Author: samandoat

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Two Holidays

As I get close to my annual holidays I feel like an old ship that has been out to sea a very long time and has been battling hurricanes non stop. Now without any power left, I coast into shore with only the currents and wind to guide me.

Every year the distance between annual holidays seems to get farther, longer, and a lot more painful.

To think, the younger version of myself often skipped annual vacations and took the pay instead!

We have just passed the first day of summer and now I long to be sitting in the long grass, watching the bugs and birds and whatever. Summer days can be mesmerizing and brings out the laziest parts of me.

As I look forward to a rest, I want to remind everyone to do the same. Take a break. Listen to the birds. Watch the clouds. See the big picture.

If you’re a planner like me, stop. Don’t plan anything and just let one day become the next. It will do you so much good to stop being your own worst enemy, and possibly everyone else’s too!

You don’t have to be anywhere, or do anything, or be anyone for a few short little weeks of the year. You don’t have to make big decisions (and shouldn’t), be zen or learn a new skill, develop yourself or seek a new career. You don’t have to be zip lining, cycling 100 km a day, or organizing an event. Turn yourself off.

I believe everyone should have 2 major holidays a year. One as described above, where you turn it all off and a second one where you turn yourself on – experience something new, go somewhere, try something. We need both in order to be healthy.

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Forgotten Generation

It is pretty disgusting how we treat seniors in our so called great continent, North America.

They are the forgotten generation.

We are a youth orientated culture, and have totally dismissed our elders. They are forced to live in poverty and without adequate medical attention. These are the same people who raised great children, who contributed to society in countless and selfless ways. They have paid their dues a thousand times over in support of this country.

It is not their fault they have medical issues, this is the law of nature, all animals gradually break down and die. If you live a long time your body feels the effects. When you get old you cannot do what you did when you were young. And you should not be expected too.

All people 70 and older should have FREE medicare. FREE transportation. FREE housing. They should not have to pay taxes on anything. Is it not disgusting they have to pay tax on their meager pensions?! We should be ashamed of how we treat our elders. While you are working you can afford to pay taxes; you get to purchase what you need and want and enjoy your life. And don’t forget, you too, if you live long enough will be old and faced with maybe a worse scenario than what now exists. It is outrageous to think you can save for your retirement when interest rates are in the toilet (but the banks are hauling it in let me tell you) and wages are not much better, especially for women. Whoo boy! Women have it the hardest. They earn less. They have many non-earning years (raising children). They live longer. They have more health issues. They have less savings and ability to save since they often take care of aging parents.

It is very hard to keep working, even part time when you get old, even when you are in good health. Young people don’t understand this. You getting f’in tired!

I hate the flippant attitude regarding the idea of generating a second income for seniors. Not all second income ventures are successful and can cost a lot of money to set up. They can be a tremendous amount of work and cause much worry. You never read about all the ones that have failed. It is for a lot of people a pipe dream. You set up a website and the money just comes to you. Yeah, bullshit.

It is our responsibility to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves, financially or otherwise. This is a filthy rich nation, we have no excuse. It would not cost that much money to ensure our seniors live comfortable, productive lives. We have that money. No, not to take more from the already struggling masses, but what about those who brag about their billions and spend it on useless crap like rockets, telephones and more cars! Oops there I go again! Or leaders who use our tax money (billions!) to live upscale, travel, bolster themselves, create wars, have parades or paint airplanes (sorry!)

I am sick of seeing seniors living in survival mode. Nickel and diming their way through each and every day. Not getting the care and attention they require. I am sick of seeing older people dismissed when they have so much wisdom and experience to share, that this world so desperately needs.

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Now Is Not The Time

This weekend is the first time in what seems like a year that we have had nice weather. The kind of weather where you sit out and do nothing.

So now is not the time for me to rant, contemplate the ills of the world, and heaven forbid, write about them.

This is a weekend to celebrate life and all the good things about it.

The sun, the fresh air, the cloudless sky. Sit and watch my flowers grow.

So that is what I did.

With the cat of course.

I hope you did too.

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Where Does It Start?

I got bent out of shape this week over a certain governments decision to lower the minimum wage, and stop overtime pay for teenage workers. I was even more upset by the support this received.

On many levels, this is just plain wrong. And stupid.

First of all, this is blatant discrimination, not that this is anything new in companies. They pay women less, ethnic groups less, seniors less. Why not teenagers too?

If you do the work, you should be paid for it.

Everyone jumps to the conclusion such a move will benefit small business. These types of decisions are not for small business. This is to win support from big business, after all, they are the ones who monetarily support politicians and hire most of the labour.

