I’m a woman old enough to remember working the same job for a lot less pay than a man.
When a post starts out with a line like that, it’s obvious it’s going to be looong and filled with my personal opinions, observations, and experiences. Feel free to skip reading and come back tomorrow. 🙂
I worked in banking & finance starting as far back as the early 80’s. Because I had college under my belt, I skipped the teller line and went straight to customer service. My desk was front and center — sort of in a row of desks. That front line row was occupied by females — primarily executive secretaries placed in front of the private offices occupied by men with titles.
Still, at that time those desks were where the other female employees wanted to be. Tellers, bookkeepers, and basically all the other female employees scratching for more money had their eyes on those desks and the women in them.
I had big hair and big dreams. 🥴
When I was hired, there were only two women with lending power. Neither had a spot at the main bank visible from the main floor. All the rest across the board were men, and all had higher loan limits than the women. I don’t know of any man with a title who didn’t play golf and spend time at the country club.
I can remember working on Saturday mornings and the VP in charge would be staggering drunk by closing time at noon. I remember my frustration knowing he was making a lot more money than me for sitting around being irresponsible — while the real faces of the bank — the ones keeping the proverbial wheels on the bus — were women barely getting by on their meager salaries.
I never learned to play golf and I didn’t frequent the country club. I did acquire more education and banking experience, and although I moved up the ladder, my salary was never comparable to men in the same role.
Common sense says that’s simply not fair.
The thing is, I never wanted the same pay as a man that did a job I couldn’t/wouldn’t do — just equal pay for equal job performance. I never wanted a job or more pay because I was a woman. I wanted the job because of my qualifications — and I wanted equal pay because I was damned good at my job — cranking out those weekly stats that were equal to or above that of my male colleagues.
My perception is that the scales have now tipped so drastically that viewpoints on about everything have become extreme, and there’s no nuanced discussions.
Common sense has been overshadowed by radical perspectives.
A rise in misinformation from fake news and sensationalism in the 24-hour news cycles — combined with social media and the internet in general — distorts public perception and undermines rational discourse. Rapid cultural changes and the questioning of long-held beliefs creates friction and a sense of instability. Of course, that means people are more likely to make decisions based on emotion rather than logic.
I’m one of those people that remain in the great American middle.
I’m conservative enough to highly regard work ethic and respect for others. I want equal pay for equal job performance no matter the sex or color of one’s skin. Why can’t people simply be hired on merit — not to fill a diversity quota?
I believe in God and not pronouns. I’m liberal enough to accept change and those who choose to be with someone of same sex — but still conservative when it comes to changing one’s sex or pretending to be a variant of the human you were born as.
Herein lies the primary challenge…
Different perspectives on what constitutes common sense will continue to evolve. While some changes are progressive and necessary, they can also lead to conflicts about what constitutes common sense.
I guess we’ve reached the point where people explain my perception of common sense like it’s an anthropological study of Ancient Greece. So I’m just going to keep moving forward — accepting the changes that I feel make sense, and rejecting those I feel are too radical or too narrow-minded.
I’m simply going to continue to enjoy what God has provided — and that I’ve worked for. 🙂
Now you know: The reason why old sports photos often have a blue haze is because the arenas were filled with people smoking cigarettes.
Here we are… already in week 32 of the year. Week 31 was interesting…
How well do you know your customers?
I started off the week with a Walmart grocery delivery. While that in itself isn’t worth mentioning, my item substitution made me snicker. I thought I’d try “hello” deodorant, and chose their coconut scent. Out of stock, Walmart chose to replace my choice with “Unicorn Tween” scent instead.
Even with tons of data compiled about how to sell to customers — they obviously pay zero attention when it comes to serving them. Wouldn’t you think with the advancements in technology they could figure out their long-time customer’s preferences? 🙄
Woofing on behalf chocolate labs from around the world, Dharma would like to congratulate Elsie.
A recent article on Indy Star told the story of devoted lab, Elsie, who stayed by her 80 year-old owner — a woman with dementia — for 3 days and 2 nights until they were found and rescued.
Upcoming for week 32 of 2024 and beyond…
Perry is back to work and I now have a whole lot of ground to gain. Oura ring has a cool feature that notes your cardiovascular age compared to your real age. Prior to Perry’s vacation, my cardiovascular age was 6-years YOUNGER than my true age. It’s currently 1-year OLDER than my true age, meaning I aged 7 years in 2 weeks! My new schedule begins tomorrow.
Will there be a presidential debate after all? Trump has agreed to debate on Fox on 9/3. My hope is that Harris will accept (she’s been asking for it!), and both candidates will focus less on insulting the other and more on their actual campaign promises. I’ve already heard the adjectives “weird” and “crazy” enough in the past month to last a lifetime.
