corporations

When i picked up my friend's copy of Fast Food Nation last year, while cat-sitting, i had no idea that i would be as affected by it as i was. It shocked me! We all are familiar with the nutrition side of the "anti-fast food" argument. Yes, fatty food is bad for me. I get it. That is why i do my best to eat everything in moderation. So when i started reading this book, i was relieved to read (in the intro, i believe) that this would not be the author's focus. He would be tackling topics that effect everyone, not just those who eat fatty foods. I hope to re-read this book and blog on some of Eric Scholler's points from time to time but that will be saved for other days. The primary eye-opener for me, though, was to learn about the way these major corporations have set themselves up to essentially control the world. Frightening!

Last week, I received an email from my cousin (which was forwarded to many of you) about the horrible treatment of a walmart employee. The shortened version of the story is that this woman, who's son recently died in Iraq, was in a car accident eight years ago which left her with severe brain damage. She was awarded $417,000 (after legal fees) to pay for her longterm care. In the fine print of walmart's insurance policy, there is a clause which gives walmart the right to recoup from employees the money they paid towards their employees' medical care. So walmart sued this woman for the $470,000 - and won. This woman is now forced to give basically all that she has to a multi-billion dollar company. The family's attorney appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but they unfortunately refused to hear the case.

I was horrified to hear this. Yes, walmart has the legal right to collect this money. It was in the insurance policy. But was it ethically right to take this woman's money? No. Absolutely not.

This is walmart's response from the cnn.com article (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/25/walmart.insurance.battle/index.html?iref=newssearch):
"Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley, who called Debbie Shank's case "unbelievably sad," replied in a statement: "Wal-Mart's plan is bound by very specific rules. ... We wish it could be more flexible in Mrs. Shank's case since her circumstances are clearly extraordinary, but this is done out of fairness to all associates who contribute to, and benefit from, the plan.""

This quote exemplifies an aspect of the corporate setup that i find to be very unsettling. Men and women allow themselves, on behalf of their company, to act in extremely unethical ways - but since it's "on behalf of their company," they are able to wash their hands of the situation and take no responsibility for it. These ceo's need to come out from behind the curtain and own the way their "company" is unethically treating others. To hide behind walmart's "plan," like this spokesman did, instead of showing human compassion for a family who has suffered enough, is outrageous. What's even more outrageous, though, is that, in the end, walmart wins.

After hearing about this, I felt compelled to forward my cousin's email, which asked people to reconsider shopping at walmart. That's how i will leave this post as well.

bridges

I watched a feature on the travel channel a few weeks ago about the top 10 bridges in the world. It was fascinating! I found myself hooked after five minutes. They took us all across the world to get a glimpse of these amazing structures. Where in the world would the next stop be? I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation. And i am proud to report that the Brooklyn Bridge made the cut (holla!).

I took special note of one bridge in particular: The Sydney Harbour Bridge. This bridge is the widest longspan bridge in the world, with its eight lanes of traffic. It was the tallest structure in sydney until 1967. "But why take special note of this one?" you may be asking. The answer? The Climb (as the aussie bridge-folk call it). This was the appeal for me - its walkway on top of the bridge. So you can actually climb over it! I love hikes and heights, and i'm always up for a good challenge with a magnificant view as the reward. So when i heard about this bridge, sydney was added to my list of "must-go" places. (Not to mention, places with fun accents always earn extra points!) Another selling point was seeing that this funny guy had made the trek...

The bridge's website, http://www.bridgeclimb.com/, includes a section written for those who suffer from agrophobia. They say that the Climb "has helped thousands overcome their fear of heights." Interesting...

Well, as i read this and then noticed two decks of cards nearby, i could not help but ponder my generation's fear of bridge - the game, that is. Most are aware of my great appreciation for bridge. It is a game i would like to play more often but the problem is that rounding up a group is not easy (unless i venture to the nearest senior center. Perhaps not a bad idea every once in a while, but don't know how ready i am to fully embrace "the senior life" in my mid-20's.) Therefore, this is where i shall make an unabashed plea to my generation.

