Chew on this:
Do you ever see a homeless
asian-american?
Ron mentioned this to me. And I’d have to say
‘no’. And I wonder why – he says that culturally (in very very broad terms)
the cultures of East Asia (see – I took comparitive non-western cultures and know
to say East Asian instead of Asian or Eastern) value any work above doing no
work – that asians will
do anything to have an income because they know that getting any job is the
first step towards getting a better job. Meanwhile, at the bus I hear other
minorities complaining about the immigrants stealing the janitorial jobs and other
blue collar positions in the city. I always feel slightly stifled even thinking about
these things – like just the fact that I’m a middle-class white male that that
automatically discounts any perspective I may have – that I feel guilty for
any perspective I have no matter how informed I think it is or try to be. Further,
and I’m going to go out on long thematic limb here – notice the perspective of
attitudes between the black and native american poor versus the poor of
other cultures – the immigrant cultures. I’m gonna stop now before my sister
kicks my ass with some spot-on social theory. She always sets me straight.
One of our new employees is from Andersen and it was fascinating hearing
of what it was like to work in a company that was imploding. Her biggest point
is that the audit business of Andersen was just one of four lines of business that
Andersen participated in. That a lot of expertise was thrown away and how, for
the most part the problems were localized by regional office. That initially there
was an idea to put together a penalty package for Andersen to pay out to show
deep regret and responsibility – the high road – but of course, self-preservation
kicked in an no one wanted to admit anything – and they all knew that if an
indictment came down that it was all over. And I have to say is
that her can-do attitude is pretty impressive compared to the jaded ‘why-bother’
perspective of Mark and I. She was quizzing us on who to talk to about comments
with the intranet and interface design and content and usability. I told her that
I deeply feel her pain and that I have given up trying to have any sort of effect
on the way the internal websites are designed. We told her the story about the
huge waste of money on a software application that the HR fairies didn’t put
through IT quality assurance before purchasing – and how nothing was done –
no demotions or reprimands. And how dis-heartening it is to know that the
talents of self-preservation for the higher-ups is quite startling. She’s a cool
contact to have though – I’ll probably employ her in helping me polish up my
resume.
Got a few coaching and web design leads I’m working right now – it’s pretty
exciting… got one lady that emailed me out of the blue and I don’t know how
she found me. She wants to change her career and wants a coach to help her
through it.
Something that is always lost on me in any transition or endeavor is the idea
of baby steps. That I need to gradually increase magnitude. That it is possible
to develop quickly but baby-steps (as I picture Bill Murray in
What About Bob?) can be great stepping stones – even if accumulated
quickly.
Cross your fangers… (yeah, I said fangers): found a great deal
on a great apartment. An unheard of price for a great location. Going to the open
house on Saturday morning and gonna show up early with my check book. Ron
and I walked by and the outside of the building is amazing – right by the gym –
right by the grocery – near enough to my honey-pie – near Buca – near Kinko’s –
near the great used bookstore – the movie theatre… and it’s a one-bedroom.
Heather is worried that if I live in a studio I’ll have get cabin fever in the winter
and re-enact The Shining, albeit in a 10 x 10 foot space.
If you’re wondering what’s up with my entry titles lately – keep wondering…
it’ll make sense eventually.
Did anyone else here Carl Castle kick John Walker Lindh’s lawyer’s ass on
NPR. Oh yeah – Carl’s my wigga!
The often-inflammatory Michael Moore has a theory on why cigarette lighters
were not on the list of outlawed items to be brought aboard an airplane shortly
after 9-11 – even after that one freak tried to set his shoe on fire: the tobacco
industry called in a few favors. For right now it sounds like a slight stretch,
but we’ll see if his FIA filings actually result in anything.
Anyone else scared shitless about this country? What the hell is going on? Is
there just a huge power-grab every where you look? I’m sure it’s nothing new but
at least it used to be glad-handing and not so frigging obvious…
Thanks Michael for the tips on Bangkok travel – I’ll keep in touch as our travel
date approaches. I do hope we go. The combination of smutty seaminess and
all the temples seems like a great combination.
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