Yes, I’ve filed this under things I hate. Maybe it’s because I’m older, or maybe it’s just me…but have any of you noticed that the work ethic among the 20-something’s and younger seems to be dwindling at an ever-increasing rate?

I first noticed this while I was working at a retail store just before graduating college. I had worked an 11 hour day with only one 15 minute break because my 20-something co-worker was late for work. Well, when it came time to close I got ready to head out, and she stopped me, saying “I got permission to leave early because I have to get to a party.” I checked with the boss (also a 20-something person) – yes, she had given her permission to go to the party knowing I had been there all day with practically no break – and – get ready for it – SHE was going with her. They both left me to close all the registers while they went out and partied. Neither of them had worked more than six hours that day.

Needless to say…I quit that job soon after that.

And then there was the day the hi-tech company I worked for IPO’d. All the twenty-somethings with shares to spare bolted to the garage to drink and smoke (and I’m not kidding people – in the middle of the day) whilst I stayed at my desk finalizing a news release and handling paged calls for my merry marketing co-workers who only cared about how much money they made that day and could have cared less about the long-term success of the company or how what they were doing looked to the other business tenants in the building.

It confounds me – the sheer lack of consideration not only for co-workers but also for customers. Not to mention the fact that it’s becoming increasingly acceptable to treat others with complete and total disdain in general and not take responsibility for actions that would have in the past been firing offenses. What is wrong with people? I have to believe it’s probably a combination of several things:

1. Poor Role Models. These attitudes I’m sure are a direct result of like behavior exhibited by the parents of these people.

2. Apathy Unchecked. Parents too busy to notice or too tired to care about poor attitudes and behavior exhibited by their kids.

3. Entitlement Society. Yes, folks, we’ve evolved into an entitlement society – wherein most people think they are owed consideration or material goods by others, rather than taking responsibility for their own selves and having the gumption to go out and earn a buck for what they want – in short, an “IT’S ALL ABOUT ME” and “WHAT DO I GET OUT OF THIS?” attitude.

4. Political Correctness. Many adults – teachers because the system requires it and parents because of guilt issues surrounding not spending time with their kids – believe it’s wrong to make a kid “feel bad” about themselves by making them take responsibility for/own up to bad decisions or behavior or by penalizing them for work not done or rules not followed.

5. Rewarding Laziness – Also in the case of parents, they don’t want to “put pressure” on the kids by making them get a job to pay for the things they want or ask them to pull their weight around the house for an allowance; they’d rather just reward sloth and apathy rather than making the kid go earn the money he or she wants for extras.

6. Increasingly Lower Employer Expectations. Employers have learned not to expect more from their employees because, quite frankly, it just isn’t there – when was the last time you saw a retail worker go the extra mile to get you what you need – they’d rather tell you they’re out instead of checking in the back – and we won’t even talk about the fact most cashiers are OK with remaining on their phone convo’s with their friends while they check you out rather than actually making eye contact with you and paying attention to you personally in any way.

And I’m sure we all have our horror stories of co-workers who let balls drop and were totally okay with letting others pick up the slack so projects could be completed – without a word of thanks to those who covered for them.

I believe the only exception to no. 6 is gaming shops or electronics departments. Why? Because the subject matter is something interesting to THEM and important to THEM – so therefore they’ll deign to actually acknowledge your existence and offer assistance in the way of advice or information. To be sure, it’s more than likely not because they have a good, strong work ethic.

Having said all that….I do know there are some kids out there that have good parents and are being raised with a sense of how their actions can have an impact on others (both positively and negatively), are required to take responsibility for their behavior, and know the value of a dollar. Unfortunately, these model kids are becoming more and more scarce. Unfortunately, our society as a whole is going to suffer from parental apathy and rewarded laziness and all this “political correctness” when our work force slows to a screaming halt because there will be very few people with the drive and intestinal fortitude to achieve success in an increasingly permissive and entitlement-based society.

Look at France…..if we continue on the current course, it’s coming here, people. Mark my words.

Thoughts?

Total calories burned: 666.

Enough said.

When you start moving stuff around the cracker shelf and notice the expiration date on the Giant Goldfish box is July, 2003. Needless to say, the pantry got a thorough once-over today. Many items were found to be less than palatable and found their way into the trash can.

That is all.

At least that’s what the quiz says about me. H/T to Paula for this one.

You’re a scientific intellectual.

What Sort of Intellectual Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hey, we all know that for the most part schools are run by liberals and most teachers live on the left. This is a fact everyone is aware of. This is the way it has always been. Public schools, in my opinion, are still for the most part the best place for learning as immersion in all subjects related to required testing and testing for college (ACT, SAT) goes far toward helping kids score high on these tests. The constant exposure to all subjects covered in the tests and the social learning with regard to dealing with peers, understanding different points of view, exposure to the arts, etc. make public school a good place for a well-rounded education.

