Month: July 2024

Categories
Uncategorized

Impermanence and permanence

How many of you think of those two things at the same time?  Do you think about either with an level or serious contemplation? The state of not lasting forever or not lasting for a long time and the state or quality of lasting or remaining unchanged indefinitely.

Indefinitely.  Unlimited or unspecified. 

What is unlimited in your life, or limited?

A friend asked me a question this week, “What happened to the notion of not calling people names and being nice to one another?”  I’ll be honest and say here, that they have been one who supports the worst offender of this that I’ve known in my life.  In my opinion. He even said in a recent rally, “if you don’t mind I’m not gonna be nice, is that okay?”  Followed by loud cheers from the crowd.

So I don’t know, what did happened to nice?

We all are guilty of it to a certain degree.  We also all do have our boundaries and limits.  Mine are with the constant barrage of everyone in his view being a target of his retribution because he lost.

Is that because that’s all the media shows us of him?  Maybe. Does he say nice things about anyone, ever?  I don’t know. And those who say derogatory things about him, have they been pushed to the limit of their boundaries and want to ask the same question, what happened to being nice but don’t know how to ask?

I fully admit that I limit my news intake, I read but in the last couple of months have watched very little.  But it just feels to me that what is said about him is in response to his lack of respect for anyone who is different or in his way. Who is not going to defend themselves? And honestly, other than legal charges, what does he need to defend?

So, I don’ t know, what did happened to decency?  

I am not perfect, but I have tried and try every day to be descent. To express my disfavor as respectfully as possible. To not be one who shares, or speaks of another in a derogatory manner.  It just wasn’t how I was raised.  But I too have my limits and boundaries.  That usually comes when I feel or see anyone I care about being a target of potential adversity in his path.

Yes, campaigns are ugly and both sides have skin in the game.  But come on, who is the worst offender, really? Do we really need to make a check list?

I’ll leave for now with this: How do we enhance each other rather than diminish each other?

Permanence?

Categories
Uncategorized

“DEI Hire”

I have been a recruiter in one form or another since 1991, 33 years.  I started in 1991 as an Admissions Counselor at Kansas City Art Institute about a month or so after I graduated.  So that 33 years is new. 

So until about 1998 or 1999 I traveled the US talking to high school students, looking at their portfolios and talked to them about a fine art education.  Then I decided, or had this idea that if I can talk to kids and parents about going to a private liberal arts college, I should be able to talk to managers and people about jobs.  So I branched out.

Started in the right place.  A creative staffing agency placing designers in companies and agencies all over Portland.  Made some life long friends(family) there.  Then a small advertising agency, a footwear company, education & training, staffing again, finance, Animation, a shipyard, healthcare and now technology.

This isn’t something I sought out.  I fell into it. Not the career I ever thought I’d have.  I have been reading and looking at resumes for 25 years, give or take.  It’s been encouraging, enlightening, discouraging, boring, sad, hilarious and absolutely completely exhausting.  

I’ve been reading resumes and talking to people to determine qualifications 5 days a week for 25 years.  I started a very long time ago, going straight to the content I don’t look at or I move quickly past the name.  That means nothing.  What I am looking for is, have they done what I am looking for or something close to it.  Is it the same industry.  I look at education later. Then I talk to them. How do they talk about what they have done.  Can they talk about what they’ve done?

Most of the companies that I have worked for have goals for diversity, equity and inclusion goals.  Why?  Because they realize what they have been missing.  And remarkably, if they didn’t do that, it wouldn’t be done to the degree it is or should. We have been hiring skill, quality and experience by the person who looks like us.  And for the most part, that’s a white guy.  Sorry white guy, not sorry. Also a white woman.

So, if I see someone say this person or that person being a “DEI Hire” and I see it I will have to comment.  And if I don’t see it, I’ll say it here, you are being racist and taking the easy road by not just using the n-word.  So just say it. Or maybe dig a little deeper before you do say it.

I heard the other day from a black woman who teaches and speaks about anti-racism who asked, have you ever called a white person a white supremacy hire? Or a white privilege hire? Do you refer to disabled people, disability hires? Can you tell me about the extensive research you did into their professional and education background that allows you to use a racist dog whistle to challenge their qualifications?  –Ashani Mfuko

I’ve said this before.  It’s not always understood for some reason.  But.  I have scrutinized and drilled into the skills, experience and qualification of a footwear designer far more than some of you have considered in your choice for President of the United States. What am I saying?  There are more requirements to make your shoes than to run your country. 

