16 December 2013
Army Reserve Captain Russell Gilbert Seager - Wisconsin Military Casualty Compilation - Afghanistan / Iraq
Army Reserve Captain Russell Gilbert Seager, 51, of Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, died on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas. He was killed during an ambush on a group of military personnel by a fellow service member. Captain Seager was assigned to the 467th Medical Company, based out of Madison, Wisconsin. He was one of 300 soldiers who were lined up to get shots, vaccinations, and eye-testing at the Soldier Readiness Center at Fort Hood when the attack occurred. The soldiers were processing upon return from overseas, or were preparing to be sent overseas. A disgruntled U.S. Army psychiatrist killed 13 people and injured more than 30 others before he was apprehended.
The Web site findagrave.com indicates Russel Seager was born on March 15, 1958 Wisconsin. Seager was a nurse practitioner who had joined the Army at 47 years old. He was also an instructor at Bryant and Stratton College. Russell Seager's degrees included a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Masters of Science in Nursing from Marquette University College of Nursing. Seager took special interest in working with soldiers who were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He also loved playing tennis as well as his teaching. Captain Russell Seager was scheduled to go to Afghanistan in December and had gone to Fort Hood for training.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described Russel Seager as a "quiet helper". Seager was one of two soldiers from Wisconsin killed during the Fort Hood attack. He was licensed as a registered nurse and an advanced practice nurse prescriber. Seager worked at Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and, he was a primary caregiver who provided mental health services to patients. Th Journal Sentinel went on to say that Seager had taught classes at Bryant & Stratton College in Milwaukee since 2005. He was pursuing a doctorate in education. The Journal Sentinel went on to quote a profile of Seager put together by WUWM-FM. Seager led a mental health team at the VA and served a wide age-range of military patients from anywhere in their 20s to their 90s. Neighbors remember Seager and his wife as keeping pretty much to themselves except for an occasional walk around the neighborhood. He sometimes wore his uniform when going to the corner to pickup mail. The profile quoted by the Journal Sentinel also says Seager had a doctorate in alternative medicine. He was part of a combat stress control unit, which was assigned to watch for warning signs among soldiers on the front lines. These warning signs might include: Things such as anger; insubordination; signs of depression; and personality changes.
The Journal Times out of the Racine, Wisconsin, area notes that Russel Seager was known as "Rusty" to his family. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He met his wife Cynthia who also worked in the nursing field. A former administrator at Ridgewood Care Center said Seager was gifted in the skills of working with mentally ill patients. Before arriving in Texas, Captain Seager had spent time in California and Kansas training for his deployment overseas. While at Bryant & Stratton College, Seager taught the medical assisting and nursing programs. Seager was pursuing a doctorate of education and it was assumed he would return to teaching after his tour of duty. Russel Seager is remembered as a good student himself and was always on the Dean's list and, he was a life-long learner. At Cardinal Stritch University, he received two bachelor's degrees in the 1980s. He later served as an adjunct professor of nursing at Cardinal Stritch.
A subsiquent Journal Times article went on to list all of Russell Seager's degrees, certifications, studies, and teaching as: 1983 Bachelor of Science, Cardinal Stritch University; 1986 Bachelor of Arts (cum laude), Cardinal Stritch University; 1991 Bachelor of Science in nursing (magna cum laude), Marquette University; 1996 Master of Science in nursing (summa cum laude), Marquette University; 1998 advanced graduate coursework, Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology; 2000 post-graduate studies in gerontological nursing, Marquette University; 2007 Doctor of Medicine in alternative medicines, Open International University in Calcutta, India; Certifications include registered nurse, adult nurse practitioner, professional counselor, and psychiatric mental health nurse; and, he served as a faculty member at Bryant & Stratton College, Concordia University, Marquette University and Cardinal Stritch University.
An article in the Washington Post quoted Russell's uncle Larry Seager as saying in regards to his nephew's love of education, "I don't think he missed a year of school since he was 18, ....He just had to keep learning."
A tribute found on WUWM.com quotes a colleague as saying, "Dr. Seager was the kind of man who went above and beyond his teaching role. Students saw him as a father figure, someone who cared about them, someone who challenged them, someone who gave them positive reinforcement and told them for the first time that they could accomplish something." He was also remembered for his tests always being on bright colored paper to give his students, "a happy spirit." His tests were remembered as difficult but his presentation set students with a good attitude.
A FaceBook page dedicated to Russell Seager said he was in the Primary Care Mental Health Integration Program. He was remembered as "someone you could always call on, ...He would stop everything to make time to see you. You couldn't put a price tag on what Russell gave to us. He'd go that extra mile for you." He was also remembered as a great listener. He joined the VA Medical Center in 2008 and was a member of the US Army 330th Medical Brigade. He was greatly respected by his fellow employees.
A Chicago Tribune story quoted family as saying, "Rusty would never brag about anything, but you could just tell (that he was proud) in the way he talked. He wasn't a guy who tried to pat himself on the back, ...Growing up in Racine, Seager was always an excellent student and enjoyed the thrill he received from learning, ...Every chance he got, he went to school. ... He said, 'I'll never be too old to go to school because there's always something to learn."
At the time of his death, Army Reserve Captain Russell Seager was survived by his by his wife Cindy; son Joe; his father; sister Barb Prudhomme; brother-in-law, Dennis Prudhomme; and, uncle Larry Seager.
Army Reserve Captain Russell Seager was laid to rest at Pine Edin Cemetery in Wonewoc, Juneau County, Wisconsin, near Mauston, where his mother is buried.
Information for this short biography about Army Reserve Captain Russell Gilbert Seager was pieced together from the following sources: findagrave.com, "Capt Russell Gilbert Seager," November 6, 2009; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Slain Mount Pleasant soldier called a 'quiet helper'," November 6, 2009; journaltimes.com, "The life of Russell Seager," November 09, 2009; journaltimes.com, "Russell Seager, a lifetime learner," November 09, 2009; articles.washingtonpost.com, "Russell Seager joined the Army Reserve about four years ago," November 06, 2009; preview.wuwm.com, "Tribute to a Fallen Soldier," November 11, 2009; facebook.com, "Russell Seager"; articles.chicagotribune.com, "Homewood soldier was 1st target at Fort Hood," November 09, 2009; Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs "Fallen Heroes Page"; and, CNN.com "War Casualties Page.
Note: This “Wisconsin Military Casualties Afghanistan Iraq Compilation” Daily Dadio blog Category is under construction. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Wisconsin War Casualties Page for a list of names noted by date of death.
[ If readers know of other military service persons with Wisconsin connections that are not on the Web site comprehensive list of fatal casualties, or notice errors, please email Bob Keith at keithrg13@cooldadiomedia.com ]
Monday, December 16, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
Army Staff Sergeant Amy Sue Krueger - Wisconsin Military Casualty Compilation - Afghanistan / Iraq
9 December 2013
Army Staff Sergeant Amy Sue Krueger - Wisconsin Military Casualty Compilation - Afghanistan / Iraq
Army Staff Sergeant Amy Sue Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wisconsin, died on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas. Staff Sergeant Krueger was a member of the U.S. Army Reserves' 467th Medical Command Detachment, a Madison-based unit that helps treat soldiers for combat stress. She was killed with 12 other people when an Army psychiatrist opened fire on soldiers proceeding through deployment preparations at Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said that Amy Krueger was a 1998 graduate of Kiel High School in Kiel, Wisconsin. Kiel is an eastern Wisconsin town of around 3,500 people. She joined the Army shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. At that time she and a college friend joined the Army Reserves. Krueger had deployed previously to Afghanistan, in 2003. On that mission she, assisted soldiers dealing with combat stress as part of a military support unit. When killed at Fort Hood Staff Sergeant Krueger was preparing for another mission in Afghanistan. Friends remembered Krueger as, "... an outgoing, happy, caring and unselfish person;" and, "She had a toughness beneath the cheery disposition." Family is quoted as remembering her as feisty and determined.
Information found on the Web site iwantthenews.com indicates Amy Krueger's 2003 Afghanistan mission was as a member of the Army Reserve Unit in Menasha, Wisconsin, which was a detachment of the 452nd Combat Support Hospital out of Milwaukee. Krueger was deployed to serve in a 24-bed hospital, treating mostly American soldiers with combat stress, and teaching anger and stress management classes.
The Web site freedomremembered.com notes that Amy Krueger was born on August 7, 1980 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She began college at the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan. After basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, she was stationed in San Antonio, Texas, were she graduated as a Mental Health Specialist. In 2003 Krueger was deployed to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She returned home in the summer of 2003 and returned to college at UW Sheboygan and received an Associate's Degree in Arts and Science. During that same era she also graduated from Lakeshore Technical College's (LTC) Emergency Medical Technician program. She also graduated with honors from the Certified Nursing Assistant program at LTC. The Web site went on to say Krueger was the first female member of the Kiel VFW Post 6707. In 2008, while working on her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Krueger volunteered for another mission in Afghanistan. In October of 2009 she left home for that tour of duty. Before she left she got a tattoo with a tattered flag in the background with the words which read, "All Gave Some, Some Gave All. Sacrifice."
An obituary found on the Web site meaningfulfunerals.net notes that Amy Krueger was a member of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Kiel. She was an active athlete at Kiel High School and UW Sheboygan. She had played basketball and softball in high school. She was known to friends as "Kruegs." The Web site said, "She always enjoyed spending time with her family and friends, shooting pool, playing sheepshead, being social and lived every day to the fullest." She had played on two summer softball teams summer and also a volleyball team. One of the softball teams she played for took first place at a state tournament in Sparta.
The Greenbay Press Gazette indicates Krueger was a member of the UW-Sheboygan women’s basketball team that made it to the state championship game in 1999. She had attended the college from fall 1998 to fall 2001; she finished her associate’s degree upon returning in 2006. The Pres Gazette went on to say that teammates and coaches remember her as a reserve who made up in effort what she lacked in skill. The coach is quoted as saying, "[Krueger] was the most well-liked player on the team, and she was probably the hardest worker,"
At the time of her death, Army Staff Sergeant Amy Krueger was survived by her parents Jeri Krueger and David Diem; her adoptive father Mark (Denise) Krueger; her sister Jessica; her brother Casey; a step brother Ryan Turba; step sisters Heather Turba, Michelle May, and Adrianne & Stacy Jackson; grandparents Jack (Sharon) Rief and Ray & Carolyn; Aunts and Uncles Bill (Sue) Rief, Sue (Mike) Wusterbarth, Steve (Leslie) Diem, Jim Diem, Debbie (Eugene) Kutz-Falle, Dan (Brenda) Krueger, Sara (Timm) Amundson; her special niece, Alicia; and, cousins Stephanie, Theresa, Jacqueline, Emily, Breanna, Taylor, Peyton, Michelle, Morgan, Natalie, Jason, Josh, Jeanna, Jenna, Shaun, Cheyenne, and Sierra.
9 December 2013
Army Staff Sergeant Amy Krueger was laid to rest at Schleswig Cemetery, Town of Schleswig (Rockville), just outside Kiel, Wisconsin.
Information for this short biography about Army Staff Sergeant Amy Sue Krueger was pieced together from the following sources: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "2001 terrorism attack motivated Krueger: Friends recall Kiel native as sweet, caring and tough," November 6, 2009; iwantthenews.com, "KHS grad, Amy Krueger, killed in Fr. Hood shootings," November 6, 2013; freedomremembered.com, "Sgt Amy S. Krueger," November 10th, 2009; meaningfulfurnerals.net, "SSG Amy Krueger"; greenbaypressgazette.com, "Kiel soldier's mom says slain daughter Amy Krueger signed up to serve day after Sept. 11, 2001," November 6, 2009; Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs "Fallen Heroes Page"; and, CNN.com "War Casualties Page.
Army Staff Sergeant Amy Sue Krueger - Wisconsin Military Casualty Compilation - Afghanistan / Iraq
Army Staff Sergeant Amy Sue Krueger, 29, of Kiel, Wisconsin, died on Thursday, November 5, 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas. Staff Sergeant Krueger was a member of the U.S. Army Reserves' 467th Medical Command Detachment, a Madison-based unit that helps treat soldiers for combat stress. She was killed with 12 other people when an Army psychiatrist opened fire on soldiers proceeding through deployment preparations at Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said that Amy Krueger was a 1998 graduate of Kiel High School in Kiel, Wisconsin. Kiel is an eastern Wisconsin town of around 3,500 people. She joined the Army shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. At that time she and a college friend joined the Army Reserves. Krueger had deployed previously to Afghanistan, in 2003. On that mission she, assisted soldiers dealing with combat stress as part of a military support unit. When killed at Fort Hood Staff Sergeant Krueger was preparing for another mission in Afghanistan. Friends remembered Krueger as, "... an outgoing, happy, caring and unselfish person;" and, "She had a toughness beneath the cheery disposition." Family is quoted as remembering her as feisty and determined.