This game is amazing!
It's both enjoyable and challening.
It's not as difficult to learn as many of us were raised to believe.
It wasnt always a "grandparents-only" game - they were youths once too! (and part of a freaking cool generation if you ask me.)
For those gamblers out there, you may not know that it was common to bet on bridge games. (and my grandma won her quarters fair and square)

But sadly, bridge seems to be fading fast. [Insert shocking statistics] It served a generation well for many, many years, and i believe that it can do the same for us. So let's "bridge the gap" between the generations and pick up this game!

As you're walking or driving around today, pondering life perhaps, I encourage you to take a moment and give bridges some thought. Plan your next getaway to sydney or call your grandma to talk strategy. ("How did you win those quarters??")

Consider the possibilities.

office pranks

In a city that is fueled by mega financial companies and cut-throat corporations looking for their next million, my little office is anything but. In fact, this little office of mine is something that i imagine i will be blogging about rather frequently since loads of crazy schenanagans take place there. (Costume Friday, for example, is a weekly event. Sweatshirt day is tomorrow. My London, Fall 2000 sweatshirt will have to do the trick.)

Anyways, something my coworkers and i have not ventured into is the joyful bliss of "the office prank." You know, the old "stapler in jello" trick, or the "quarters in the phone" routine. (Yes, The Office provides many a good idea!) Well today, the office prank ship set sail and made a nice first showing. It was motivated by one of my coworkers and i being left in the office during lunchtime while most others were out to lunch on the company's dime. I make it sound like we were the two misfits who had to face our punishment or like we were "the young ones" who haven't reached the same level of adulthood as the others. Not the case. There actually was a very legitimate reason for leaving us behind during this particular lunch. Nonetheless, we bid adieu to those heading out to enjoy a scrumptious meal (for free!), while heating up our leftover Easter dinner (him) and munching on the second half of our mediocre wrap (me). And frankly, we felt the (totally exaggerated, we know) injustice of the situation! So we started brainstorming possible office pranks. We tried taping the chairs to the floor. No good. Our test chair didn't stick well and it would take up too much tape (we try not to be wasteful at the Midpoint/Beaufort office). We considered other alternatives, but after a few minutes decided to utilize google.com. "Office pranks" was the search term.

After reading through a few options, we settled on a simple yet effective prank. In fact, it's one that i highly recommend! It involves a small post-it and a computer mouse (i like that i felt the need to specify "computer"). Place the post-it on the bottom of the mouse. This causes the track-ball to be ineffective and the mouse cursor does not move. This is what Kevin and I did to the mice (mouses?) of all four lunch-goers (including one of the company's VPs). On each post-it, we wrote "and this is why you always bring kevin and laurie to lunch." When they returned, we got the reactions we had hoped for! Slight confusion for a short amount of time, followed by a good laugh...

(Had i been working at one of those mega financial companies, i may have had to add "followed by a good firing, followed by a good eviction from my penthouse apartment, followed by a good tarnishing of my reputation." Whew, glad that wasn't the case! I love my job!)

a little bit of blog

This was my first choice for a blog name. I thought it was catchy and clever, not to mention one of my favorite people in the whole world suggested it. But alas, feeling very much like Forrest Gump on a school bus, it was "taken." I think the name i have settled on, though, will be quite suitable. I hope for this to be a fun, enjoyable, contemplative, and anti-corporation filled blog for everyone. Hopefully this post will not be the first and last!

I've never thought of myself as someone to follow the crowd (follow that bird, maybe). Until now. Some of my closest friends now have blogs. I have known about "blogging" for quite some time, but never considered starting my own...until "everyone started doing it." It's as if it's become the cool thing to do and now i'm wondering "am i one to be enticed by the allure of being part of the cool crowd?" Maybe. However (and more likely) perhaps i have really appreciated hearing about these friends' lives and thoughts, and have wanted to provide for them the same...NYC style! So blog world, my little life and etc. will now join you!