result recorded in each audit. So if the outcome is a normal charge of 36 percent in a hour, the soonest that a full charge will take is approximately 167 minutes, or 2 hours and 47 minutes.

Remember this is a loose gauge: We state "inexact" in light of the fact that it's workable for running after to moderate amid a full charge.

The majority of our remote charger surveys

Inquisitive about alternate alternatives out there? The following is a rundown of all the remote chargers we've investigated. We'll continue assessing new ones all the time, so make certain to return to perceive what else we've tried.

Supervisor's note, 9/17/2018: The first form of this article erroneously expressed that Powermat possesses the PMA standard. We lament the mistake.

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a standout amongst the best cell phones in the market. Its high handling force makes it reasonable for gaming. In addition, in the event that you appreciate gushing HD motion pictures or shooting selfies, another one will work well for you. Sadly, contrasted with Android telephones, iPhone is control parched. The stock accuse it happens to, then again, has a moderate charge innovation that disappoints individuals. To beat these issues, consider purchasing a fast iPhone charger on the web. The accompanying 10 brands are the best to purchase in 2019:

Syncwire iPhone ChargerAre you felt burnt out on of hanging tight for long for the moderate stock charger that accompanied your iPhone to control its battery? For the best involvement, search for a legitimate iPhone charger, for example, Syncwire. MFI 0-guaranteed by Apply, its protected 8-stick configuration underpins most models of the iPhone. You can utilize it to charge the iPhone X 8 and 7 at home without harming its charging framework. Individuals with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 5 likewise like its speed and capacity to

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