What if the qualifications for President were:

X number of years in the house or Senate  

X number of years in pubic service, government, city or state 

X number of years managing multiple agencies or divisions

X number of years managing budget, finance, P&L

X number of years of foreign and domestic experience (OF ANY KIND)

Degree in Political Science, Finance, Foreign Policy, (something like this) plus ten (10) years of professional experience.  Advanced degree preferred.

Then like most hires who will work for many companies a background and credit check.  How about a drug screen?

And imagine if you knew who you were in competition with for the job you were interviewing for and you had to speak about them in public as part of the interview process and they got to speak about you.  Fun, right?  Both parties do this and it is pointless, useless and offers nothing except perpetuate the ridiculous nonsense it is giving lies weight and value.

Categories
Uncategorized

Bullied

10am: There are and will be lots of story’s whirling around for several days or weeks now.  Not sure about you, but while I am somewhat used to it, I am not comfortable with the extremes of those stories.  The reach in either direction of dissection that is delivered to us on a daily basis.  Right. left, middle center, orbit….

But there is this thing about me that I don’t talk about much in wide broadcast.  Some of you have it too and what you do with it is  your business, your journey.  Mine, I’m not sure if I keep it too quiet or express it too much.

I was raised to not pass judgment on others.  I was raised to be fair, respect others and do no harm.  Harm comes in many forms, verbal and physical.  Both have and can have lasting impact on a humans existence.  I also, as someone said to me, the good news is, you have the ability to know what people are thinking and feeling.  The bad news, you know what people are thinking and feeling.  Mostly, I do.

I heard someone say earlier today that the individual that who shot at the former president, was bullied mercilessly in high school.  “He was bullied almost every day.” As I listened to this young man speak to this bullying, I felt and saw his pain.  Was the pain his or his ability to feel the pain of one bullied and maybe some regret for not stepping up and in to stop it.  

But that’s not what I’m talking about.  Any person who even has an ounce of feeling or compassion left in them, I would hope could see and feel what I saw and felt when that young man spoke.

Did the bullied direct his hurt and abuse onto the actual or perceived ultimate bully?

What I’m feeling is in regard to the shooter and his actions yesterday, actually honestly, I don’t think it should take any special, extra perception, but anyway.  If this individual was bullied as stated, how, why or did that manifest into what happened?  Why was his revenge, his retribution for years of bullying this?  What did he perceive in or of his target?  What did it represent for him?  An extreme?  The cumulative collection of his abuse?  Did his daily intake of information overwhelm his reality of humanity and did he see this as a person as the one to end all that had been said and done to him?

Of course, not everyone who was or has been bullied, got a gun, climbed onto a roof top and shot at the former president yesterday. But this one did.

I have worked very hard to not speak ill of others, to not share dehumanizing, disparaging words or ‘memes’ about others.  But I see it so much from others.  And I can’t help but think a couple of things.  One, who has hurt you so that this is how you approach a solution?  Two, you must not have had in your life anyone that you cared about who has either had diminished capacity in dementia or Alzheimer’s.  Challenges with mental health or incarceration. Otherwise, my heart has to ask, how do you share or say these things?

What holds your anger at bay just at childish and juvenile meme’s shared on social media about someone’s health or speech or misfortune?  What stops you at the ‘share’ and doesn’t take you to the roof with a long gun?

Is this our solution?  Is this our way forward to a kinder, gentler existence together in a world that will change no matter how hard we try to keep it from changing?

What are we going to do to live together, to be productive and prosperous?  It’s not charging a venue with guns and vitriol.  It’s not fire arms taking out those of our differences, or promising arrest and prosecution for those who think differently than you do. Yet here we are.

Do we have to go so far back in time and so deep to come to the surface again and live or attempt to live in a world together where we all are accountable for our actions. Taking responsibility for our contribution to the emotional wake? We have laws and rules that apply to everyone not just a few. And what is broken, can’t we truly and honestly try to fix it without killing, demeaning or disparaging another human.

Step up friends.  This is your world.  This is your place to create what I honestly think is what we all want, peace, contentment, safety, trust, accountability and harmony.

“May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live with ease”.