Information found on the Web site iwantthenews.com indicates Amy Krueger's 2003 Afghanistan mission was as a member of the Army Reserve Unit in Menasha, Wisconsin, which was a detachment of the 452nd Combat Support Hospital out of Milwaukee. Krueger was deployed to serve in a 24-bed hospital, treating mostly American soldiers with combat stress, and teaching anger and stress management classes.
The Web site freedomremembered.com notes that Amy Krueger was born on August 7, 1980 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She began college at the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan. After basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, she was stationed in San Antonio, Texas, were she graduated as a Mental Health Specialist. In 2003 Krueger was deployed to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She returned home in the summer of 2003 and returned to college at UW Sheboygan and received an Associate's Degree in Arts and Science. During that same era she also graduated from Lakeshore Technical College's (LTC) Emergency Medical Technician program. She also graduated with honors from the Certified Nursing Assistant program at LTC. The Web site went on to say Krueger was the first female member of the Kiel VFW Post 6707. In 2008, while working on her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Krueger volunteered for another mission in Afghanistan. In October of 2009 she left home for that tour of duty. Before she left she got a tattoo with a tattered flag in the background with the words which read, "All Gave Some, Some Gave All. Sacrifice."
An obituary found on the Web site meaningfulfunerals.net notes that Amy Krueger was a member of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Kiel. She was an active athlete at Kiel High School and UW Sheboygan. She had played basketball and softball in high school. She was known to friends as "Kruegs." The Web site said, "She always enjoyed spending time with her family and friends, shooting pool, playing sheepshead, being social and lived every day to the fullest." She had played on two summer softball teams summer and also a volleyball team. One of the softball teams she played for took first place at a state tournament in Sparta.
The Greenbay Press Gazette indicates Krueger was a member of the UW-Sheboygan women’s basketball team that made it to the state championship game in 1999. She had attended the college from fall 1998 to fall 2001; she finished her associate’s degree upon returning in 2006. The Pres Gazette went on to say that teammates and coaches remember her as a reserve who made up in effort what she lacked in skill. The coach is quoted as saying, "[Krueger] was the most well-liked player on the team, and she was probably the hardest worker,"
At the time of her death, Army Staff Sergeant Amy Krueger was survived by her parents Jeri Krueger and David Diem; her adoptive father Mark (Denise) Krueger; her sister Jessica; her brother Casey; a step brother Ryan Turba; step sisters Heather Turba, Michelle May, and Adrianne & Stacy Jackson; grandparents Jack (Sharon) Rief and Ray & Carolyn; Aunts and Uncles Bill (Sue) Rief, Sue (Mike) Wusterbarth, Steve (Leslie) Diem, Jim Diem, Debbie (Eugene) Kutz-Falle, Dan (Brenda) Krueger, Sara (Timm) Amundson; her special niece, Alicia; and, cousins Stephanie, Theresa, Jacqueline, Emily, Breanna, Taylor, Peyton, Michelle, Morgan, Natalie, Jason, Josh, Jeanna, Jenna, Shaun, Cheyenne, and Sierra.
9 December 2013
Army Staff Sergeant Amy Krueger was laid to rest at Schleswig Cemetery, Town of Schleswig (Rockville), just outside Kiel, Wisconsin.
Information for this short biography about Army Staff Sergeant Amy Sue Krueger was pieced together from the following sources: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "2001 terrorism attack motivated Krueger: Friends recall Kiel native as sweet, caring and tough," November 6, 2009; iwantthenews.com, "KHS grad, Amy Krueger, killed in Fr. Hood shootings," November 6, 2013; freedomremembered.com, "Sgt Amy S. Krueger," November 10th, 2009; meaningfulfurnerals.net, "SSG Amy Krueger"; greenbaypressgazette.com, "Kiel soldier's mom says slain daughter Amy Krueger signed up to serve day after Sept. 11, 2001," November 6, 2009; Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs "Fallen Heroes Page"; and, CNN.com "War Casualties Page.
Note: This “Wisconsin Military Casualties Afghanistan Iraq Compilation” Daily Dadio blog Category is under construction. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Wisconsin War Casualties Page for a list of names noted by date of death.
[ If readers know of other military service persons with Wisconsin connections that are not on the Web site comprehensive list of fatal casualties, or notice errors, please email Bob Keith at keithrg13@cooldadiomedia.com ]
[ If readers know of other military service persons with Wisconsin connections that are not on the Web site comprehensive list of fatal casualties, or notice errors, please email Bob Keith at keithrg13@cooldadiomedia.com ]
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker orders all fuzzy little cute animals in the State to be killed - Giggles-gate - PoliticoDadio - Week of 14 August 2013
14 August 2013
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker orders all fuzzy little cute animals in the State to be killed - Giggles-gate - PoliticoDadio - Week of 14 August 2013
This entry was posted on 8/14/2013 1:29 AM and is filed under PoliticoDadio.
I was in my other favorite neighborhood tavern the other day; it is a more than adequate watering hole for the Dadio's needs. I was already deep into happy hour and then some. A disturbing conversation down the bar had drawn a couple pals of mine. The diversion woke me out of my day dream. I had lost count of beers downed, which is usually a sign of some pending debauchery. I blew the foam off my latest glass of Wisconsin brew and moved down a few stools to hear the story.
There was Ol' Robert Lee in the middle of the oratory fracas. That was his first and middle names. We knew that much. Not too many of us knew his last name; we all just knew him as..., Robert Lee. Robert Lee still had a bullet in his hip from his second wife - "That Evil Devil," as he recalled her when the cold weather pain came round again. Be that as it may, Ol' Robert Lee was telling a story one of his co-contractors had relayed. They were both working up ta' Madison regarding some plumbing repairs.
This other co-contractor feller was supposedly a capable fellow, knowledgeable in all things plumbing. Now according to Robert Lee, this other guy took drink now and then at lunch break during the work day. There was a pregnant pause and we all glanced at each other. Some more bar patrons joined the group. Who were we to pass judgment on a hardworking bloke for taking a bit of pain killer at lunch? Not a one of us could deny having done it a time or two. So, one of my pals quickly bought a round of beers for the now burgeoning group, and the story was thus consummated.
"This is what this here co-contractor fellah was saying; he come out of the hills of Arkansas or some damn place," Ol' Robert Lee said. Then he added the caveat, "Don't kill the messenger fellahs; this is just what I heard the fellah say."
Robert Lee had a limp from the bullet in his hip. He had flat feet but the Army draft board was willing to look the other way in '67, needing plenty of men back then and all; but, Robert Lee took the deferment. He told us time and again, "Hell, I should of went to 'Nam. It'd'a been safer than living with that Evil Devil."
Robert's work boots and pants had a couple of plumbing solder stains on board. His work shirt was pressed and tucked in his skinny waste. And, he had a shirt pocket full of pens and a tap measure hooked to his belt. His curly black but now graying hair was a bit longer than the current style; but, it had the vibrancy of a much younger man. He had obviously been to a salon recently. When ever we ask him what he had done that day he always says, "Check'n and level'n."
As Robert Lee launched into the story, we were all amazed at his memory of the details. It flowed as if we were hearing it right from the source, this so-called co-contractor from Arkansas or some damn place:
I was a' called up by the trades union and took a task at the Capital building up yonder in your city of Madison. That city a'be'n the Capital that is, of West Consin. I tain't too sure what happened to East Consin. But, none-the-less..., now my job up dar was to fix a malfunctioning urinal in the executive bath room. I reckon that's were the good Gov'nor relieves his self during his busy day of govinat'n. It was a much bigger facility than I had imagined. And 'course, the task involved more than the work order implied. My tools a'klink'n caused an echo in the room as if I was in a gymnasium.
I had just took to fix'n that damn urinal and a security guard popped his head in the door as says, 'Hey, the Gov needs this restroom for a few minutes, so step out a second or two will yah dare pard'ner."
Well, I left a couple tools in one of the stalls, but no sooner I picked them up in comes a half dozen fellahs. I peek though the crack in the door and low and behold one of them well-dressed fellers was the Governor himself. I hurried up and stood up on the terlet so as to keep myself incognito.
Before I could take a breath the Governor says, "Now I called you men in here because it ain't safe to discuss this anywhere else."
The men took up to leaning on a couple sinks as if settling in for an important chit-chat. No one seemed to care about my tool box by the urinal. Anyway the Governor says, "We threw a monkey wrench in their damn unions, we are keeping wages low all across the state in all sectors, we've engineered a culture of part-time workers without benefits; we've turned down countless grants from the Feds to fund nanny-state projects, and we have tinkered with their heath care options. We have the workers in this State on the run boys."
There was a couple of affirmative grunts from the Gov's men.
"Now, look here fellahs," the Governor continued. "We need to put the nail in the coffin. These people can barely get around with low wages causing them to have less cash for gas money, but we can't stop there. We have got to thrust the fatal blow into their spirit. Don't you hear those damn workers singing in my Rotunda?"
There was a couple more affirmative grunts from the Gov's men.
"Now here's how I see it men," the Governor now lowered his voice. He glanced over his shoulder like his wife might be look'n to catch him take'n a nip, an then he said..., "We kill their pets."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.
"Don't you see, men?" the Governor said, filling the awkward silence. "We can turn their cry-baby rants about that dumb dead deer in Kenosha into a positive. Look at the death of Giggles the fawn as a preemptive strike on the nonsensical need for the working poor to care for some so-called needy little animals. We can turn this Giggles-gate foolishness to our advantage. Once we kill enough of their little fuzzy animals, their spirit will be finished. There is no room for sentimentality in our new economy. We need these people to be preoccupied with continuous cheap labor, not wasting their time raising pets."
The Governor took a breath like he only had one lung, and then continued.
"I've given a Gubernatorial wink and nod to all state enforcement agencies to search every home and business in Wisconsin one by one to hunt down their fuzzy little critters..., and kill them. We'll find some pretense to enter their domiciles, then once inside, make some rationale to kill their pets. Call them critters a threat to investigating personnel or what ever you want. I've got my lawyers looking into how the Chi-coms beat down the peeps."
I could see the men scratching their chins as the Governor paused.
"You see men," the Governor said enthusiastically. "I take my cue from Richard Nixon. If you can't get rid of your enemies, then attack what they love. Nixon attacked his enemies, the hippies, by declaring war on their marijuana. It was brilliant. The beauty of our version is, we will attack our enemies, them pesky workers, by declaring war on their pets."
They Governor's men all grunted, nodded, slapped each other on the back, and ushered each other out of the restroom as fast as they had came in.
I snuck out of the stall, tightened the pipe on the urinal, picked up my tool box, and got the hell out of there.
At the end of the story Ol' Robert Lee downed the last of his beer in one giant gulp and wiped his mouth on his work shirt sleeve. As he moved from his spot a bit he winced from the pain in his hip from that bullet. "Better have another beer, my mouth is dry as a popcorn fart," Robert said and smiled.
There was another pregnant pause amongst the group of listeners, now crowded around the end of the bar . I quickly summoned the bartender lady and ordered two beers each all around.
As the many beers were plunked on the bar top one by one, there was another awkward silence except for the plunking of the full pint glasses. Finally, one of my wry-witted drinking pals said...,
"Any one ever see that old video short from the late 1960's? This whole Giggles-gate thing kind of reminds me of that little movie. What was it called..., Godzilla verses Bambi? "
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker orders all fuzzy little cute animals in the State to be killed - Giggles-gate - PoliticoDadio - Week of 14 August 2013
This entry was posted on 8/14/2013 1:29 AM and is filed under PoliticoDadio.
I was in my other favorite neighborhood tavern the other day; it is a more than adequate watering hole for the Dadio's needs. I was already deep into happy hour and then some. A disturbing conversation down the bar had drawn a couple pals of mine. The diversion woke me out of my day dream. I had lost count of beers downed, which is usually a sign of some pending debauchery. I blew the foam off my latest glass of Wisconsin brew and moved down a few stools to hear the story.
There was Ol' Robert Lee in the middle of the oratory fracas. That was his first and middle names. We knew that much. Not too many of us knew his last name; we all just knew him as..., Robert Lee. Robert Lee still had a bullet in his hip from his second wife - "That Evil Devil," as he recalled her when the cold weather pain came round again. Be that as it may, Ol' Robert Lee was telling a story one of his co-contractors had relayed. They were both working up ta' Madison regarding some plumbing repairs.
This other co-contractor feller was supposedly a capable fellow, knowledgeable in all things plumbing. Now according to Robert Lee, this other guy took drink now and then at lunch break during the work day. There was a pregnant pause and we all glanced at each other. Some more bar patrons joined the group. Who were we to pass judgment on a hardworking bloke for taking a bit of pain killer at lunch? Not a one of us could deny having done it a time or two. So, one of my pals quickly bought a round of beers for the now burgeoning group, and the story was thus consummated.
"This is what this here co-contractor fellah was saying; he come out of the hills of Arkansas or some damn place," Ol' Robert Lee said. Then he added the caveat, "Don't kill the messenger fellahs; this is just what I heard the fellah say."
