Oh God, peggy noonan… Criminy!

I used to enjoy sharing "peggy noonan was reagan's 'Monica'". Figuratively-speaking. I don't think any actual deeds with or without cigars and thong underwear were done. But peggy noonan regularly embarrassed herself in her public swooning over ronald reagan. Obnoxious as hell, and never let up. She's really rather ridiculous.

And besides, there's nothing she, or pretty much anyone else, can say that can make the republic-CONS sound less crazy!

I keep thinking about the testimonials I see regarding Costco.

The CEO makes, I think, 20 times what the guy at the loading dock makes. The CEO says he thinks that's appropriate. There's a generous benefits package as far as I've heard, and employees generally feel as though they're well-treated. People who shop there talk about how cheerful and friendly and helpful Costco employees are.

Well, they're out there inter-acting with the public and essentially being walking billboards for their company. You treat your employees badly, you'll get apathetic, secretly hostile (isn't that passive-aggressive behavior?) attitudes around the workplace, and that's the face your employees are going to be presenting to the world, with your/your company's name all over it. That starts taking its toll. Pretty soon the rate of absenteeism starts to rise. People start calling in sick more frequently. Little stuff slowly starts disappearing around the office. Sometimes it's evident in how much more often people are at the printer or the xerox machine or whatever. They're all using company supplies to update their resumes and send inquiries around for something better. On the other hand, I've also worked at places where the boss - and sometimes it was only one level up from me (the program director), and sometimes it was all the way up at the top (the general manager) - treated people really nicely. I swear, it made you want to work all night for that guy and twice on weekends.

It's so completely and obscenely penny-wise and pound-foolish to shortchange or otherwise disrespect your employees. It's so much smarter to treat people well and let them know they're appreciated. It pays so many dividends, tangible AND intangible. Your whole business thrives that way.

Welcome to DU, Diremoon!

Glad you're here! Somehow they just don't understand that you get what you pay for. AND if you pay your workers decently, they might be more motivated to work harder, not call in sick as much, not turn over as much, not slack off as much, and MAYBE care about their work a little more. I've been in workplaces where the ongoing tendency to lay people off and pile their workload onto those remaining carries a pretty big long-range price tag. You start to see disgruntlement among the staff. You start seeing people slack off and stop caring so much, figuring out what minimums they need to put in, simply to get by til their eight hours are up and they can go home. The level of dedication declines. The resilience declines. The disinterest starts to rise. Resentment over being taken advantage of and not appreciated increases. Then you start getting half-assed efforts. Corner-cutting, arriving late and leaving early, calling in sick - and, more often than not, on Mondays. Sometimes even stealing. I saw so many cases of that while I was still working. People who'd start out eager and dedicated and giving 200% on the job, and then over time, as they get shat upon more and more, that motivation starts to fade. And those really good people who still care and still are motivated and still want to do a good job usually wind up so frustrated that they quit and take their goods somewhere else.

And of course, management won't notice because management really doesn't give a damn. All management ever seems to care about is getting by, too: mainly making it, short-term and worrying mainly about the immediate future and the quick-fix. And where there IS longterm thinking and planning, more often than not it's just another version of investing less, cutting more, and making do with fewer employees. "Fungible assets," as donald rumsfeld used to reduce it in his executive high-handedness. Um… those "fungible assets" are otherwise known as PEOPLE.

Management never quite gets it. When you chisel your employees, you shouldn't be surprised that they often find ways to chisel you back.

Welcome to DU, fleabiscuit!

Glad you're here! That's a pretty fair assessment there. "Religious extremism," "out of control," "irrational". Yep. Unfortunately. I keep wondering when it'll end. All I know for sure is that we can't give up. We cannot give up making sure they know on that nut-case end that WE are still here. And WE have to get noisy, too. Because the only reason this radical minority seems able to dominate is because it's loud and noisy. I don't know if it's an answer, but I know that doing nothing is NO answer.

Just remember one thing about your "representatives" and you: if they think you don't care, THEY WON'T, EITHER!!!!!

ROFL!!!!!!!

So they say!!!

Awww… Sarah, thank you for sharing this painful time with us here.

Makes me think of something Skittles said once - "someone's always here." This is a good place to discuss and ponder and just sort of be with it. A whole bunch of us are here being with it - with you. You do not mourn alone. Many shoulders for you to lean on here.

Having lost both my parents, I can sympathize. I think many of us here have gone through that, when you reach for the phone and you see your finger automatically starting to punch out that phone number. It was such a reflex I found I didn't even think about. My finger always knew which number to push next. And I always knew how they were gonna answer the phone, what their voices did and said and sounded like. And then it's just not there anymore.

It isn't easy. Holidays always are the worst. And the first of all of these moments is the worst. People told me the first year full of occasions is the most difficult. I always think about the AA proverb: "one day at a time." That's pretty much what is. It's all you have, and it's actually a LOT. Just get through the next hour. And then the next. Just get through the next day. And then the next. Your work on this needn't be any more than that. Seems to me now is the time to be super gentle with yourself. SUPER gentle. Because you're still healing. and you'll be healing for a long time.

And it'll take how-ever long it takes. Don't let anyone rush you or pressure you or put expectations on you about how you should be getting over it by now. Don't even let YOU put any expectations on you. It'll take whatever time it takes. Be good to yourself and gentle with yourself, and come here when you feel shaky. Someone's always here. And there's LOTS of heart here. It's good that you're here. This is an excellent and loving support group. DU will buoy you up.

Welcome to DU, cntrygrl!

Glad you're here! I like it when I can welcome a new arrival (or someone with a low post count) and kick a worthy thread at the same time! A donation to Alan Grayson is always a good investment!

The STOOOPID is strong with him.

Welcome to DU, homegirl!

Glad you're here! Don't underestimate the Stupid. Because so many of these Pox Noise devotees and their families and friends have been so seriously inculcated with this poison that it's going to be a hard habit to break. Denial runs WAY deeper than we give it credit for. It's awfully hard to force yourself to let go of feelings and beliefs you've embraced and clung to for years, and had reinforced for so many years of this brainwashing. And that's what it's been. A relentless, calculated brainwashing. We have A LOT of work to do to reverse that trend - that's been at least 30 years in the making. The bad guys have a huge head start. But at least we're waking up and starting to recognize the need to confront this evil and defeat it.

And we MUST do so, if our country is going to survive.

Welcome to DU, Blus4U!

Glad you're here. I wonder if we'll ever get to that point here. SO damn much apathy! People are really programmed here - to think that government isn't the answer (when, in cases like this, it IS - and sometimes it's the ONLY answer!) and also that they really don't have a voice and if they do it doesn't matter or make any difference.

Because of course, both sides…. both siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiides!

SO MUCH bullshit to have to debunk these days!!! Just seems almost like a damn-near impossible job sometimes. But even so, we still have to do something about it. OR ELSE… IT will do something about US.