Most definitely these same companies are not cash strapped or too poor to pay people. They use the money saved from paying their employees to lavish CEO’s and shareholders with millions upon millions of dollars they did nothing for.

Politicians pull the ‘help small business’ bullshit card because people automatically root for the underdog. They forget who does most of the hiring; it is the Walmarts, Canadian Tires, Tim Hortons and the like. They are the ones who really benefit.

Having employees and despising that fact is common in all business. It is a version of the Fawlty Towers syndrome; this hotel would run smoothly if we didn’t have customers – this business would be rich if we didn’t have employees – better yet, have them and not pay them!

Kings and Queens, Lords and Emperors and the like from the beginning of time figured this one out – it is called slavery.

How prevalent and accepted it still is in our affluent societies. Many beautiful creations of human kind have been built from slavery. Is this something we should be proud of and continue?

Lowering minimum wage is one thing, but perhaps the most devious part of this plan is to not pay for overtime. Wow, you know what that means. If you do not do overtime when they ask, and they will demand it because they don’t have to pay you more, you will be terminated. They will need more employees to do overtime because they will hire less. This is the law of the land for most retail – do as we say or you are replaced, the bottom line is always money. Oh, I could go on about retail! We don’t have to pay you shit, we can work you till you drop and then, next!

Such seemingly little policies like lowering minimum wage and not paying overtime for teenagers can soon infiltrate a larger populace, namely the adult worker.

What is the real reason we have poverty in this world – especially in our own filthy rich country? Where does it start? Right here.

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Worry

I tend to go through phases of this, where I am intensely worried about stuff and then, what was I so upset about?

Like most people I suppose, I live a life of quiet desperation, keeping my worries to myself and being a mole, burying it underground so no one can see.

Sharing misery with others does not help the situation anyways. They’ll tell you you are worrying for nothing, or your fears are inflated. All the while, they have some deep seated fears, perhaps even the same fears they are being moles about.

The only cure for worry, like most things, is action. Not distraction necessarily, but confronting your fears head on.

What works for me is planning, though I hate planning or scheduling in near nauseating proportions.

If I have a clear idea what the problem is, then I can look for solutions, and several different plans to tackle it. If the thing I worry about comes to pass, I can put those initiatives into action.

Sometimes we don’t know what the problem is; we have a health issue but no diagnosis, we have a financial problem but we don’t know where the money is going, we have a relationship problem but don’t know why. So first the problem needs clarification, going for tests, tracking your money, communicating with your loved ones. It takes some research, some courage, and acceptance. No small feats to be sure. Once you know the problem, it makes it a whole lot easier to find solutions. However, you need a lot of solutions in order to find one that works for you.

Ugh, it all means work.

Or you can just needlessly worry, and let life take care of the problem for you. Sometimes you have to do that too. But, I am a fighter. I’ve been passive too but only on things I knew were hopeless, or not worth pursuing. Things I could not correct, only make worse by mucking around with it. It is good to let a lover go sometimes, or a job and look for the silver lining and new opportunities. Never easy, but certainly inevitable at some time in life.

I take great strength from people who have been through worse and survived, or better, thrived!

It does not mean things will go according to plan, but at least I will have thought about it and have some idea what to do. And if something comes out at me from left field, at least I know that in the past I have solved problems and knew what to do. It builds resilience.

And yet, I still worry. I lose sleep. I am human.

I think worry shows you the reality of life, that you cannot always control your destiny. But it only shows you the dark side of things. What if things improved immeasurably by something supposedly bad happening? I can tell you truthfully, this is often the case. Either what I worried about never came to pass, or in hindsight, it was the best thing to ever happen.

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Gold Watch

Why is there a growing trend to treat long term employees badly?

What happened to the gold watch, the praise, the acknowledgement of many years of loyal service?

Why has this been replaced with disdain?

There is a rise in employers terminating long term employees just in the nick of time to avoid paying them pensions, or ripping them off of retirement benefits, or making it impossible to claim unemployment insurance, or get severance pay. This is now followed by bosses treating the employee badly, ignoring them, severing long term relationships where there never was a problem before, everyone was friendly, hell – the employee probably even went to their house for the odd barbeque, knew all about their kids, cared about their problems – maybe even sacrificed their free time to help them out! Worse, fellow employees now join in the fun, berating their co-workers and laughing at their predicament.

Why is this happening?

These are often big corporations that snub the long term employee, who can easily afford to pay their benefits, but prefer to send that money to their CEO’s and shareholders. What gives?

A lot of mean spiritedness is for no reason. They gain nothing by making it difficult for an employee to get unemployment insurance, or medical benefits. I don’t get it.