Robert Lee had a limp from the bullet in his hip. He had flat feet but the Army draft board was willing to look the other way in '67, needing plenty of men back then and all; but, Robert Lee took the deferment. He told us time and again, "Hell, I should of went to 'Nam. It'd'a been safer than living with that Evil Devil."
Robert's work boots and pants had a couple of plumbing solder stains on board. His work shirt was pressed and tucked in his skinny waste. And, he had a shirt pocket full of pens and a tap measure hooked to his belt. His curly black but now graying hair was a bit longer than the current style; but, it had the vibrancy of a much younger man. He had obviously been to a salon recently. When ever we ask him what he had done that day he always says, "Check'n and level'n."
As Robert Lee launched into the story, we were all amazed at his memory of the details. It flowed as if we were hearing it right from the source, this so-called co-contractor from Arkansas or some damn place:
I was a' called up by the trades union and took a task at the Capital building up yonder in your city of Madison. That city a'be'n the Capital that is, of West Consin. I tain't too sure what happened to East Consin. But, none-the-less..., now my job up dar was to fix a malfunctioning urinal in the executive bath room. I reckon that's were the good Gov'nor relieves his self during his busy day of govinat'n. It was a much bigger facility than I had imagined. And 'course, the task involved more than the work order implied. My tools a'klink'n caused an echo in the room as if I was in a gymnasium.
I had just took to fix'n that damn urinal and a security guard popped his head in the door as says, 'Hey, the Gov needs this restroom for a few minutes, so step out a second or two will yah dare pard'ner."
Well, I left a couple tools in one of the stalls, but no sooner I picked them up in comes a half dozen fellahs. I peek though the crack in the door and low and behold one of them well-dressed fellers was the Governor himself. I hurried up and stood up on the terlet so as to keep myself incognito.
Before I could take a breath the Governor says, "Now I called you men in here because it ain't safe to discuss this anywhere else."
The men took up to leaning on a couple sinks as if settling in for an important chit-chat. No one seemed to care about my tool box by the urinal. Anyway the Governor says, "We threw a monkey wrench in their damn unions, we are keeping wages low all across the state in all sectors, we've engineered a culture of part-time workers without benefits; we've turned down countless grants from the Feds to fund nanny-state projects, and we have tinkered with their heath care options. We have the workers in this State on the run boys."
There was a couple of affirmative grunts from the Gov's men.
"Now, look here fellahs," the Governor continued. "We need to put the nail in the coffin. These people can barely get around with low wages causing them to have less cash for gas money, but we can't stop there. We have got to thrust the fatal blow into their spirit. Don't you hear those damn workers singing in my Rotunda?"
There was a couple more affirmative grunts from the Gov's men.
"Now here's how I see it men," the Governor now lowered his voice. He glanced over his shoulder like his wife might be look'n to catch him take'n a nip, an then he said..., "We kill their pets."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.
"Don't you see, men?" the Governor said, filling the awkward silence. "We can turn their cry-baby rants about that dumb dead deer in Kenosha into a positive. Look at the death of Giggles the fawn as a preemptive strike on the nonsensical need for the working poor to care for some so-called needy little animals. We can turn this Giggles-gate foolishness to our advantage. Once we kill enough of their little fuzzy animals, their spirit will be finished. There is no room for sentimentality in our new economy. We need these people to be preoccupied with continuous cheap labor, not wasting their time raising pets."
The Governor took a breath like he only had one lung, and then continued.
"I've given a Gubernatorial wink and nod to all state enforcement agencies to search every home and business in Wisconsin one by one to hunt down their fuzzy little critters..., and kill them. We'll find some pretense to enter their domiciles, then once inside, make some rationale to kill their pets. Call them critters a threat to investigating personnel or what ever you want. I've got my lawyers looking into how the Chi-coms beat down the peeps."
I could see the men scratching their chins as the Governor paused.
"You see men," the Governor said enthusiastically. "I take my cue from Richard Nixon. If you can't get rid of your enemies, then attack what they love. Nixon attacked his enemies, the hippies, by declaring war on their marijuana. It was brilliant. The beauty of our version is, we will attack our enemies, them pesky workers, by declaring war on their pets."
They Governor's men all grunted, nodded, slapped each other on the back, and ushered each other out of the restroom as fast as they had came in.
I snuck out of the stall, tightened the pipe on the urinal, picked up my tool box, and got the hell out of there.
At the end of the story Ol' Robert Lee downed the last of his beer in one giant gulp and wiped his mouth on his work shirt sleeve. As he moved from his spot a bit he winced from the pain in his hip from that bullet. "Better have another beer, my mouth is dry as a popcorn fart," Robert said and smiled.
There was another pregnant pause amongst the group of listeners, now crowded around the end of the bar . I quickly summoned the bartender lady and ordered two beers each all around.
As the many beers were plunked on the bar top one by one, there was another awkward silence except for the plunking of the full pint glasses. Finally, one of my wry-witted drinking pals said...,
"Any one ever see that old video short from the late 1960's? This whole Giggles-gate thing kind of reminds me of that little movie. What was it called..., Godzilla verses Bambi? "
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Lima Center, Wisconsin, man charged with hate crime for burning Chinese flag - PoliticoDadio - Week of 7 August 2013
7 August 2013
Lima Center, Wisconsin, man charged with hate crime for burning Chinese flag - PoliticoDadio - Week of 7 August 2013
This entry was posted on 8/7/2013 1:29 AM and is filed under PoliticoDadio.
I was in my favorite neighborhood watering hole the other day; it is a more than adequate gin mill tavern for the Dadio's needs. I was already well into happy hour and then some. An enhanced conversation down the bar had drawn a couple pals of mine. The diversion woke me out of my day dream. I had lost count of beers downed, which is usually a sign of some pending debauchery. I blew the foam off my latest glass of Wisconsin brew and moved down a few stools to hear the story.
A scruffy-faced blue-collar guy I had seen now and then in said watering hole, but never caught his name was telling the story. He was repeating a tale he claimed he had heard another feller tell. This other feller had told the story in one of our other hangouts and was supposedly wearing a well-worn suit coat and had claimed this story could be found in a local newspaper. But this so-called suit coat clad fella could not recall which paper. And, the scruffy-faced blue-collar guy could not recount what the well-worn suit coat fellow's name was. There was a pregnant pause and so one of my pals quickly bought a round of beers for the now burgeoning group, and the story was thus consummated.
"This is what this here well-worn suit coat fellow was saying," the scruffy-faced blue-collar guy said. Then he added the caveat, "Don't kill the messenger fellahs; this is just what I heard."
This scruffy-faced blue-collar guy looked 65 but was probably 40. I deduced he most likely had spent one too many days under the hot sun pulling cement and/or asphalt. His work boots and pants had a couple of permanent concrete stains on board. His work shirt was pressed but un-tucked, and he had a pocket full of pens and a roll of twenty dollar bills bulged from his shirt pocket. I took him for some kind of foreman.
As the scruffy-faced blue-collar guy launched into the story, we were all amazed at his memory of the details. It flowed as if we were hearing it right out of the paper:
Sid MacFarlane of Lima Center, Wisconsin, told the newspaper, "Hell, I didn't know it was some kind of crime to burn a Chinaman's flag. I was just so disgusted when I went into the store and couldn't find anything made in America. The last time I was in a big store, their motto was 'American Made.' But I was preoccupied up in jail for a few years and just recently was released. Guess I'm a'hind the times."
MacFarlane admitted to the paper he was unfamiliar with the current trend that little if anything is made in America any more.
"Hell," MacFarlane was quoted as saying, "All I was looking for was some slippers for my step ma. Her husband, my dad, had served in World War II - he died years ago - but I wanted to help her out when her feet swolled up, 'cause she always looked after my dad after my real ma died."
According to Rock County authorities, MacFarlane went into a rage when he got the slippers to his step mother's house in Janesville and realized they were made in China.
"It was then, I realize what my cousin Marty was trying to tell me all those years," the 62 year old MacFarlane said. "The whole time I was in jail, Cousin Marty kept saying, 'All our jobs went to China.' Marty is 66 and still lives with his ma, my aunt, that be'in ma's sister, 'cause according to him, he can't find a job 'cause the Chinamens took them all."
According to neighbors, after giving the slippers to his step mother, MacFarlane went to a novelty shop in Janesville the next day and bought a Chinese flag, measuring five feet by three and a half feet. He doused the flag with gasoline and hoisted it up on his stepmother's flag pole, above an up-side-down American flag.
"My dad put that flag pole up when they moved to town after he retired from farming out in Lima," MacFarlane said.
MacFarlane told police that after sitting on a lawn chair in his step mother's back yard and drinking beer for a bit, he doused Lawn Jarts with gasoline and then set them on fire one by one. He tossed them one by one at the Chinese flag until one finally ignited the state symbol of Communist China.
"We always had two sets of Lawn Jarts in the basement storage room," MacFarlane said. "So I had plenty of ammunition."
A neighbor, Phyllis Schmitt, saw the strange flame above the trees and called 911. "Hell, I didn't mean to get Sid in trouble," Schmitt said. "If I a' knew he was going to burn a Commie flag I would have joined in. My first husband served in the Korean War. He always told me so many Chinamen's came over the ridge their machine guns got red hot just a' kill'n em. I called the police because I thought a plane or something had crashed in the trees. It was a hell of a blaze."
Mutual aid officers covering Rock County at the time responded to the scene because Janesville Police and Rock County Deputies were preoccupied at another complaint involving toilet paper being thrown in several trees on the other side of town. The responding officers decided to cite MacFarlane for disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct; but, not for burning the Chinese flag, but rather for putting the American flag up-side-down.
But later that day, prosecutors took a dimmer view of MacFarlane's shenanigans and decided to add a hate related crime enhancer to the charge. MacFarlane faces a 75 Dollar fine for the disorderly conduct charge. But, with the hate crime addition, MacFarlane could face up to a 10,000 dollar fine and one year in jail, or both.
"My wife just bought a dandy set of lawn furniture made in China," assistant prosecutor Elmer Kline said. "I don't see what all the furor is over Chinese products. How can you hate a country for something as innocuous as lawn furniture and slippers. This is clearly a hate crime if I have ever seen one."
Kline went on to say, "If it's the communist thing Mr. MacFarlane is in a tizzy about, that seems overblown as well. American law enforcement, government, and media, has learned some valuable tips from Communist Chinese techniques regarding the control of citizenry. Their skills at curbing information flow for instance, are invaluable."
Police said MacFarlane was release on his own recognizance until his court hearing. MacFarlane asked officers to drop him off at Judy's Tavern which is not far from the scene of the incident.
At the end of the story the scruffy-faced blue-collar guy downed one last beer in two gulps and wiped his mouth on his work shirt sleeve.
There was another pregnant pause. I quickly summoned the bartender lady and ordered beer all around.
As the beers were plunked on the bar top one by one, there was another awkward silence except for the plunking of the full pint glasses. Finally, one of my wry-witted drinking pals said...,
"Ain't been to Judy's in a while. 'Taint too bad a place to get drunk in now and then."
Lima Center, Wisconsin, man charged with hate crime for burning Chinese flag - PoliticoDadio - Week of 7 August 2013
This entry was posted on 8/7/2013 1:29 AM and is filed under PoliticoDadio.
I was in my favorite neighborhood watering hole the other day; it is a more than adequate gin mill tavern for the Dadio's needs. I was already well into happy hour and then some. An enhanced conversation down the bar had drawn a couple pals of mine. The diversion woke me out of my day dream. I had lost count of beers downed, which is usually a sign of some pending debauchery. I blew the foam off my latest glass of Wisconsin brew and moved down a few stools to hear the story.
A scruffy-faced blue-collar guy I had seen now and then in said watering hole, but never caught his name was telling the story. He was repeating a tale he claimed he had heard another feller tell. This other feller had told the story in one of our other hangouts and was supposedly wearing a well-worn suit coat and had claimed this story could be found in a local newspaper. But this so-called suit coat clad fella could not recall which paper. And, the scruffy-faced blue-collar guy could not recount what the well-worn suit coat fellow's name was. There was a pregnant pause and so one of my pals quickly bought a round of beers for the now burgeoning group, and the story was thus consummated.
"This is what this here well-worn suit coat fellow was saying," the scruffy-faced blue-collar guy said. Then he added the caveat, "Don't kill the messenger fellahs; this is just what I heard."
This scruffy-faced blue-collar guy looked 65 but was probably 40. I deduced he most likely had spent one too many days under the hot sun pulling cement and/or asphalt. His work boots and pants had a couple of permanent concrete stains on board. His work shirt was pressed but un-tucked, and he had a pocket full of pens and a roll of twenty dollar bills bulged from his shirt pocket. I took him for some kind of foreman.
As the scruffy-faced blue-collar guy launched into the story, we were all amazed at his memory of the details. It flowed as if we were hearing it right out of the paper:
Sid MacFarlane of Lima Center, Wisconsin, told the newspaper, "Hell, I didn't know it was some kind of crime to burn a Chinaman's flag. I was just so disgusted when I went into the store and couldn't find anything made in America. The last time I was in a big store, their motto was 'American Made.' But I was preoccupied up in jail for a few years and just recently was released. Guess I'm a'hind the times."
