Once again, I'm out of work. This job lasted about 9 weeks. I left work Friday, and everyone was all smiles and "Have a good weekend" and "See ya' Monday!". At 6 pm, the temp agency called and said the assignment was over. Just like that.
I've never been one to define myself by my job, mostly because I've never really liked any job I've ever had. Either the people I work with/for have been awful, or the job itself was odious, boring, dangerous or otherwise dismal. But in a world where occupation equals identity, it's hard to not take this personally.
My rational mind knows that this is just how business is done, especially in smaller companies where margins are much thinner. Business cycles go up and down, and a full staff can't be supported when times are slow.
On the other hand, when I am one of 3 temps in the same position and I've been there the longest, why was I let go? When things started to slow down, I asked to learn other tasks. I did billing entry, research into lost payments, even making sure the printers were full of paper. As a child I was taught to learn everything I could; to make myself indispensable; that employers respected that "go get 'em" attitude. I have yet to see any evidence of this.
Experience has shown that when I work hard, employers want more. When I take on extra tasks, there is no reward or recognition but the expectation of taking on even more work. When I finally achieve an unrealistic goal set by a manager who has never done my job, instead of a pat on the back, the goal is moved further away.
With more companies relying on temps to do a majority of the work, I don't see this situation getting any better. Temps have always been at the bottom of the food chain. Here today, gone tomorrow. Don't bother to learn our names or take an interest in us as humans, for we are no more important than the stapler on your desk, and just as replaceable.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Thursday, October 16, 2008
No child left behind
The former governor and soon to be former President of these United States enacted a program for educating our children called "No Child Left Behind". The purpose of which was to make sure that when students reach certain grades, they are able to pass specific benchmarks of knowledge, and if they can't pass the test, then they will be held back instead of "socially" promoted. Better to repeat a grade than to graduate illiterate.
This was a wonderful idea, but like most government programs it was totally over-engineered and developed by "educators", not teachers. (Educators are different from teachers, identified by their PhD and the impatient foot tapping while waiting to get out of the classroom and into administration.) The program's end result is that teachers are only able to go over the material needed to pass the tests. There is very little in the way of creative thinking or applied knowledge. The students being produced can name the 50 states and capitals, but can't place them on a map; they can solve algebra equations, but can't figure out the MPG of their parent's car. Our own daughter wasn't sure who won the second world war...
You might be saying "That's terrible" and thinking things can't get any worse. Of course, you'd be wrong. Dallas Independent School District has done away with No Child Left Behind, in favor of "Failure is NOT an Option". What this means is that teachers are not allowed to fail a student. I'll say that again: there are no more F's. The minimum grade allowed is 60%. If the kid doesn't do a lick of homework, turns in term papers filled with doodles and stick figures, as long as the child shows up for class, he will earn a D. If he doesn't show up for class, the school just marks him as moved out of area so he doesn't count as a drop out.
A local radio show host has labeled this the "Fog a Mirror" program. It's a good thing there are so many Wal-Marts and fast food joints, because that's the best that many of these kids are going to do. Idocracy is real, and happening faster than you can imagine!
This was a wonderful idea, but like most government programs it was totally over-engineered and developed by "educators", not teachers. (Educators are different from teachers, identified by their PhD and the impatient foot tapping while waiting to get out of the classroom and into administration.) The program's end result is that teachers are only able to go over the material needed to pass the tests. There is very little in the way of creative thinking or applied knowledge. The students being produced can name the 50 states and capitals, but can't place them on a map; they can solve algebra equations, but can't figure out the MPG of their parent's car. Our own daughter wasn't sure who won the second world war...
You might be saying "That's terrible" and thinking things can't get any worse. Of course, you'd be wrong. Dallas Independent School District has done away with No Child Left Behind, in favor of "Failure is NOT an Option". What this means is that teachers are not allowed to fail a student. I'll say that again: there are no more F's. The minimum grade allowed is 60%. If the kid doesn't do a lick of homework, turns in term papers filled with doodles and stick figures, as long as the child shows up for class, he will earn a D. If he doesn't show up for class, the school just marks him as moved out of area so he doesn't count as a drop out.
A local radio show host has labeled this the "Fog a Mirror" program. It's a good thing there are so many Wal-Marts and fast food joints, because that's the best that many of these kids are going to do. Idocracy is real, and happening faster than you can imagine!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