And finally, there’s a new documentary that explores the security failures that led to the assassination attempt on former President Trump that’s worth a look. The fact that it’s produced by TMZ is concerning. Noticing that Harvey Levin is covered in sweat during interviews amplified my concern. Still, I found it interesting — even though it leaves viewers with more questions than answers. You can watch it on TubiTV — Under Fire: The Trump Assassination Attempt.
Now you know: The largest and most expensive animatronic Disney developed, the Yeti in “Expedition Everest,” is stuck in stationary mode as the cement supporting the Yeti isn’t perfect and Disney doesn’t want to risk the animatronic moving and falling on guests.
This isn’t about politics insofar as who you should vote for. It is more about big tech and how people can be manipulated by it.
We’ve all seen the iconic photo of Trump surrounded by secret service after an assassination attempt. And we know it’s being censored by Meta (Facebook/Instagram/etc.). Dani Lever, a spokesperson for Facebook, called the censorship “an error.”
Ooops! Ok, I can understand that… especially since they let my 113 year-old dead grandma eat eclairs with another fake profile. 🙄
But then I noticed all the claims that Google searches were being rigged for Democrats. Ridiculous, right? Bah! It’s easy to check that claim for accuracy.
All you have to do is a simple Google search.
Uh oh. Searching for Kamala Harris I got what I expected… Kamala Harris top stories. But when I searched for Donald Trump, I didn’t get what I expected… I got more Kamala Harris. No matter what your politics are, that should concern you. It concerns me.
Dogs have it better than humans.
Dogs don’t worry that Google’s algorithm for predictive auto complete is whacked — for Democrats or against Trump, not sure which. Not one dog has read the article about it on Associated Press noting claims of election interference and wondered how that’s fair. They don’t need to worry about interest rates, immigration, abortion rights… or anything facing voters.
Matter of fact, Merida’s biggest worry is when she’s going to get a treat.
I’m not sure how we can endure this for 3 more months. 🙁
Now you know: The US Navy refused to cooperate with the filming of the movie Crimson Tide (1995), so getting officially sanctioned footage of a submarine wasn’t possible. Instead, the film crew waited at a naval base until a submarine was actually put to sea and pursued it in a boat and helicopter.
When you’re on the Internet a lot, you tend to notice certain things. What we notice may be influenced by our own viewpoints, of course — and may also be influenced by our age because different generations prefer different platforms of influence.
I’m sure there are studies out there with “real data” that would prove my observations right or wrong — but this is a place where I share my thoughts. 🙂
It seems to me most Internet noise comes from two sources.
Looking at what’s currently going on in the US — from the anti-Israel protests and the assassination attempt on Trump, to the presidential campaign and everything in between — the groups I see making the most noise are:
Younger millennials and older Gen Z’s form one group on the left.
Mid-range Boomers on the right.
That leaves a whole lot of people in the middle… especially when you count the wishy-washy people from those two noisy groups (me included).
Finding balance is a challenge.
It’s difficult to cancel out the noise and not get caught up in it. It’s hard to be informed and not consumed sometimes. That’s why I’m sharing a horrible photo from one of our security cameras of two babies playing in the yard… to remind myself that neither extreme represents me.
Now you know: The only scientific paper ever published by Bill Gates was a possible solution to a mathematical problem about pancake flipping.
I’ve been watching the RNC every evening. Because I’ve been securing my favorite brother to speak to groups around the globe for a couple decades now, I love to see the presenters.
My thoughts so far:
Every single one of the every day Americans getting up there telling their stories did a better job than I could do.
Vivek was FIRE!
Sarah Huckabee Sanders did a terrific job customizing her presentation and it dovetailed nicely with Lara Trump’s message.
JD was ok.
Don Jr. should’ve cut 30-minutes off his speech and left out all the blah blah blah. His daughter, Kai, was better.
Too many others to mention have taken the stage that I thought were average.
I loved the little 98 year-old WWII Veteran. That dude would get my vote for President if he was on the ballot. 🙂
Only one night left and I’m looking forward to hearing the tone of Trump’s message. Dharma’s tired of hearing all the speeches and thinks it’s all pretty boring.
I’m not putting my head in the grass… I plan to watch the DNC as well. (Sorry Dharma.)
Not gonna’ lie, I feel bad for Joe Biden. Poor guy can’t seem to catch a break. Many in his own party want him to “pass the torch,” and now he has COVID. He looked like (my Momma would say) “death warmed over” in a photo shared on CNBC of him shaking hands in a restaurant — and pitiful walking up the steps to Air Force One in Las Vegas.
I’m guessing a lot will transpire over the next few weeks — if it doesn’t, I predict this election will produce the biggest landslide since Reagan beat Mondale.
Now you know: The candy company Mars Inc. is the largest owner of stand-alone veterinary clinics in the United States.