MacFarlane admitted to the paper he was unfamiliar with the current trend that little if anything is made in America any more.
"Hell," MacFarlane was quoted as saying, "All I was looking for was some slippers for my step ma. Her husband, my dad, had served in World War II - he died years ago - but I wanted to help her out when her feet swolled up, 'cause she always looked after my dad after my real ma died."
According to Rock County authorities, MacFarlane went into a rage when he got the slippers to his step mother's house in Janesville and realized they were made in China.
"It was then, I realize what my cousin Marty was trying to tell me all those years," the 62 year old MacFarlane said. "The whole time I was in jail, Cousin Marty kept saying, 'All our jobs went to China.' Marty is 66 and still lives with his ma, my aunt, that be'in ma's sister, 'cause according to him, he can't find a job 'cause the Chinamens took them all."
According to neighbors, after giving the slippers to his step mother, MacFarlane went to a novelty shop in Janesville the next day and bought a Chinese flag, measuring five feet by three and a half feet. He doused the flag with gasoline and hoisted it up on his stepmother's flag pole, above an up-side-down American flag.
"My dad put that flag pole up when they moved to town after he retired from farming out in Lima," MacFarlane said.
MacFarlane told police that after sitting on a lawn chair in his step mother's back yard and drinking beer for a bit, he doused Lawn Jarts with gasoline and then set them on fire one by one. He tossed them one by one at the Chinese flag until one finally ignited the state symbol of Communist China.
"We always had two sets of Lawn Jarts in the basement storage room," MacFarlane said. "So I had plenty of ammunition."
A neighbor, Phyllis Schmitt, saw the strange flame above the trees and called 911. "Hell, I didn't mean to get Sid in trouble," Schmitt said. "If I a' knew he was going to burn a Commie flag I would have joined in. My first husband served in the Korean War. He always told me so many Chinamen's came over the ridge their machine guns got red hot just a' kill'n em. I called the police because I thought a plane or something had crashed in the trees. It was a hell of a blaze."
Mutual aid officers covering Rock County at the time responded to the scene because Janesville Police and Rock County Deputies were preoccupied at another complaint involving toilet paper being thrown in several trees on the other side of town. The responding officers decided to cite MacFarlane for disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct; but, not for burning the Chinese flag, but rather for putting the American flag up-side-down.
But later that day, prosecutors took a dimmer view of MacFarlane's shenanigans and decided to add a hate related crime enhancer to the charge. MacFarlane faces a 75 Dollar fine for the disorderly conduct charge. But, with the hate crime addition, MacFarlane could face up to a 10,000 dollar fine and one year in jail, or both.
"My wife just bought a dandy set of lawn furniture made in China," assistant prosecutor Elmer Kline said. "I don't see what all the furor is over Chinese products. How can you hate a country for something as innocuous as lawn furniture and slippers. This is clearly a hate crime if I have ever seen one."
Kline went on to say, "If it's the communist thing Mr. MacFarlane is in a tizzy about, that seems overblown as well. American law enforcement, government, and media, has learned some valuable tips from Communist Chinese techniques regarding the control of citizenry. Their skills at curbing information flow for instance, are invaluable."
Police said MacFarlane was release on his own recognizance until his court hearing. MacFarlane asked officers to drop him off at Judy's Tavern which is not far from the scene of the incident.
At the end of the story the scruffy-faced blue-collar guy downed one last beer in two gulps and wiped his mouth on his work shirt sleeve.
There was another pregnant pause. I quickly summoned the bartender lady and ordered beer all around.
As the beers were plunked on the bar top one by one, there was another awkward silence except for the plunking of the full pint glasses. Finally, one of my wry-witted drinking pals said...,
"Ain't been to Judy's in a while. 'Taint too bad a place to get drunk in now and then."
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Temporary workers by systemic coercion
24 July 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Temporary workers by systemic coercion
This entry was posted on 7/24/2013 1:31 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
Temporary workers by systemic coercion
Here's the skinny. American workers actually do crappy jobs..., for a bit anyway. The many employers make the environment so miserable, the workers get physically sick, tired, discouraged, and just start missing days. They last about a year. Thereby, employers never have to worry much about pay increases, should they even offer them anyway.
You want to talk about the tricks to make work miserable? Do you dare me? Can you handle it? Here we go..., spontaneous and unpredictable weekly hours; both night and day hours for any given employee; no performance reviews; no lunch; no breaks; no vacation; no sick time; and, damn sure..., no vacation time. And maybe devastating of all..., no hope.
So those aforementioned Americans quit or get fired and move to the next new norm American work place. If, they can even find one. It makes the rubric seem as though indeed, Americans won't do certain jobs.
Management does not even hide their lack of shame. Not long ago, I overheard a manager say, "Why don't we get some Mexicans, they will tough this formula out better than Wisconsin workers."
Wow, there it is. I am guessing this is a universal opinion that permeates a lot of management these days. Just a hunch.
So what does that really mean? Here's another skinny. Employers make the work place so miserable only desperate people trying to save their families and start a new life, "may risk" enduring the aforementioned poor conditions. Desperate people like say..., illegal aliens?
Ergo, "Americans won't do this type of work; but, immigrants seem to do it." Nice, neat, tidy, little circle, don't you agree? Banal collective genius on the part of employers and management.
You see, the myth is that "the job and the work" is sacred, perfect, and godly. We are Americans; we guide the world with our lofty work ethics. The work, the jobs, and we, are anything but lofty and ethical. The population at large is led by media and politicians, to only focus on the workers. The myth is also that the workers are the problem. This false premise, this false alternative, quickly leads to a spurious conclusion. The rotten work environment and rubric, the new and often not-so-new, pathetic American workplace paradigm is lost in the fog of cheap rhetoric. The real outcome for workers is cruel, heartless, and down right mean spirited..., for native born Americans, new Americans citizens, and illegal aliens. But because of clever analysis and down right horse manure, the truth remains hiding in plain sight.
Buffoons control the message.
If pundits, pontificators, and politicians had ever actually worked a real job, ever had to actually shower after work instead of before work, or even dared interview a real worker, the spurious absurdities would hit them in the face like projectile vomit.
But...,
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Temporary workers by systemic coercion
This entry was posted on 7/24/2013 1:31 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
Temporary workers by systemic coercion
Here's the skinny. American workers actually do crappy jobs..., for a bit anyway. The many employers make the environment so miserable, the workers get physically sick, tired, discouraged, and just start missing days. They last about a year. Thereby, employers never have to worry much about pay increases, should they even offer them anyway.
You want to talk about the tricks to make work miserable? Do you dare me? Can you handle it? Here we go..., spontaneous and unpredictable weekly hours; both night and day hours for any given employee; no performance reviews; no lunch; no breaks; no vacation; no sick time; and, damn sure..., no vacation time. And maybe devastating of all..., no hope.
So those aforementioned Americans quit or get fired and move to the next new norm American work place. If, they can even find one. It makes the rubric seem as though indeed, Americans won't do certain jobs.
Management does not even hide their lack of shame. Not long ago, I overheard a manager say, "Why don't we get some Mexicans, they will tough this formula out better than Wisconsin workers."
Wow, there it is. I am guessing this is a universal opinion that permeates a lot of management these days. Just a hunch.
So what does that really mean? Here's another skinny. Employers make the work place so miserable only desperate people trying to save their families and start a new life, "may risk" enduring the aforementioned poor conditions. Desperate people like say..., illegal aliens?
Ergo, "Americans won't do this type of work; but, immigrants seem to do it." Nice, neat, tidy, little circle, don't you agree? Banal collective genius on the part of employers and management.
You see, the myth is that "the job and the work" is sacred, perfect, and godly. We are Americans; we guide the world with our lofty work ethics. The work, the jobs, and we, are anything but lofty and ethical. The population at large is led by media and politicians, to only focus on the workers. The myth is also that the workers are the problem. This false premise, this false alternative, quickly leads to a spurious conclusion. The rotten work environment and rubric, the new and often not-so-new, pathetic American workplace paradigm is lost in the fog of cheap rhetoric. The real outcome for workers is cruel, heartless, and down right mean spirited..., for native born Americans, new Americans citizens, and illegal aliens. But because of clever analysis and down right horse manure, the truth remains hiding in plain sight.
Buffoons control the message.
If pundits, pontificators, and politicians had ever actually worked a real job, ever had to actually shower after work instead of before work, or even dared interview a real worker, the spurious absurdities would hit them in the face like projectile vomit.
But...,
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - McDonaldization of the work force equals..., McJobs
18 July 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - McDonaldization of the work force equals..., McJobs
This entry was posted on 7/18/2013 1:29 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
Around 1993 sociologist George Ritzer coined one of my favorite phrases. He came up with the phrase, "the McDonaldization of Society." I wish I had thought of it. Basically, it uses the McDonald's template of having all the prices on the keys, giving the workers set steps to wait on customers and make the food, and even lighting up the pie keys on the cash register to remind the counter-person to ask if the customer wants dessert. The workers are to always be polite and quick but only polite enough so as not to take too long for each customer. Around 1991, Robin Leidner did a field study of McDonald's and actually worked the job and then wrote about it. She found much of the same rituals that Ritzer found.
The movie Falling Down took a shot at the ritualism trend. Michael Douglas played a laid off troubled character that had a bit of a dangerous tantrum when he could not get his hamburger the way he wanted it. He went into Whammy Burger and ordered breakfast. But their ritualistic computerized system had already switched to lunch. When the tormented character agreed to a hamburger, it looked nothing like the photo brushed picture on the wall.
Now all this is interesting and well and good except what if this robot type ritualized service spills over into the greater society? Wall-Mart stores all basically look the same. Cruise ships herd you about on the ship to their events and activities - one often does not even know they are on water. Suburban lawns are all cut the same and the houses only differ in design slightly, often for blocks or even miles. Stop and go lights are all set out of sync to facilitate "traffic calming" so none of us get anywhere too fast. Many retailers make you check yourself out at the cash register.
Old dead sociologist Max Weber called this "rationalization." That's a $50 academic word meaning we all muck about like robots. O'l Max also coined the term the "Iron Cage" of ritual. Believe it or not he came up with that over a hundred years ago. I believe the cynical term is best used when bureaucracy is so ritualized in its inept rules that it is to the detriment of an individual or even a whole group
The McDonaldization of Society compliments a derogatory little gem called "McJob."
I first ran into this nifty and handy little condescending term in the book, Generation X by Douglas Coupland. It has a publication date of 1991. Here is the definition used in the book:
"A low-pay, low-prestige, low-dignity, low-benefit, no-future job in the service sector. Frequently considered a satisfying career choice by people who have never held one."
There is just something pleasantly cathartic about this book and all its quirky little made-up terms.
But then it dawns on me this crass observation is a true reality to millions of beleaguered blue-collar workers in new norm out-sourced America...,
...., just another current systemic work condition to..., break workers' spirit.
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - McDonaldization of the work force equals..., McJobs
This entry was posted on 7/18/2013 1:29 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
Around 1993 sociologist George Ritzer coined one of my favorite phrases. He came up with the phrase, "the McDonaldization of Society." I wish I had thought of it. Basically, it uses the McDonald's template of having all the prices on the keys, giving the workers set steps to wait on customers and make the food, and even lighting up the pie keys on the cash register to remind the counter-person to ask if the customer wants dessert. The workers are to always be polite and quick but only polite enough so as not to take too long for each customer. Around 1991, Robin Leidner did a field study of McDonald's and actually worked the job and then wrote about it. She found much of the same rituals that Ritzer found.
The movie Falling Down took a shot at the ritualism trend. Michael Douglas played a laid off troubled character that had a bit of a dangerous tantrum when he could not get his hamburger the way he wanted it. He went into Whammy Burger and ordered breakfast. But their ritualistic computerized system had already switched to lunch. When the tormented character agreed to a hamburger, it looked nothing like the photo brushed picture on the wall.
Now all this is interesting and well and good except what if this robot type ritualized service spills over into the greater society? Wall-Mart stores all basically look the same. Cruise ships herd you about on the ship to their events and activities - one often does not even know they are on water. Suburban lawns are all cut the same and the houses only differ in design slightly, often for blocks or even miles. Stop and go lights are all set out of sync to facilitate "traffic calming" so none of us get anywhere too fast. Many retailers make you check yourself out at the cash register.
Old dead sociologist Max Weber called this "rationalization." That's a $50 academic word meaning we all muck about like robots. O'l Max also coined the term the "Iron Cage" of ritual. Believe it or not he came up with that over a hundred years ago. I believe the cynical term is best used when bureaucracy is so ritualized in its inept rules that it is to the detriment of an individual or even a whole group
The McDonaldization of Society compliments a derogatory little gem called "McJob."
I first ran into this nifty and handy little condescending term in the book, Generation X by Douglas Coupland. It has a publication date of 1991. Here is the definition used in the book:
"A low-pay, low-prestige, low-dignity, low-benefit, no-future job in the service sector. Frequently considered a satisfying career choice by people who have never held one."