If businesses are going to behave badly, that is what we have governments for. To force them, by law, to be good stewards over their flock. We need laws to protect our loyal workers.

The only thing I can hope for is a good dose of heavy duty karma on these bastards. After all, one day, they too will be old, and considered useless, even though they have proved for decades they are anything but worthless. They will pay for the mistreatment of their loyal co-workers and employees.

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Some Evidence of Spring

THHHWAP! THHHWAP!

On one of the worst days of spring this year, I was surprised by this strange sound as I made my way to my early morning commute.

I was stunned to see a large woodpecker happily chopping up a tree! As wood chips flew past me, I struggled to get my camera out and capture the moment. And miss my bus (worth it!).

There goes the bus!

We have a pair of woodpeckers who return every year to our property and sometimes I have been lucky enough to spot the young ones. But this year I was blessed to have an adult so close, and on such a miserable day.

Sometimes joy comes when I least expect it.

I still got to work on time.

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Wonder

Suddenly there was a mass exodus of birds, flushed out from the rooftops and sidewalks of downtown. A cloud of mostly pigeons, interspersed with seagulls, starlings and sparrows, swooped around the buildings and down the streets.

Squinting into the noonday sky I spot the reasons. Too very large hawks slowly circling high above.

There are more hawks and falcons arriving yearly to our city in response to the increasing number of pigeons. At my apartment building I have seen as many as ten at once circling our skies. Falcons were introduced to our city core many years ago in an attempt to curb pigeon growth, but word got out and soon hawks were joining the foray.

To witness the slow circling flight of these birds is mesmerizing, terrifying and awe inspiring at the same time. But I think magnificence because they seem to rule their realm.

However, it is also true that crows vociferously announce the hawks whereabouts and mercilessly attack them on wing.

Nature makes sure all balances out, and it fills me with wonder.

I saw lots of osprey on my visit to Spokane a few years ago.
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YAY!

Just as men got called out for their abusive behaviour towards women, now corporations are being set to task for their employment policies. Called out by women. Yay!

Yay! to Abigail Disney for starting to expose the lies us drudges all know but could never speak out. The smoke and mirrors bosses and companies ply us with to make themselves look good, make us work harder for less and fatten up shareholders and CEO’s wallets.

It is a movement that started before Abigail, but she is an unexpected source of support, she is lifting the fog, making people see clearly the truth about company tactics.

The old way of employment must be thrown out.

Regardless of your age or qualifications, if you do the work, you should be paid for it. It is obscene to have employees earn below the poverty line and reward CEO’s double digit millions just for showing up. What this means is that a lot more than that CEO’s bonus was made in profits and went to shareholders. A lot more money. And not any of that money was given to the people who actually earned it.

It is disgusting that us drudges have to prove ourselves over and over and over for mere crumbs, knowing that at any minute bosses can pull our life line and we can be let go. No matter how long we have worked, how faithful we have been, or how much abuse we have endured, we are expendable.

It was always presumed to be the employees fault for not earning enough, or advancing in the company. The old belief in working harder and longer will yield recognition and rewards, or getting more education equates to more pay. I have done both and received no extra compensation, nor recognition, only more duties and higher expectations of me.

There are tons of things about working as a drudge I could go on about, but I am just so happy to see some cracks forming in the foundation of old employment practices opening up. To see a new age dawning for the working person.

Meanwhile, Sally still plays the game in searching for employment as a senior:

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Wisdom

Sally Sixty Something

I made this cartoon for a friend who is struggling to be employed again after being dumped for a younger version of herself after years of loyal, untarnished service.

I don’t care how much training you got in school, what school you went to, how many scholarships and awards you gained, how good your grades were or how handsome/beautiful and sexy you are. NOTHING beats experience.

If you leave your place of business exclusively in the hands of the young, soon you will flounder.

When I was twenty something I thought I knew everything. As a senior, I realize I did not know much at all.

To be a successful company, you need a blend of young and old on your staff. The young can put in the hours, they are keen, they are quick, they know cutting edge technology.

But WISDOM comes from the ones who have been around the block a few times.

Yes, at times you need to move fast, but on those big decisions, you need someone to put on the brakes and think things through.

You also need someone to mentor your young.

Once, when I was only in my early fifties and applying for a job I got this response, that I have heard many times since, which is totally ridiculous “We really want someone with your experience, but we were hoping for someone younger…”

Well, guess what? You can’t have both.

So put away all your youthful boasting and bravado, and allow a senior on your staff. Let him or her work whatever hours they want, and be open to their counsel. It might just save your ass.