Old Fashioned or just Unfair?

Every year Administrative Assistant's day rolls around before anyone in my company realizes it, except for the owner. He is always on top of it and he always gets every lady in the company flowers and possibly something else. Last year he took every lady in the company out to lunch in a limousine.

I am glad he remembers this day, but I am not happy that he includes every lady in the company. In a few departments there are ladies who have equals that are men and the men are not treated to any gift. In at least one department there is a lady who runs the show and has men who report to her. Those men are not given any gifts. These ladies are not administrative assistants.

Is it just the owner's old fashioned way of thinking. A male chauvinist attitude that makes him do this every year? Does he think of every lady in the workforce as being a secretary? I don't have the answer, but I know if it was me and I was a female engineer or manager I would be very upset to receive a gift on this day.

We had a female engineering intern last year who gladly went to lunch and accepted the flowers, but did question why she was included. Obviously she was a little insulted, just not enough to refuse the gifts. When is it under appreciated male employee day? I am still waiting for my gift!

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Who is to Blame?

We all know that the economy has not fully recovered. Most of us know that the real estate market was out of control leading to the problems we are now dealing with. But who is to blame?

I think we are all to blame. The banks and brokers are the people who are most to blame, but home buyers deserve some of the blame as well. The Queen and I recognized that the market was out of control. We believed that home prices were artificially high and that the market could not support the prices for very long. Now, we all know that is what happened.

I now know several people who have either lost their homes or are going to lose their homes. Out of all of them, I only know of one of them that have lost their home because of a job loss. All of the others have just decided that they do not want to pay for their home any longer. They feel like if other people are able to walk away from their homes that they should be able to as well.

I guess I am old fashioned, but I believe that I signed the home loan documents so I should be responsible for paying the load back. My home is not worth what I owe at this point, but I am not in very bad shape. It is really close because we waited until we thought the market had adjusted properly. We miscalculated a bit, but I can live with it.

The problem with our society is that nobody wants to accept responsibility for themselves. There is always someone else to blame. We just need to accept our choices and take responsibility for our actions. Why are you bad America?

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Differences

The differences between each of us is what makes this world a great place. If we were all alike, then I would be bored. I enjoy learning about other people and cultures and how they live their lives. I don't always know why they make the decisions they do, but I try to appreciate them. Most of the time I do not even agree with the choices, but I respect them.

I really do try to no judge people, but sometimes people do make really bad decisions that affect others. In that instance, I believe that it is OK to pass judgement.

I think that the most glaring area where people make bad decisions is with parenting. The Queen and I are not perfect, but we have made every effort to raise our children right. When they were young, we followed them around and made sure they learned how to behave correctly in different situations. We did not allow them to behave inappropriately. If they did, we made sure we corrected that behavior.

It really drives me crazy when my kids are around kids who do not behave properly and their parents do not correct their behavior. I understand how my kids feel in this situation. They wonder why they are getting in trouble when they are just behaving like the other kids. So, the bad parenting does not just affect their own kids, but mine as well.

Again, I am not a perfect parent, but I believe that I try harder than most.

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Choices

We all make choices in our lives. Some of us make bad choice after bad choice and some of us just move through life oblivious to other people. Those people make selfish choices. Choices that bring them enjoyment, but don't bring anything good to society.

I think about these choices all of the time. I made some pretty big choices several years ago. I chose to eliminate some people from my life. I chose to focus on improving myself every chance I get. I chose to make decisions that bring good to society and everyone in it. I don't regret any of those choices, but I am reminded of them a few times a year.

Some of the people I chose to eliminate from my life are still involved in the lives of other people I know. A few times a year The Queen and I are invited to parties where these people are also invited. We have both decided to make the sacrifice and not attend these parties. We don't want to be around these people and we definitely do not want our children exposed to these people. It is hard, but I do not regret it at all. I am comfortable.

I like to have fun just like everyone else, but I don't need to have fun all of the time. I don't need constant entertainment to be happy. I can entertain myself most of the time with some reading or internet browsing. I am thirsty for knowledge. I am pretty serious about life most of the time. I like to work on improving myself and my family.

Most people do not think this way. A lot of people just want to stay out late drinking with the guys and bad mouthing other people. Trying to forget their lives for that night. I think that is ridiculous! If I have to forget my life, then I better be doing something to change my life so I don't have to try to forget it any more. Why continue to live a life that you want to forget? That just does not make sense to me.

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Inspiration

I have been unable to find the inspiration to blog for twenty five days. If you are a follower of my twitter feed, then you have seen a few photos that I have posted. Nothing has been written here though.

I can't say why I have not been motivated to blog. I do know that I have been unmotivated in every part of my life for about that time though. I think some of it came from tax time. Last year I had to pay quite a bit for the first time in a long time so I kept putting it off and stressing about it. I just finished my taxes at the beginning of this week and got a pleasant surprise. I am getting a refund. Time to pay off some bills.

I have not been very creative for the last month or so. Instead, I have been totally wrapped up in the Showtime series Dexter. I am not a subscriber, but I have heard great things about it. I decided in December to try out Netflix and I have been pretty happy. I started watching Dexter from the beginning and I am addicated. It is a great show and I totally identify with a lot of Dexter's emotions. It has totally zapped my creativity though.

I am going to start to blog and take photos again slowly and see what happens.

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