There is just something pleasantly cathartic about this book and all its quirky little made-up terms.
But then it dawns on me this crass observation is a true reality to millions of beleaguered blue-collar workers in new norm out-sourced America...,
...., just another current systemic work condition to..., break workers' spirit.
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Institutonalized part-time work culture
16 July 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Institutonalized part-time work culture
This entry was posted on 7/16/2013 1:30 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
It's no secret by now that Wisconsin's job situation became a train wreck after 2005. And as I pen this handy handbook in 2013, despite apologists' claims, it still is abysmal. Some of us have been literally screaming about it for over eight years now - to deaf ears; of course. But in the spirit of this handbook, the architects of this worker hell know damn well what is going on.
But by now the job distress has permeated the culture so profoundly, there are few left who can hawk perpetual optimism (that fake obfuscated happy talk apologists always belch - they usually don't actually work a real job) with a straight face. Be all that as it may, the real "job ethic" in this state has been exposed as...., naked. It can now be seen as the canard it actually is, and has been for years.
Oh fair readers, you do realize do you not, that I am making a distinction between a collective "job ethic," and that revered Wisconsin "work ethic" we all know and love with dreamy-eyed fondness? If you do not realize there is a difference, perhaps you should take a good look at yourself in the mirror and ponder if perhaps you might just be part of the banal problem.
I remember moving back to Wisconsin during the Clinton and Tommy Thompson years ( the "roaring Nineties" ) after my wife and I had a work foray in Texas. Jobs in Madison, Wisconsin, were especially abundant. It was true; you could start a job in the morning, quit at lunch, and have another one by afternoon break. But because I was just glad to be home again, I overlooked the ubiquitous poor wages and weekend hours that came with that job culture.
And the 1990s were indeed roaring in "university town" Madison if you woke up in the morning without a job and needed a minimum wage gig by noon. The running joke has always been, Madison has a whole cadre of lawn mower jockeys, cab drivers, and janitors with master's degrees. But, we all put up with it with a smile because that job market filled a need. It kept students busy, gave them some social work experience, and helped parents pay bills with an extra part-time job.
But, we workers have allowed, and the architects of misery have intentionally crafted, this abysmal "job ethic" and its part-time, benefitless job culture to become our standard ground level norm, despite better jobs being out there.
Drape that 1990s job template over today's employment wreckage. Madison still boasts more possibility of job offerings than the rest of the state. But is more than zero really a victory? Is the Packers beating the worst team in pro football du jour by two points really an excuse to party down? Is the Wisconsin Badgers beating a high school team 70 to 3 really something to be proud of? Had enough sports analogies? The economy actually is a game - a play house. And right now, all the game pieces and figurines are broken.
Back when I was young, a guy would work a crappy job to get by for awhile - it is what motorcycle fix'n, car repairing, partying young dudes often did and still do. And young women would take that low paying waitress job, the boring receptionist job, or work nights in the hospital to help send the kids to daycare, or pay for college, or both. For the guys at least, it was a right of passage - few thought it was odd back then, and few think it is odd today - especially in today's world; maybe it is even more mainstream behavior in this today's world of a person remaining on an adolescent track until they are 35.
But that chosen part-time job behavior in my youth was just that...often a chosen life style. Nowadays however, it has disturbingly become the norm for most of us all. We either can't find work at all, or, we have no choice but to accept some hell job we once would only take just to round up some funds to fix our favorite pickup truck. Especially, and I repeat "especially" for those of us over 50 years old we must now re-live that miserable job culture from our past we once just joked about.
T'ain't funny now...is it?
The once middle class, decent-benefited jobs at the automobile companies, and the many other industries Wisconsin had to boast, have been relegated to the "what used to be" category. Candidates and incumbents tout secret plans to bring us thousands of new jobs. Ah, perhaps you shouldn't have let them go to China in the first place. Good luck with the secret plans. It takes years to nurture a vibrant job culture - you can't replace something in a month that took 50 years to craft.
Back in the 1960s as the Wisconsin university system expanded and family farms deconstructed, farmers who once worked 14 hour days with no benefits, looked at new graveyard janitor jobs sporting bennies at "The UW" with love in their eyes. Now that trade has been deconstructed too. The University has been bringing in limited term employees ad nauseam for years. Further, remaining full-time positions are under budgetary siege. And, a new generation of beleaguered workers do not interpret emptying professors' trash cans with the same affection their grandfathers did.
Both the hinterlands outside the pearly gates of Madison, and the Emerald City of Madison itself have been geared up for years to segue right on into the "new norm" of a decimated work force. The part-time job template of misery has been on the reserve shelf waiting to play first string for years. Now it has been pulled out and dusted off. The fast-food-esque Mcjobs with little merit or future have been the option in Wisconsin at large and Madison for decades. Problem is now, it is probably the norm for the rest of our foreseeable lives.
Job (no pun intended) well done, Wisconsin. We now are all permanently sentenced to a new norm of jobs we once only took to work through college, party, pay extra bills, or fix up the old car.
A perfect culture to break worker's spirit.
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Institutonalized part-time work culture
This entry was posted on 7/16/2013 1:30 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
It's no secret by now that Wisconsin's job situation became a train wreck after 2005. And as I pen this handy handbook in 2013, despite apologists' claims, it still is abysmal. Some of us have been literally screaming about it for over eight years now - to deaf ears; of course. But in the spirit of this handbook, the architects of this worker hell know damn well what is going on.
But by now the job distress has permeated the culture so profoundly, there are few left who can hawk perpetual optimism (that fake obfuscated happy talk apologists always belch - they usually don't actually work a real job) with a straight face. Be all that as it may, the real "job ethic" in this state has been exposed as...., naked. It can now be seen as the canard it actually is, and has been for years.
Oh fair readers, you do realize do you not, that I am making a distinction between a collective "job ethic," and that revered Wisconsin "work ethic" we all know and love with dreamy-eyed fondness? If you do not realize there is a difference, perhaps you should take a good look at yourself in the mirror and ponder if perhaps you might just be part of the banal problem.
I remember moving back to Wisconsin during the Clinton and Tommy Thompson years ( the "roaring Nineties" ) after my wife and I had a work foray in Texas. Jobs in Madison, Wisconsin, were especially abundant. It was true; you could start a job in the morning, quit at lunch, and have another one by afternoon break. But because I was just glad to be home again, I overlooked the ubiquitous poor wages and weekend hours that came with that job culture.
And the 1990s were indeed roaring in "university town" Madison if you woke up in the morning without a job and needed a minimum wage gig by noon. The running joke has always been, Madison has a whole cadre of lawn mower jockeys, cab drivers, and janitors with master's degrees. But, we all put up with it with a smile because that job market filled a need. It kept students busy, gave them some social work experience, and helped parents pay bills with an extra part-time job.
But, we workers have allowed, and the architects of misery have intentionally crafted, this abysmal "job ethic" and its part-time, benefitless job culture to become our standard ground level norm, despite better jobs being out there.
Drape that 1990s job template over today's employment wreckage. Madison still boasts more possibility of job offerings than the rest of the state. But is more than zero really a victory? Is the Packers beating the worst team in pro football du jour by two points really an excuse to party down? Is the Wisconsin Badgers beating a high school team 70 to 3 really something to be proud of? Had enough sports analogies? The economy actually is a game - a play house. And right now, all the game pieces and figurines are broken.
Back when I was young, a guy would work a crappy job to get by for awhile - it is what motorcycle fix'n, car repairing, partying young dudes often did and still do. And young women would take that low paying waitress job, the boring receptionist job, or work nights in the hospital to help send the kids to daycare, or pay for college, or both. For the guys at least, it was a right of passage - few thought it was odd back then, and few think it is odd today - especially in today's world; maybe it is even more mainstream behavior in this today's world of a person remaining on an adolescent track until they are 35.
But that chosen part-time job behavior in my youth was just that...often a chosen life style. Nowadays however, it has disturbingly become the norm for most of us all. We either can't find work at all, or, we have no choice but to accept some hell job we once would only take just to round up some funds to fix our favorite pickup truck. Especially, and I repeat "especially" for those of us over 50 years old we must now re-live that miserable job culture from our past we once just joked about.
T'ain't funny now...is it?
The once middle class, decent-benefited jobs at the automobile companies, and the many other industries Wisconsin had to boast, have been relegated to the "what used to be" category. Candidates and incumbents tout secret plans to bring us thousands of new jobs. Ah, perhaps you shouldn't have let them go to China in the first place. Good luck with the secret plans. It takes years to nurture a vibrant job culture - you can't replace something in a month that took 50 years to craft.
Back in the 1960s as the Wisconsin university system expanded and family farms deconstructed, farmers who once worked 14 hour days with no benefits, looked at new graveyard janitor jobs sporting bennies at "The UW" with love in their eyes. Now that trade has been deconstructed too. The University has been bringing in limited term employees ad nauseam for years. Further, remaining full-time positions are under budgetary siege. And, a new generation of beleaguered workers do not interpret emptying professors' trash cans with the same affection their grandfathers did.
Both the hinterlands outside the pearly gates of Madison, and the Emerald City of Madison itself have been geared up for years to segue right on into the "new norm" of a decimated work force. The part-time job template of misery has been on the reserve shelf waiting to play first string for years. Now it has been pulled out and dusted off. The fast-food-esque Mcjobs with little merit or future have been the option in Wisconsin at large and Madison for decades. Problem is now, it is probably the norm for the rest of our foreseeable lives.
Job (no pun intended) well done, Wisconsin. We now are all permanently sentenced to a new norm of jobs we once only took to work through college, party, pay extra bills, or fix up the old car.
A perfect culture to break worker's spirit.
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Cutthroat Networking
10 July 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Cutthroat Networking
This entry was posted on 7/10/2013 1:31 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
Dignity and empathy in the work place for all practical purposes, has become a social crime. If the worker is lucky enough to...work...he/she is to behave like a prostitute who sells their body for time worked. Working hard in hopes of a merit pay increase is futile. Working hard and fair is an altruism now reserved for dreamy-eyed, "perpetual optimist," foot soldiers that hope their good deeds will be remembered if the economy ever gets better - save your story for the Chinese, suckers. We now live in a "new norm" culture where if you are lucky enough to have a job, it is probably non-benefit; with no pay increases in the foreseeable future; less hours; minimum wage; seven-day a week work-weeks at four hours a day wrecking the whole week for 28 hours of pay; and, fraught with nepotism and "cutthroat networking."
Cutthroat networking pushes human resource departments to the limit by the hiring of friends and relatives or working for the same. Human Resources (another lovely obfuscated title no less) has just become a validation for behavior they once were set up to try to correct long before the "new normal" and its "cutthroat networking" has wafted onto the scene. Cutthroat networking is the favoring of relatives and friends – with Human Resource’s blessings. And what of it? Human Resource departments have been decimated by the economy too. They go along to get along - just like the rest of us.
A few years ago a trend started in some companies where as they would commission Human Resources to actually concoct various schemes to reward current employees for referring friends and relatives to job openings. It smacks of the roots to a creepy inbreed work culture. The phrase, "conflict of interest" means nothing in this new norm work hell.
We work in a cutthroat networking culture of, "every man for himself." Hire your drinking and smoking buddies, and relatives, and what the hell, fuck the rest of 'em. It is going to get worse for the rabble - us rabble. You know, the rabble that actually has to work in the looted society managed by the elite manipulators and apologists - perennial politicians, two-party paradigm hacks, economic ponzi goons, and thugs.
The fragile and rocky fair playing field groomed after World War II has been laid to waist by a hillbilly oligarchy, so to speak. Got no experience; got no education; no matter..., cousin Billy's second wife's sister needs a job. Hire Judy from accounting's 20 year old son. We can get him for a song. Screw the old bastards with the college degrees and long work history.
Cutthroat network yourself a job, unemployed/underemployed, disillusioned, "new norm" Joe-blow.
Cutthroat network a job, or perish.
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Cutthroat Networking
This entry was posted on 7/10/2013 1:31 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
Dignity and empathy in the work place for all practical purposes, has become a social crime. If the worker is lucky enough to...work...he/she is to behave like a prostitute who sells their body for time worked. Working hard in hopes of a merit pay increase is futile. Working hard and fair is an altruism now reserved for dreamy-eyed, "perpetual optimist," foot soldiers that hope their good deeds will be remembered if the economy ever gets better - save your story for the Chinese, suckers. We now live in a "new norm" culture where if you are lucky enough to have a job, it is probably non-benefit; with no pay increases in the foreseeable future; less hours; minimum wage; seven-day a week work-weeks at four hours a day wrecking the whole week for 28 hours of pay; and, fraught with nepotism and "cutthroat networking."
