#MicroblogMondays:Crying At Work

I was confronted one day by a demanding parent, insisting that her child's teacher to do this or that, and I said, "No, that's not the way we do things here." I explained that I managed my teachers' time and conditions to minimise stress. "Oh, get real!" Mrs Irate retorted, "Everyone is stressed these days!" "Possibly, " I replied, "But do you really want a stressed teacher in charge of your child?"

 

I am reminded of this exchange by the New York Times research on conditions at Amazon warehouses. I was especially taken by two things, firstly, that the charismatic CEO of Amazon had no idea that working conditions were terrible, for some, and secondly, that one response was, "Everyone cries at work!" To bully. Intimidate, overwork, distress, low-paid workers with little power, is to be expected, apparently.

 

I have decided to do something against CEO's, whose seriously bountiful lifestyles are funded on the unhappiness of others. I'm going to change my shopping habits. This is what I am going to do:

 

Use small local businesses

Buy from recycling centres

Buy from businesses that are employee-owned: The Co-operative, Waitrose, John Lewis

Use the public library ebook and audiobook service (which is free here)

Switch broadband, telephone and energy services to ethical alternatives

Buy from independent book-sellers (abe.com)

 

Yes, it may be more expensive, but I can afford it. It'll take a real change of heart, because I am a bargain-hunter, and my habit has been to find the cheapest of anything. I never factored in the true cost in the well-being of the workers.

 

I once worked in a toxic workplace and I remember being driven to a breakdown. I left as soon as I could, and sought to be my own boss, so that bullying would never happen to me again. And when I was boss, I made sure it never happened to anyone in my employ.

 

If you want to know why I could face-down the belligerent parent, it was because my school was over-subscribed. I didn't need her. Being kind paid off.

 

 

 

 

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You Can Only See ...

My teacher, Richard Rohr, often says, "You can only see, what you've been taught to see." This has been brought home to me as I follow the campaign for the Labour Leadership.

I have voted for Jeremy Corbyn, and I did so because Jeremy DID NOT attend Oxford or Cambridge University, to study economics, like all his rivals, he HAS had a life outside the Westminster hothouse, and he DID vote against further cuts in welfare.

So what is it the centre-right political class is not seeing? Forty economists, not all Corbyn supporters, have written to the British press to say he's right on austerity. It won't stimulate the economy, it won't bring about a recovery, it will further impoverish the lives of the poorest, which will, in all probability, weaken the social fabric of our nation. So why do the three other candidates support the austerity programme designed by the opposition to dismantle the welfare state? Because they all studied economics at Oxbridge of course. And you cannot see what you weren't taught to see.

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#MicroblogMondays:They're ALL My Favourite!

I had lunch with my daughters Kate and Hannah and their husbands, Darren and Luke on Sunday, and we had a wonderful time meeting the latest addition to our family, Pumba, a black Labrador puppy. Pumba was very well-behaved for a puppy, and very tolerant of our adoration. He took it in his stride (or should that be 'bounce') and having greeted us all exuberently, he fell asleep and stayed there.

Kate and Darren are expecting their first child in the new year, a boy. So there was much discussion around this exciting event. The new arrival will be our fourth grandchild, and he is as eagerly expected as our first.

Ray and I have three daughters, who have grown into three wonderful women. Three children, I read the other day, is the hardest number to raise, and that may be true. I wouldn't call raising any number 'easy'. An amazing, fulfilling, life-enhancing experience, yes. 'Easy'? Not especially.

"Did you have a favourite?" Hannah asked me suddenly, and I didn't quite know what to say. I mean I'd have to say "No!" whether it was true or not, wouldn't I?

I endured years of fertility treatments in the 1970's, and I was one of the lucky ones. So my daughters were hard won, and each was greeted as a very special gift. All adored - the concept of "favourite" just doesn't come into it.,

Or, as I said a couple of weeks ago when introducing Luke to a friend,"I have three sons-in-law, and they're ALL my favourite!"

Take note girls!

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To Frack Or Not To Frack

I have been following the mucky history of 'fracking' for some time on The Diane Rehm Show. (Regular readers know I get a lot of my foresight from American Public Radio, because whatever horrors are visited on our cousins in the USA, inevitably cross the Atlantic ... ) The promise that fracking was 'safe' because the carcinogens added to the high pressure water jets that break the shale rocks to release the gas, would not pollute drinking water, turned out to be undeliverable. "Ah yes!" The oil industry reassures us, "Faulty kit, not dangerous practice!" Well, really, if the oil giants couldn't get something as important as public health right straight away, why trust them with a second bite of the cherry?
And it's happening. Here it comes. Our lovely government that promised local autonomy is now saying, "Except when you don't allow fracking!" So just wait for it ... Some of our most beautiful landscapes will be despoiled, and the lives of many of our citizens disrupted by the roads that have to be laid to accommodate the heavy plant that has to go in and out, by those very goings in and out, and inevitably, someone, somewhere will get a dose of something nasty and everyone in government will be shocked and dismayed, like they didn't see THAT one coming. ...
The best science says we can't take out of the ground any more of the greenhouse-gas emitting hydrocarbons without destroying the biosphere. The legacy we leave to our descendants, if we carry on like this, if we allow fracking, is a dying planet. But hey! Politicians only think in bursts of five years, and crossing their fingers, they hope the mess they create now, will either go away, or get blamed on someone else ... And now, who knows? With luck, there might not be anyone left to blame them anyway!
My hope lies in a massive awakening of consciousness in the sleeping populace. I thought that very unlikely until tens of thousands of disenfranchised Brits joined the Labour Party to vote for Jeremy Corbyn. Who is a both red AND green. You should hear the establishment squeal! They didn't see THAT one coming either.
To destroy the planet for short-term gain is immoral. Corbyn offers a real alternative to the short-sighted adherence to unbridled self-interest that dogs the current political system. He might not be able to stop this  juggernaut, but he will stand in its way. Let's face it, someone has to. I, for one, will stand with him.

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