Belaboring the Point
Apparently our nation still acknowledges Labor Day despite the fact that Scott Walker is considered a viable candidate for President. I really think we're in an era when workers are considered unimportant and expendable, which seems like pretty much the opposite of what the labor movement was trying to accomplish. Businesses aren't afraid to fire people whenever they see fit, because they know there are a lot of other people who will take the job, at least for a brief period of time. Seems like I'm constantly reading something about how poorly workers are treated, be it complaints about how little time Americans get off from work compared to other developed countries, rich people lobbying against having to pay health insurance or raise the minimum wage, questions about why looking busy is more important than actually doing your job, observations on how it's usually jobs that pay the least money that require you to be working every single second, or how workers at Amazon are encouraged to tattle on each other. While I've never worked for a place as bad about that last one as Amazon seems to be, employees ratting each other out is a pretty common occurrence, and I've never really understood what the rats feel they have to gain. It just produces a really paranoid environment, and I have to suspect that this decreases productivity, because why bother putting in a lot of effort when you're likely to get fired for something stupid and unrelated? I guess the opposite side of the coin is when businesses have team-building exercises. The way I see it, unless you're actually supervising another person or their work directly impacts yours, you should concentrate on your own work.
In more pleasant news, bethje and I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for the first time yesterday. Why is it that Brooklyn has a BOTANIC garden, and Queens and the Bronx have BOTANICAL gardens? Are they trying to keep the number of syllables consistent? But no, the one in the Bronx is just called the New York Botanical Garden, so that wouldn't work. Anyway, Beth used to really enjoy going to Longwood Gardens, and I actually volunteered at their library for a little while. That's not too close to us anymore, so this is sort of a substitute. There's a deal where you can get a free membership for a year with a New York City identification card. I took a lot of pictures there.
After that, we ate at the Park Cafe, and went to the Canal Bar to see the Tim Burton Batman with our friend Stephanie. Can we get Batman to sort out the unfair labor practices in this country? That's really more of Superman's kind of thing, isn't it?
In more pleasant news, bethje and I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for the first time yesterday. Why is it that Brooklyn has a BOTANIC garden, and Queens and the Bronx have BOTANICAL gardens? Are they trying to keep the number of syllables consistent? But no, the one in the Bronx is just called the New York Botanical Garden, so that wouldn't work. Anyway, Beth used to really enjoy going to Longwood Gardens, and I actually volunteered at their library for a little while. That's not too close to us anymore, so this is sort of a substitute. There's a deal where you can get a free membership for a year with a New York City identification card. I took a lot of pictures there.
After that, we ate at the Park Cafe, and went to the Canal Bar to see the Tim Burton Batman with our friend Stephanie. Can we get Batman to sort out the unfair labor practices in this country? That's really more of Superman's kind of thing, isn't it?