Cutthroat networking pushes human resource departments to the limit by the hiring of friends and relatives or working for the same. Human Resources (another lovely obfuscated title no less) has just become a validation for behavior they once were set up to try to correct long before the "new normal" and its "cutthroat networking" has wafted onto the scene. Cutthroat networking is the favoring of relatives and friends – with Human Resource’s blessings. And what of it? Human Resource departments have been decimated by the economy too. They go along to get along - just like the rest of us.
A few years ago a trend started in some companies where as they would commission Human Resources to actually concoct various schemes to reward current employees for referring friends and relatives to job openings. It smacks of the roots to a creepy inbreed work culture. The phrase, "conflict of interest" means nothing in this new norm work hell.
We work in a cutthroat networking culture of, "every man for himself." Hire your drinking and smoking buddies, and relatives, and what the hell, fuck the rest of 'em. It is going to get worse for the rabble - us rabble. You know, the rabble that actually has to work in the looted society managed by the elite manipulators and apologists - perennial politicians, two-party paradigm hacks, economic ponzi goons, and thugs.
The fragile and rocky fair playing field groomed after World War II has been laid to waist by a hillbilly oligarchy, so to speak. Got no experience; got no education; no matter..., cousin Billy's second wife's sister needs a job. Hire Judy from accounting's 20 year old son. We can get him for a song. Screw the old bastards with the college degrees and long work history.
Cutthroat network yourself a job, unemployed/underemployed, disillusioned, "new norm" Joe-blow.
Cutthroat network a job, or perish.
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - The Rule of 168
4 July 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - The Rule of 168
This entry was posted on 7/4/2013 1:30 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
"The Rule of 168."
There are 168 hours in a week and "new norm" jobs ruin every one of them. These jobs offer no pay increases in the foreseeable future (assuming you are lucky enough to even have a job any more). They boast less hours; no-benefits; no sick time; no vacation time; minimum wage; and, seven-days-a-week work at four hours per day wrecking the whole week for 28 hours of pay.
To add insult to injury, they bring you in to work different days each week; and, schedule you for different times each day. These kind of work places have you working such odd and disorganized hours it is hard to look for another job. Their erratic hours make it hard to work a second job if you need one and are lucky enough to find one. And most likely, they will post the upcoming work schedule late in the day just before the new week's regimen starts. Planning a life is not an option.
The American service economy that has replaced our once mighty manufacturing culture, is ripe for this type of behavior. It is beyond an accident and unintended consequences of a non-manufacturing economy. It is simply mean-spirited and banally evil. It has brought out the worst in Americans - employers and employees alike.
There are 168 hours in a week and these type of work places accommodating the "new norm" out-sourced America and their work hour rubric make sure every minute of every one of those is hours is fucked up.
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - The Rule of 168
This entry was posted on 7/4/2013 1:30 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
"The Rule of 168."
There are 168 hours in a week and "new norm" jobs ruin every one of them. These jobs offer no pay increases in the foreseeable future (assuming you are lucky enough to even have a job any more). They boast less hours; no-benefits; no sick time; no vacation time; minimum wage; and, seven-days-a-week work at four hours per day wrecking the whole week for 28 hours of pay.
To add insult to injury, they bring you in to work different days each week; and, schedule you for different times each day. These kind of work places have you working such odd and disorganized hours it is hard to look for another job. Their erratic hours make it hard to work a second job if you need one and are lucky enough to find one. And most likely, they will post the upcoming work schedule late in the day just before the new week's regimen starts. Planning a life is not an option.
The American service economy that has replaced our once mighty manufacturing culture, is ripe for this type of behavior. It is beyond an accident and unintended consequences of a non-manufacturing economy. It is simply mean-spirited and banally evil. It has brought out the worst in Americans - employers and employees alike.
There are 168 hours in a week and these type of work places accommodating the "new norm" out-sourced America and their work hour rubric make sure every minute of every one of those is hours is fucked up.
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - The shitty work schedule culture
2 July 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - The shitty work schedule culture
This entry was posted on 7/2/2013 1:30 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
Gone are the days of nine-to-five work days. That rubric I remember from my youth, used a no-weekend work format - unless of course you were a dairy farmer. In the last 35 years there has been a shift to the 24-hour a day, 365 day a year work schedule.
This new norm work world would even cause an old farmer used to 80 to 90 hours a week to look at this new norm system, shake his head and say, "That's crazy. Life's too short to work that many hours."
I remember back in the 1970s wishing I could find a restaurant open in the middle of the night. Be careful what you wish for. The new shitty-work-schedule-culture has transcended almost every industry in America. What's left of every industry, anyway. Of course nowadays, we are mostly a service economy of fast food, sports bars, big-box stores full of Chinese junk, health care, repair companies, and gas stations.
This giant service work culture is ripe for a systemic template of: No pay increases in the foreseeable future (assuming you are lucky enough to even find and have a job any more); less work hours; non-benefit jobs; no vacation time; no sick time; minimum wage; seven-day-a-week work week at four hours a day thereby wrecking the whole week for 28 hours of pay; and finally, relentlessly buying Chinese junk products probably for the rest of our lives.
This trend started in the 1960s with cautious gusto. The first wave had been the flooding of America in the 1960s with cheap products from Japan and Taiwan. Everyone had a transistor radio made in Japan. Japanese scooters and small motorcycles began to become ubiquitous on the roads. That first rubric was part of bringing the defeated Japanese economy after World War II, back into a happy world economy. We also did not want them to become Commies. The Cold War was in full gear.
The second wave rolled in in the 1980s manifesting itself in our jobs being shipped out of America, going overseas and Mexico. Products began showing up from China. The shift from a manufacturing American economy to a service economy notched up.
In the last 20 years, China and the peripheral countries like Pakistan, Vietnam, and India, flood big-box stores with products. Big-box stores have shuttered mom and pop shops in ever town in America. The difference in a vibrant downtown and a bleak one is if the community can sell to tourists and visitors, a culture of antique shops, craft shops, and nick-nack shops.
Therefore, there is now an entire generation of younger workers that have been conditioned from their first job to find nothing odd about working every weekend of their lives. They are in their thirties and never have worked a decent job with benefits. They have always worked mostly 30 hours per week if they work at all. They have never known any other culture. They have always come to work sick because if they call in sick, they don't get paid.
The over-lords of this system, quietly say the 40-hour work week with all its benefits was a necessary evil to facilitate World War II and the rebuilding of the free world in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. That's a stunning revelation.
This shitty-work-schedule-culture has of course had far leaching nuanced effects on our simple workaday life styles. In a culture where 5:00 p.m. means nothing any more, it is no longer known for the end of the work day, happy hours for the most part have become only the subject of urban legends. Weekend jaunts were something your grandparents did. Outings with friends and family are micromanaged to the point of ad nauseam because the players and actors in your clique all have to work late or get back to work tonight.
Add in the culture of instant information via satellite TV, cell phones, and Internet. Free time is spent on the gaming machines and video games. The days of real leisure are gone. I am sorry I ever wished for a society "more efficient."
This new systemic dysfunctional culture has matured after 40 years as a blue print, either intentional or through unintended consequences, to grind workers in the dirt. They can be molded and manipulated; simply giving them any kind of job will keep them benign, malleable, and catatonic. They are just glad to be getting a little cash.
The transition from a society where a worker had a chance of acquiring a decent job with benefits and a reasonable work schedule, then shifting to a shitty work culture has been subtle and nuanced, but also relentless. The one last straw to put on the camel's back is the fact that few of today's jobs pay enough to sustain a family; therefore, workers are forced to work more than one of these jobs at once. With, no hope of the situation ever changing in a life time.
It is a slam dunk to break even the strongest person's spirit.
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - The shitty work schedule culture
This entry was posted on 7/2/2013 1:30 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
Gone are the days of nine-to-five work days. That rubric I remember from my youth, used a no-weekend work format - unless of course you were a dairy farmer. In the last 35 years there has been a shift to the 24-hour a day, 365 day a year work schedule.
This new norm work world would even cause an old farmer used to 80 to 90 hours a week to look at this new norm system, shake his head and say, "That's crazy. Life's too short to work that many hours."
I remember back in the 1970s wishing I could find a restaurant open in the middle of the night. Be careful what you wish for. The new shitty-work-schedule-culture has transcended almost every industry in America. What's left of every industry, anyway. Of course nowadays, we are mostly a service economy of fast food, sports bars, big-box stores full of Chinese junk, health care, repair companies, and gas stations.
This giant service work culture is ripe for a systemic template of: No pay increases in the foreseeable future (assuming you are lucky enough to even find and have a job any more); less work hours; non-benefit jobs; no vacation time; no sick time; minimum wage; seven-day-a-week work week at four hours a day thereby wrecking the whole week for 28 hours of pay; and finally, relentlessly buying Chinese junk products probably for the rest of our lives.
This trend started in the 1960s with cautious gusto. The first wave had been the flooding of America in the 1960s with cheap products from Japan and Taiwan. Everyone had a transistor radio made in Japan. Japanese scooters and small motorcycles began to become ubiquitous on the roads. That first rubric was part of bringing the defeated Japanese economy after World War II, back into a happy world economy. We also did not want them to become Commies. The Cold War was in full gear.
The second wave rolled in in the 1980s manifesting itself in our jobs being shipped out of America, going overseas and Mexico. Products began showing up from China. The shift from a manufacturing American economy to a service economy notched up.
In the last 20 years, China and the peripheral countries like Pakistan, Vietnam, and India, flood big-box stores with products. Big-box stores have shuttered mom and pop shops in ever town in America. The difference in a vibrant downtown and a bleak one is if the community can sell to tourists and visitors, a culture of antique shops, craft shops, and nick-nack shops.
Therefore, there is now an entire generation of younger workers that have been conditioned from their first job to find nothing odd about working every weekend of their lives. They are in their thirties and never have worked a decent job with benefits. They have always worked mostly 30 hours per week if they work at all. They have never known any other culture. They have always come to work sick because if they call in sick, they don't get paid.
The over-lords of this system, quietly say the 40-hour work week with all its benefits was a necessary evil to facilitate World War II and the rebuilding of the free world in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. That's a stunning revelation.
This shitty-work-schedule-culture has of course had far leaching nuanced effects on our simple workaday life styles. In a culture where 5:00 p.m. means nothing any more, it is no longer known for the end of the work day, happy hours for the most part have become only the subject of urban legends. Weekend jaunts were something your grandparents did. Outings with friends and family are micromanaged to the point of ad nauseam because the players and actors in your clique all have to work late or get back to work tonight.
Add in the culture of instant information via satellite TV, cell phones, and Internet. Free time is spent on the gaming machines and video games. The days of real leisure are gone. I am sorry I ever wished for a society "more efficient."
This new systemic dysfunctional culture has matured after 40 years as a blue print, either intentional or through unintended consequences, to grind workers in the dirt. They can be molded and manipulated; simply giving them any kind of job will keep them benign, malleable, and catatonic. They are just glad to be getting a little cash.
The transition from a society where a worker had a chance of acquiring a decent job with benefits and a reasonable work schedule, then shifting to a shitty work culture has been subtle and nuanced, but also relentless. The one last straw to put on the camel's back is the fact that few of today's jobs pay enough to sustain a family; therefore, workers are forced to work more than one of these jobs at once. With, no hope of the situation ever changing in a life time.
It is a slam dunk to break even the strongest person's spirit.
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Intro - book version
26 June 2013
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Intro - book version
This entry was posted on 6/26/2013 1:31 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
A phrase you will never hear as a blue-collar worker: "We are strapped for operating funds, so we can't give you much, but, we will try to make life bearable here; we're in this together. Please don't give up."
Na, you'll most likely rarely hear that kind of message from the boss, you minimum wage toilers. I've lived it for 45 years. Wish I had a "happy talk" report to give you fair readers after all those miserable years, but...., nope!!
You're most likely used to the inspirational speakers and their shticks selling you, "perennial optimism." And it's your fault if you don't present as a, "good patient." Good patient as in someone with a happy demeanor even as they die of cancer. In the context of a job, the whole work rubric grumbles around you, wages, benefits, nepitism, the economy, et cetera, but you merrily toil on.
In almost 50 years of working in America and then some, I've never heard any thing even close to the opening paragraph. Instead, business owners, government agency management, upper management, lower management, and society in general come up with a compendium of totally-unnecessary work place hell rubrics.
One of my own favorite sayings in said blue-collar hell is, "This just isn't necessary." Half the crap and drama at blue-collar jobs are nonsense and unnecessary.
I am an employer's worst nightmare. I have actually owned a business. I've worked for an institution of 30,000 employees. I've worked for a mom and pop business with nine employees. I've been with companies in the throes of bankruptcy. Many of the companies I've worked for so long ago have vanished; owners and managers..., long dead. I have four college degrees and 50 years of work experience. Rarely called in sick in those 50 years; even despite all the challenges of an aging body. I can fix equipment that should have been relegated to the junk heap years ago. I've endured the stresses of several war zones as a soldier and later as a journalist; and, I've worked in the schizophrenic world of the American health care system. I've seen workers at their worst and their best.
You'd think I'd be an asset to any company or entity. Nope. I might as well be an ape on a tire swing.