As most who work in the fied are on the left, those of us on the right do need to keep on top of what our kids are being taught with regard to politics, morals, etc. It is the bad parent who remains uninvolved and lets views they don’t agree with go unchallenged and does not put opposing views in the proper perspective.

Having said that, I absolutely do NOT agree with teachers doing what this one person did in Vermont. He integrated an anti-Bush message within a required vocabulary quiz in school. The article follows below. Hey, I realize it’s unrealistic to believe that you can curtail any and all comments by teachers with regard to politics one way or the other. Comments are going to happen. And I think it’s a good thing kids are exposed to some degree to this as they will be faced with many who do not share their beliefs in their adult lives, and it’s a good training ground for them to learn how to deal with it.

I’m sure this is not the first and won’t be the last time this has and will happened. And I’m also sure that those few teachers who live life on the right may have done similar things when Clinton shamed our country with his oval office antics and committed perjury on the witness stand .

For us, it was clear Scytheboy’s principal was a leftie when Bush was elected the second time – she televised Kerry’s concession speech throughout the school, but the televisions were turned off when it came time for Bush to speak. This is an example of the many subtle ways some (not all – if you’re one who doesn’t do this I commend you and I apologize if my thoughts on this offend you) teachers attempt to convince students the liberal agenda is better. Scytheboy told us about it that day, and we discussed why she might have done this and explained to him that it was not a very democratic (as in how things are supposed to go in a democracy) thing to do…only showing one side.

So anyway, I think this guy went too far, but I also know a lot of teachers go too far promoting their beliefs, whatever they may be. It’s our job as parents to discuss these things with our kids and make sure they understand what the motives might be, that it’s wrong to integrate political leanings into class material, and to always tell us if something like this happens so we can talk about it and understand it.

The article follows in the extended post for your review. That’s all I have to say on this.
Read More »

Hmmm….what do we have here?

I can’t really tell….let’s see what the other side smells like.

Well, he might not have thought much about the marinade, but we sure did enjoy that creole butter taste!

Go visit the Friday Ark when you get a chance.

We just finished eating our fried turkey and fixin’s about an hour ago. I’m just now able to move enough to show you what goes into frying said turkey.

First you inject it:

Then you put it on its pedestal:

Then you dunk it in your hot peanut oil:

Read More »

We received a very special package in the mail today. For background, a few months back, Scytheboy corresponded with a Staff Sergeant on an Apache helicopter in Iraq. To show our support, Tommy and I also sent a letter and a care package to our lonely soldier working hard to protect all of our freedom.

This very special soldier, who had been away from his wife and kids for almost two years in September when the letter was dated, went to great effort to show his appreciation of our support. He sent us a thank you letter for our support, AND a U.S. flag that actually flew on the helicopter with him and the crew during a successful mission as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition, we received a letter of appreciation from the aircraft commander and a picture of the entire crew holding the very flag we now possess with a certificate of authenticity that the flag actually flew on the mission.

Our soldier was 40 days out from returning home when he sent us our very special memento of his time in Iraq, and it is our hope that by now he is home safe and sound. I’m sure all of us appreciate the sacrifices he and his family have made for our freedom and the freedom of the Iraqi people.

Hoo-Ah!!!

Just so you know, I got all my Christmas cards addressed and signed, and our family update letter is complete. Another thing off the list. Why does this time of year have to be filled with so many to-do’s?

Well….at least I got something productive done yesterday since I have yet to hit the gym this week. It seems my motivation to go to the gym has gone on strike. I’m beginning to really enjoy mornings that are filled with sleep and devoid of strenuous workouts. Hopefully, once tomorrow is over and I can no longer fit in my “skinny” jeans I’m sure the motivation will return and I’ll be back at the gym.

In the mean time, I’d better get back to enjoying yet another workout free day.

Well I dragged Scytheboy out for shopping today as promised. I call it Christmas shopping…you can call it Holiday shopping…it’s my blog so I get to call it what I want. You don’t have to read it if you don’t like it.

Anyway….The stops at Best Buy, Toys r Us and a department store (along with a few items I got online when we got back) helped me achieve the majority of my shopping for the season. I even got my gifts for all the Wisconsin relatives (those I’m buying for) wrapped and in the mail.

As soon as the online stuff gets here early next week, I can ship stuff out to Tommy’s family in West Texas. Then, when Tommy tells me what he wants for Christmas (materially – get your mind out of the gutter) and I get that bought during his next trip – I should be about 98% done with my shopping. Stocking stuffers will be all that remain and I can get those at the grocery store.

I hate to shop…I hate it vehemently. So words cannot describe how relieved I am to be almost done with the shopping part and half way done with the shipping part. Shopping and shipping…shopping and shipping….the two things I hate most about the holidays.

So….how are you doing on your Christmas (or Holiday if you prefer) shopping? Started yet?