Letters to the Editor
SueNJ97
Published Letters: 175 Editor's Choice: 4
-
I have never had a problem with the men I worked for
[Read the article: Work sucks? Blame her!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have, however, had a problem when I worked for women. Or, should I say, married women with kids. The one single woman I had for a boss was a dream come true. Why? Because I'm a single woman and she didn't look down on me like I was sub-human because I wasn't married and didn't have kids and think I was there to do her work so she could get promoted.
Sorry, but I'll never work for a woman who is married and has kids again. And I won't blame men for their behavior. When I worked for men, married or single, and for the one single female boss I had, I was able to work with them to set my goals, I knew what my responsibilities were, I was given regular reviews, we went over my strengths and weaknesses, and when I took on extra work, I was rewarded for it. I was promoted and I actually got raises when I did my job, and, when I went above the call of duty, I was rewarded for it.
Then, in the same organization, I started working for married women with kids. I started to be asked to take on extra work so that they could keep extremely regular hours and get out on time. In some cases, I was taking on extra clients because these clients had complained that these women were not available because they were always with their families. After the first few favors, I started asking for and received assurances, in writing, that I, and not the people originally assigned to this work, would be given credit for it. I worked evenings, weekends, etc., because my career was important to me and I was interested in being promoted. They were interested in their familes, or so I was told.
Then I was told, thanks for taking on all this work, and what promise? They are getting credit for it because they need to be promoted because they have a family, you don't have a husband, you don't have children...I had a bunch of women, all of whom were married and had kids, looking at me like I was sub-human because I was single. I went to HR with the documentation I had saved and ran into exactly the same kind of women. They laughed at me. Basically, they told me I was doing favors for women who 'deserved' it and I, as a single woman, simply couldn't understand what these women were facing and I was selfish to expect to get promoted, or to get a raise.
I have single female friends who have the exact same experiences. I will never, ever, work for a married woman with kids again. Ever. If they want to screw someone, it won't be me.
-
Jane Minty
[Read the article: Work sucks? Blame her!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My male bosses never asked me about my single state or whether I didn't want to get married and have kids some day and wouldn't I change my mind. They might discuss their kids occasionally after we got to know each other (if they had them), I met their wives a few times (if they were married) when I was invited over to their houses or at corportate functions but the only ones who ever brought up the 'you're missing so much and isn't there something wrong with you' was the women I worked with who were married with children.
If it has worked out for you, that's great. But I now have 3 male business partners and I will never go near a married woman with kids as a supervisor. Never. My career died at that company after I started working for them and they shoved me into a department that they knew was going to be exterminated by layoffs as the company outsourced after I complained. If a man had done what they did to women and given the promotion to men who had wives and children I believe they call it sex discrimination. I called I lawyer but they said even with the documentation with the HR claiming it was false there was nothing I could do. If I had a male boss, it would all have been different, you see. So, I guess it doesn't count when you are a woman and other women screw you over. Sorry. Give me men to work with, any day.
-
I don't wear a flag pin but...
[Read the article: Rev. Jeremiah Wright isn't the problem]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't assume that people who do wear them are somehow less patriotic than others because they do wear them. I just have a thing about people who make assumptions about people because they wear or don't wear the pin, or diplay the flag or don't display the flag, or whatever. People should be able to do that if they want to. Or not. And it shouldn't matter. Making a big deal of them and mocking them for doing it is as bad as anyone making a big deal out of people not doing it.
BTW, about the Olympics...I keep rooting for Canada in Ice hockey, mens, at least. I can't help it. The starting goalie for the last 2 Olympics has been the starting goalie for the NHL team I root for. I just can't root against Marty Brodeur. I can't.
-
Not everyone who was against it was on the left
[Read the article: The ongoing exclusion of war opponents from the Iraq debate]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Unfortunately, most of them are just ordinary people so they don't show up on Charlie Rose.
However, my family (immediate family) is a good example. My parents are Republicans (albeit they would be considered liberal Rebublicans). I am an Independent. My brother and his partner would be considered on the left. All 5 of us opposed Iraq, from the beginning, for very different reasons. It's an American family. There's a reason my parents voted for Lamont in the Senate race in CT.