I am a nightmare for the neo new norm work place because..., I've seen another world. I can see problems long before they happen. I can read managers and supervisor's petty games long before they are implemented. I've seen it all before; sadly, I've seen the same behaviors over and over.
These types of work places nowadays don't not want people that have seen how the greater system has worked and know how it works now. Guys that fall into that category are just a nuisance.
A few years ago, I bought into the go-to-college-as-an-old-guy-and-reinvent-yourself sales pitch. After four degrees, and working in Southern Wisconsin, I might as well be an ape on a tire swing. This in addition to nearly 50 years of constant working..., often for low wages, and little reward or benefit. But none-the-less, I have accumulated a mass of work and management experience. Reality: companies don't hire old people. But, the higher education pimps still want their pound of flesh after you graduate. Pay up underemployed sucker. Colleges are after all, businesses that only marginally have their customers' best interests in mind. Their job is to sell..., college degrees.
So unless you want to live in your car with your cat, you go to work in some low paying jobs not yet sent to China.
Human Resources departments once designed to protect workers and companies have for the most part collapsed in the "Great Recession." It is the wild west. Employees are on their own. Managers hired only because they are relatives or just plain no threat to upper management, make up rules as they go.
The end result? Employees just trying to get by and play the game as best they can are chewed up and spit out like a hillbilly chomping on persimmon seeds.
I've seen it all. If you are an employer and want to make your employees grovel and languish, just keep on 'a read'n....,
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit - Intro - book version
This entry was posted on 6/26/2013 1:31 AM and is filed under Broken spirit.
A phrase you will never hear as a blue-collar worker: "We are strapped for operating funds, so we can't give you much, but, we will try to make life bearable here; we're in this together. Please don't give up."
Na, you'll most likely rarely hear that kind of message from the boss, you minimum wage toilers. I've lived it for 45 years. Wish I had a "happy talk" report to give you fair readers after all those miserable years, but...., nope!!
You're most likely used to the inspirational speakers and their shticks selling you, "perennial optimism." And it's your fault if you don't present as a, "good patient." Good patient as in someone with a happy demeanor even as they die of cancer. In the context of a job, the whole work rubric grumbles around you, wages, benefits, nepitism, the economy, et cetera, but you merrily toil on.
In almost 50 years of working in America and then some, I've never heard any thing even close to the opening paragraph. Instead, business owners, government agency management, upper management, lower management, and society in general come up with a compendium of totally-unnecessary work place hell rubrics.
One of my own favorite sayings in said blue-collar hell is, "This just isn't necessary." Half the crap and drama at blue-collar jobs are nonsense and unnecessary.
I am an employer's worst nightmare. I have actually owned a business. I've worked for an institution of 30,000 employees. I've worked for a mom and pop business with nine employees. I've been with companies in the throes of bankruptcy. Many of the companies I've worked for so long ago have vanished; owners and managers..., long dead. I have four college degrees and 50 years of work experience. Rarely called in sick in those 50 years; even despite all the challenges of an aging body. I can fix equipment that should have been relegated to the junk heap years ago. I've endured the stresses of several war zones as a soldier and later as a journalist; and, I've worked in the schizophrenic world of the American health care system. I've seen workers at their worst and their best.
You'd think I'd be an asset to any company or entity. Nope. I might as well be an ape on a tire swing.
I am a nightmare for the neo new norm work place because..., I've seen another world. I can see problems long before they happen. I can read managers and supervisor's petty games long before they are implemented. I've seen it all before; sadly, I've seen the same behaviors over and over.
These types of work places nowadays don't not want people that have seen how the greater system has worked and know how it works now. Guys that fall into that category are just a nuisance.
A few years ago, I bought into the go-to-college-as-an-old-guy-and-reinvent-yourself sales pitch. After four degrees, and working in Southern Wisconsin, I might as well be an ape on a tire swing. This in addition to nearly 50 years of constant working..., often for low wages, and little reward or benefit. But none-the-less, I have accumulated a mass of work and management experience. Reality: companies don't hire old people. But, the higher education pimps still want their pound of flesh after you graduate. Pay up underemployed sucker. Colleges are after all, businesses that only marginally have their customers' best interests in mind. Their job is to sell..., college degrees.
So unless you want to live in your car with your cat, you go to work in some low paying jobs not yet sent to China.
Human Resources departments once designed to protect workers and companies have for the most part collapsed in the "Great Recession." It is the wild west. Employees are on their own. Managers hired only because they are relatives or just plain no threat to upper management, make up rules as they go.
The end result? Employees just trying to get by and play the game as best they can are chewed up and spit out like a hillbilly chomping on persimmon seeds.
I've seen it all. If you are an employer and want to make your employees grovel and languish, just keep on 'a read'n....,
Note: This blog "Blue-collar new norm America: Dadio's handy manual to break workers' spirit" - book version Category is a work in progress. These original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Broken Spirit Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
"New Norm" economy: No day to celebrate - Jobs of Bob - book version
18 June 2013
"New Norm" economy: No day to celebrate - Jobs of Bob - book version
This entry was posted on 6/18/2013 1:30 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob - book version, Jobs of Bob.
Penned in 2008
I never in my whole life gave Labor Day much thought. It has always been a day off - or not, depending on where I was working. It sometimes seemed like someone else's holiday.
I don't know why this year after so many in my life, I have been pondering a bit about "Labor Day." It dawned on me a while ago that I had been working 40 years. I started in 1968. The lion's share of the jobs in those 40 years have been blue-collar. Oddly, I have never taken unemployment. I have not called in sick in over 10 years.
To those that have never been blue-collar, or perhaps those that climbed their way out of it to a white-collar job, or yet even those that used to be blue-collar and are now retired and have long forgotten its unpleasant nuances, it is tempting to romanticize that working stiff lifestyle. "Fools," I say.
Forty years of back-breaking jobs with the temperamental, schizophrenic, lunatic bosses that often come with them, takes its toll on one's body and mind - your very spirit. The current work culture that is the culmination of a half century of changing and evolving work trends, I coin as, "the shitty work schedule culture."
These types of new norm jobs barely pay minimum wage. They offer no benefits; they give no performance review; they never give pay increases; They have no sick or vacation time; they try to con workers into doing more with less; and, they schedule work hours all over the map of a 168 hour week. It is after all the not so new work world of 24-hour, seven days a week service-work businesses.
There are 168 hours in a week and these type of jobs wreck each and every one of them. They make it hard to do family events. It is impossible to work a second job if needed. You can have no life. And, all for a job that probably provides you with 32 hours of work a week.
Gone is the work culture of weekends off. There is a whole generation that does not know there was a time that one did not work on weekends. Perhaps it was just a flash in the historical labor pan anyway. I doubt if the farm culture that dominated the Mid-West one-hundred years ago realized any weekends off.
I am writing a book about all the jobs I have had. Jobs of Bob. It is cathartic. If nothing else, I enjoy remembering some of the ridiculous experiences I had while being worked to death for 40 years. After all, who really cares nowadays if someone has been worked to death? Society, and its collective voice of apology and sanctimony will just say, "....should have planned better mister!"
Now after 40 years, I just can't get that damn horse from Orwell's Animal Farm out of my head. His name is Boxer, and he is a gullible but good natured bumpkin. He was the backbone of the farm operation; and he always deferred to the authority and "rightness" of the leadership..., in this case the pigs who have overthrown the men. The pigs promise a new workers' paradise. "I will work harder and faster," Boxer keeps saying. He believed hard work and loyalty could fix any problem. Once finally worked to death, Boxer finally collapses. The pigs who have become in charge of the new animal-ruled farm send his body to the rendering service to be slaughtered and turned into products; they use the money they get for Boxer's body to buy whisky. The pigs tell the other animals they sent old Boxer to the veterinarian.
Blue-collar workers with even a modicum of sensibility and thoughtfulness should never read Animal Farm.
At least a couple of my grade school chums have already died of old age in their 50s. An old age hastened by being worked to death for nothing more that work's sake.
....got a college degree a while ago to try to escape from blue-collar. Now companies say I am over qualified, or they whine that I will probably leave the entry level job soon to find a better job with my degree. That's an oxymoron considering they will give the job to a 22 year old who will do just exactly that - move on as soon as possible. What these companies I have been trying to get jobs with really mean is, "Oh, man, you are old. Too old. Go away."
Overqualified and over educated is code for, "You are a threat to the rubes that run this place. Too much experience is code for, "You are too old; get lost old man."
It lends one to suspect society is schizophrenic. I used to get told, "Man if you only had a bit of college we would hire you." Now, I get told, "Wow, you have too many qualifications." Well, ok, perhaps I will just not work then, and next time you can say, "To bad your credit sucks; we would have hired you if your credit was better."
No, Labor Day is not always a day to celebrate. Labor Day is sometimes a day to fear. Run for your overworked, underpaid lives - run while you still can, before the pigs sell your dead carcase and drink whiskey on your grave.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" - book version Category is a work in progress. The original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
"New Norm" economy: No day to celebrate - Jobs of Bob - book version
This entry was posted on 6/18/2013 1:30 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob - book version, Jobs of Bob.
Penned in 2008
I never in my whole life gave Labor Day much thought. It has always been a day off - or not, depending on where I was working. It sometimes seemed like someone else's holiday.
I don't know why this year after so many in my life, I have been pondering a bit about "Labor Day." It dawned on me a while ago that I had been working 40 years. I started in 1968. The lion's share of the jobs in those 40 years have been blue-collar. Oddly, I have never taken unemployment. I have not called in sick in over 10 years.
To those that have never been blue-collar, or perhaps those that climbed their way out of it to a white-collar job, or yet even those that used to be blue-collar and are now retired and have long forgotten its unpleasant nuances, it is tempting to romanticize that working stiff lifestyle. "Fools," I say.
Forty years of back-breaking jobs with the temperamental, schizophrenic, lunatic bosses that often come with them, takes its toll on one's body and mind - your very spirit. The current work culture that is the culmination of a half century of changing and evolving work trends, I coin as, "the shitty work schedule culture."
These types of new norm jobs barely pay minimum wage. They offer no benefits; they give no performance review; they never give pay increases; They have no sick or vacation time; they try to con workers into doing more with less; and, they schedule work hours all over the map of a 168 hour week. It is after all the not so new work world of 24-hour, seven days a week service-work businesses.
There are 168 hours in a week and these type of jobs wreck each and every one of them. They make it hard to do family events. It is impossible to work a second job if needed. You can have no life. And, all for a job that probably provides you with 32 hours of work a week.
Gone is the work culture of weekends off. There is a whole generation that does not know there was a time that one did not work on weekends. Perhaps it was just a flash in the historical labor pan anyway. I doubt if the farm culture that dominated the Mid-West one-hundred years ago realized any weekends off.
I am writing a book about all the jobs I have had. Jobs of Bob. It is cathartic. If nothing else, I enjoy remembering some of the ridiculous experiences I had while being worked to death for 40 years. After all, who really cares nowadays if someone has been worked to death? Society, and its collective voice of apology and sanctimony will just say, "....should have planned better mister!"
Now after 40 years, I just can't get that damn horse from Orwell's Animal Farm out of my head. His name is Boxer, and he is a gullible but good natured bumpkin. He was the backbone of the farm operation; and he always deferred to the authority and "rightness" of the leadership..., in this case the pigs who have overthrown the men. The pigs promise a new workers' paradise. "I will work harder and faster," Boxer keeps saying. He believed hard work and loyalty could fix any problem. Once finally worked to death, Boxer finally collapses. The pigs who have become in charge of the new animal-ruled farm send his body to the rendering service to be slaughtered and turned into products; they use the money they get for Boxer's body to buy whisky. The pigs tell the other animals they sent old Boxer to the veterinarian.
Blue-collar workers with even a modicum of sensibility and thoughtfulness should never read Animal Farm.
At least a couple of my grade school chums have already died of old age in their 50s. An old age hastened by being worked to death for nothing more that work's sake.
....got a college degree a while ago to try to escape from blue-collar. Now companies say I am over qualified, or they whine that I will probably leave the entry level job soon to find a better job with my degree. That's an oxymoron considering they will give the job to a 22 year old who will do just exactly that - move on as soon as possible. What these companies I have been trying to get jobs with really mean is, "Oh, man, you are old. Too old. Go away."
Overqualified and over educated is code for, "You are a threat to the rubes that run this place. Too much experience is code for, "You are too old; get lost old man."
It lends one to suspect society is schizophrenic. I used to get told, "Man if you only had a bit of college we would hire you." Now, I get told, "Wow, you have too many qualifications." Well, ok, perhaps I will just not work then, and next time you can say, "To bad your credit sucks; we would have hired you if your credit was better."
No, Labor Day is not always a day to celebrate. Labor Day is sometimes a day to fear. Run for your overworked, underpaid lives - run while you still can, before the pigs sell your dead carcase and drink whiskey on your grave.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" - book version Category is a work in progress. The original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Twenty-ninth Job of Bob - College Student - One last tip of the hat to an influential professor, and a thoughtful instructor: Coates and Roseberry - Jobs of Bob - book version
13 March 2013
Twenty-ninth Job of Bob - College Student - One last tip of the hat to an influential professor, and a thoughtful instructor: Coates and Roseberry - Jobs of Bob - book version
This entry was posted on 3/13/2013 1:31 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob - book version, Jobs of Bob.
One Instructor at Madison Area Technical College and one professor at UW-Whitewater laid the seeds that sent me toward the Graduate study I eventually ended up in.
Jim Roseberry was a social science teacher at Madison Area Technical College. He had served in the military in the Vietnam War. He had been plugging away as an instructor at MATC for a while. But, as luck would have it, while I was taking classes there in the mid to late 1990s, he crafted a new class. With some consultation with a professor up at UW-Madison who taught a Vietnam War history class, Mr. Roseberry created a class about the Vietnam War history class at the MATC campus. Mr. Roseberry had also consulted a Buddhist monk he was fond of for guidance regarding that mostly Buddhist country. Of course I took the class. I even wrote an article about the new class for the school newspaper.
Mr. Roseberry taught in a calm and logical matter; there was no hyperbole or drama in his lectures like that occurred in the nation during the war era. We students were exposed to various elements of government, political, economical, military, and domestic issues from 1944 to 1980 - the timeline most connected with the Vietnam War. We Americans remember the war as generally being connected with 1964 to 1973; but, of course there was a long incremental involvement period, and then a tragic end time with all its consequences; hence, 1944 to 1980.
I was taken back to learn the intimate details of a war era I had grown up in and then served in the military in during. This academic encounter with this era in my past, laid the ground work for a direction my studies would take me on into graduate school.
I would eventually go to Vietnam three times in 2005 and 2006. I would also make one trip to the Los Angles, California, area to visit the huge Vietnamese community there that had sprung up in Westminster and Garden Grove since our war in Vietnam.
___________________________________
Doctor Norma Coates taught everything Communications at UW-Whitewater. I ran across her after I finished Criminal Justice and jumped over to graduate Communication. I would need to come up to par for their program and took a couple undergrad Comm classes she taught. Then later, I attended a couple graduate classes she taught as well.
Professor Coates often wore jeans and a jean jacket to class. She slightly let her affection for 1970s and 1980s pop culture glimmer through her presentation. That is why I felt grateful to take classes in the era I did. I remember the stuffy business suit professors from my brief encounter with college in the early 1970s. By 2003 professors could let some of their own personality shine through.
Once when doing what I thought was a rather routine research paper on Vietnam War movies and their effect on our culture, Professor Coates looked at my little offering and said rather matter-of-factly, "Bob, this is graduate level thesis material and ideas."
The light bulb was turned on.
-----------------------------------------------------------
From the influence of these two teachers, I would eventually also end up in the war zones in Turkey and Iraq twice form 2006 to 2008 to do journalist work and collect information for thesis work. My thesis theme would end up being how the Vietnamese in Southeast Asia and Los Angles, and the Kurds in Iraq define themselves by signs, symbols, music, and their pop culture, as opposed to some official written archives.
Although I have revisited almost 20 other teachers and professors' teaching style in vignettes in this college chapter of my work experience, these two educators laid the seeds that launched me on to higher levels of projects, work, and education.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" - book version Category is a work in progress. The original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Twenty-ninth Job of Bob - College Student - One last tip of the hat to an influential professor, and a thoughtful instructor: Coates and Roseberry - Jobs of Bob - book version
This entry was posted on 3/13/2013 1:31 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob - book version, Jobs of Bob.
One Instructor at Madison Area Technical College and one professor at UW-Whitewater laid the seeds that sent me toward the Graduate study I eventually ended up in.
Jim Roseberry was a social science teacher at Madison Area Technical College. He had served in the military in the Vietnam War. He had been plugging away as an instructor at MATC for a while. But, as luck would have it, while I was taking classes there in the mid to late 1990s, he crafted a new class. With some consultation with a professor up at UW-Madison who taught a Vietnam War history class, Mr. Roseberry created a class about the Vietnam War history class at the MATC campus. Mr. Roseberry had also consulted a Buddhist monk he was fond of for guidance regarding that mostly Buddhist country. Of course I took the class. I even wrote an article about the new class for the school newspaper.
Mr. Roseberry taught in a calm and logical matter; there was no hyperbole or drama in his lectures like that occurred in the nation during the war era. We students were exposed to various elements of government, political, economical, military, and domestic issues from 1944 to 1980 - the timeline most connected with the Vietnam War. We Americans remember the war as generally being connected with 1964 to 1973; but, of course there was a long incremental involvement period, and then a tragic end time with all its consequences; hence, 1944 to 1980.
I was taken back to learn the intimate details of a war era I had grown up in and then served in the military in during. This academic encounter with this era in my past, laid the ground work for a direction my studies would take me on into graduate school.
I would eventually go to Vietnam three times in 2005 and 2006. I would also make one trip to the Los Angles, California, area to visit the huge Vietnamese community there that had sprung up in Westminster and Garden Grove since our war in Vietnam.
___________________________________
Doctor Norma Coates taught everything Communications at UW-Whitewater. I ran across her after I finished Criminal Justice and jumped over to graduate Communication. I would need to come up to par for their program and took a couple undergrad Comm classes she taught. Then later, I attended a couple graduate classes she taught as well.
Professor Coates often wore jeans and a jean jacket to class. She slightly let her affection for 1970s and 1980s pop culture glimmer through her presentation. That is why I felt grateful to take classes in the era I did. I remember the stuffy business suit professors from my brief encounter with college in the early 1970s. By 2003 professors could let some of their own personality shine through.
Once when doing what I thought was a rather routine research paper on Vietnam War movies and their effect on our culture, Professor Coates looked at my little offering and said rather matter-of-factly, "Bob, this is graduate level thesis material and ideas."
The light bulb was turned on.
-----------------------------------------------------------
From the influence of these two teachers, I would eventually also end up in the war zones in Turkey and Iraq twice form 2006 to 2008 to do journalist work and collect information for thesis work. My thesis theme would end up being how the Vietnamese in Southeast Asia and Los Angles, and the Kurds in Iraq define themselves by signs, symbols, music, and their pop culture, as opposed to some official written archives.
Although I have revisited almost 20 other teachers and professors' teaching style in vignettes in this college chapter of my work experience, these two educators laid the seeds that launched me on to higher levels of projects, work, and education.
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" - book version Category is a work in progress. The original vignettes are being edited for book form. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology of the book vignettes (chapters).
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Radio's "Sly" may get last laugh - PoliticoDadio - Week of 13 February 2013
13 February 2013
Radio's "Sly" may get last laugh - PoliticoDadio - Week of 13 February 2013
This entry was posted on 2/13/2013 1:29 AM and is filed under PoliticoDadio.
Information buffs of all things local media, no doubt already know long-time Madison, Wisconsin, radio personality John Sylvester, "Sly," has moved his shtick from "the city of the perpetually offended," down the road to Monroe, Wisconsin, "the town known for cheese and surrounded by corn."
A few years ago back in the 1990s Midwest Family Broadcasting in Madison brought "Sly" over to do talk radio. The old radio sage had been working for another company and was doing music radio with some chit chat. At that time Midwest hawked 1480 and then 1670 WTDY AM as all-local-news-and-talk-all-the-time. When the Great Recession came a'call'n around 2006 or so, it did not take Midwest Family long to slowly but surely dismantled the all-local-all-the-time format. By 2010 or so, all that survived of that original "local" rubric was..., "Sly in the Morning."
Then, just before the holiday season 2012, and in classic radio business crassness, "Sly" and the entire morning staff got...., canned - news, traffic, weather..., and "Sly." I don't understand the logic, well I do, but give me a break. Bang, 1670 put on some bad music and even worse non-local news and talk. Now they are pretty well transitioned to all-sports-all-the-time, and with a new moniker.
Hey! Here's an idea that no one has ever thought of. Let's put on all-lame-sports-all-the-time, emanating from points far away from good ol' Wisconsin, and with pontificating young snarky hosts, that most likely live in their moms' basements.
I get it. With lame national syndicated shows, come lame national advertisers and..., money.
But what of "Sly"?
Well, the radio gods apparently shone down kindly on ol' "Sly." After several weeks, and no doubt some nights of unemployed anxiety for said radio host, a local radio venue out of Monore, Wisconsin, picked him up. The Big Radio family of five stations has resisted selling out to big lame media. Sly is hosting a show from 3:00 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday on 93.7 FM radio. For those that know his show up in Madison, the format has so far held fairly similar since down in Monroe.
Just between you and me, I am wondering if ol' "Sly" may come out of this mass-canning up in Madison with the last laugh. The power of 1670 AM was weak with around 10,000 Watts. "Sly's" new venue at 93.7 FM boasts 36,000 Watts. These new digs and increased power, encompass "Sly's" old listening area plus a whole new area on the Wisconsin / Illinois state line.
For those that know "Sly's" style, he can irritate both "right" and "left." And of course, that is right up ol' Dadio's alley. I had a chance to do an interview with a different show on 1670 up at Midwest Family regarding my journalist work in Iraq. Poetically, I also did a couple interviews down at 93.7. Both venues were kind to me. But, I do have a bit of a soft spot for Big Radio as I was actually interviewed by owner Scott Thompson both times on his own radio show on 93.7 FM.
The combination of "Sly's" experience, loyal fans, and loyal advertisers, coupled with the new frequency range of 93.7 could be a damn good merger just made for all parties concerned.
Personally, I am hoping it works out for "Sly." I am fatigued by the relentless grinding of workers into the dirt in the name of the "new norm" American economic rubric. And, I am sick of hundreds of unhappy stories emanating from this so called "Great Recession."
The Dadio for one..., will be tuned in to 93.7 FM in the afternoons at every chance.
Radio's "Sly" may get last laugh - PoliticoDadio - Week of 13 February 2013
This entry was posted on 2/13/2013 1:29 AM and is filed under PoliticoDadio.
Information buffs of all things local media, no doubt already know long-time Madison, Wisconsin, radio personality John Sylvester, "Sly," has moved his shtick from "the city of the perpetually offended," down the road to Monroe, Wisconsin, "the town known for cheese and surrounded by corn."
A few years ago back in the 1990s Midwest Family Broadcasting in Madison brought "Sly" over to do talk radio. The old radio sage had been working for another company and was doing music radio with some chit chat. At that time Midwest hawked 1480 and then 1670 WTDY AM as all-local-news-and-talk-all-the-time. When the Great Recession came a'call'n around 2006 or so, it did not take Midwest Family long to slowly but surely dismantled the all-local-all-the-time format. By 2010 or so, all that survived of that original "local" rubric was..., "Sly in the Morning."
Then, just before the holiday season 2012, and in classic radio business crassness, "Sly" and the entire morning staff got...., canned - news, traffic, weather..., and "Sly." I don't understand the logic, well I do, but give me a break. Bang, 1670 put on some bad music and even worse non-local news and talk. Now they are pretty well transitioned to all-sports-all-the-time, and with a new moniker.
Hey! Here's an idea that no one has ever thought of. Let's put on all-lame-sports-all-the-time, emanating from points far away from good ol' Wisconsin, and with pontificating young snarky hosts, that most likely live in their moms' basements.
I get it. With lame national syndicated shows, come lame national advertisers and..., money.
But what of "Sly"?
Well, the radio gods apparently shone down kindly on ol' "Sly." After several weeks, and no doubt some nights of unemployed anxiety for said radio host, a local radio venue out of Monore, Wisconsin, picked him up. The Big Radio family of five stations has resisted selling out to big lame media. Sly is hosting a show from 3:00 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday on 93.7 FM radio. For those that know his show up in Madison, the format has so far held fairly similar since down in Monroe.
Just between you and me, I am wondering if ol' "Sly" may come out of this mass-canning up in Madison with the last laugh. The power of 1670 AM was weak with around 10,000 Watts. "Sly's" new venue at 93.7 FM boasts 36,000 Watts. These new digs and increased power, encompass "Sly's" old listening area plus a whole new area on the Wisconsin / Illinois state line.
For those that know "Sly's" style, he can irritate both "right" and "left." And of course, that is right up ol' Dadio's alley. I had a chance to do an interview with a different show on 1670 up at Midwest Family regarding my journalist work in Iraq. Poetically, I also did a couple interviews down at 93.7. Both venues were kind to me. But, I do have a bit of a soft spot for Big Radio as I was actually interviewed by owner Scott Thompson both times on his own radio show on 93.7 FM.
The combination of "Sly's" experience, loyal fans, and loyal advertisers, coupled with the new frequency range of 93.7 could be a damn good merger just made for all parties concerned.
Personally, I am hoping it works out for "Sly." I am fatigued by the relentless grinding of workers into the dirt in the name of the "new norm" American economic rubric. And, I am sick of hundreds of unhappy stories emanating from this so called "Great Recession."
The Dadio for one..., will be tuned in to 93.7 FM in the afternoons at every chance.
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