I have been an on and off volunteer with Planned Parenthood since college. Let's not talk about how long ago that was. During and after the election, I realized how important it was that I start being on again.
I did my escort training on Saturday. I had avoided it for years because I wasn't sure if I could handle it. Can I deal with people screaming without screaming back? When I see people with whom I have a fundamental disagreement with on so many levels, will I be able to keep my damn mouth shut?
The training affected me differently than I imagined. Instead of being angry at the thought of protesters, I found myself tearing up at the idea of people deciding that a woman's personal medical decision was any of their damn business. That people think an appropriate response to literally anything is to harass people en route to a medical professional. The moral failing that leads to a school sending buses of students to protest for credit in my neighborhood. I wasn't angry - I was outraged and motivated.
Who knows if I will be able to hack it when the situation arises. I may see people and totally lose it. I don't even know if I would scream or cry. What I do know is now, more than ever, I believe in giving time in addition to money. I am going to give escorting my best shot. There is an option to observe before you commit. At the very least, I can do that.
I'm not going to stop with Planned Parenthood. I am going to find more groups that need volunteers and join them. Resistence isn't futile - it's the only way to thrive.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Ranting on Job Applications
Some days I feel like all I do is apply to jobs. I get in a rhythm on Indeed or LinkedIn or whatever site I manage to find myself on, and I don't want to stop til I get to the last page. Inevitably a few pages in, I realize I didn't bring my Fire in with me to play Pandora. Which turns into an internal conflict over if I should break my rhythm to go get it. I usually say "after this application" and then forget. Oh, and I do mean "say." I am straight up talking to (and answering) myself now. So I end up sitting on a computer with silence all around me giving me oh so much time to think about how frustrating this process is!
Why is it that so many jobs seem to be a minimum wage paying job that requires you to work every single weekend and have 10 years of experience? Like...if the words "entry level" appear in your ad, let's not pretend you need tons of experience for it. I have literally seen ads that say you need 5 years experience in a professional setting. Where exactly are people supposed to be getting this?!
I continue to hate cover letters. Until it becomes acceptable to write "please hire me because I need money and you need a people" I will hate them. They're so artificial and weird. I never know what to say. All the samples I look at it are awkward too. No one appears to be good at it.
Let's say this works out - you have the 25 years' experience for a call center job, and they liked your cover letter where you talked about your hard work, dedication, and how you absolutely love every single person you have ever worked with. Do you know how many scam jobs there are?
A lot. Especially when you start talking about Marketing. For some reason, Marketing tends to mean cold calling or literally knocking on doors to sell people stuff they don't want. Luckily the internet exists, so I haven't been falling for any of those jobs. I got a call from a place that saw my resume. When I tried to call them back, they had a generic voicemail. Then their website was gone. Right. Normal. In addition to trying to find a job, you have to find one that's real.
I know that getting used to constant rejection is an excellent life skill. I'm sure there is something I should be learning from cover letters to (I'm thinking that it might be that sometimes people will make you jump through hoops to make sure you read instructions). Being able to tell the difference between things that are legit and scams definitely comes in handy. These are things which will serve me well once I find a job. I need to be zen about it.
Until that time, I'll be over here...screaming internally.
Why is it that so many jobs seem to be a minimum wage paying job that requires you to work every single weekend and have 10 years of experience? Like...if the words "entry level" appear in your ad, let's not pretend you need tons of experience for it. I have literally seen ads that say you need 5 years experience in a professional setting. Where exactly are people supposed to be getting this?!
I continue to hate cover letters. Until it becomes acceptable to write "please hire me because I need money and you need a people" I will hate them. They're so artificial and weird. I never know what to say. All the samples I look at it are awkward too. No one appears to be good at it.
Let's say this works out - you have the 25 years' experience for a call center job, and they liked your cover letter where you talked about your hard work, dedication, and how you absolutely love every single person you have ever worked with. Do you know how many scam jobs there are?
A lot. Especially when you start talking about Marketing. For some reason, Marketing tends to mean cold calling or literally knocking on doors to sell people stuff they don't want. Luckily the internet exists, so I haven't been falling for any of those jobs. I got a call from a place that saw my resume. When I tried to call them back, they had a generic voicemail. Then their website was gone. Right. Normal. In addition to trying to find a job, you have to find one that's real.
I know that getting used to constant rejection is an excellent life skill. I'm sure there is something I should be learning from cover letters to (I'm thinking that it might be that sometimes people will make you jump through hoops to make sure you read instructions). Being able to tell the difference between things that are legit and scams definitely comes in handy. These are things which will serve me well once I find a job. I need to be zen about it.
Until that time, I'll be over here...screaming internally.
Monday, February 6, 2017
My Airport Mansplainer
I had the pure delight of getting into a discussion with a mansplainer at the Seattle Airport last week!
Let's get the definition out of the way first. There are people who don't believe it happens or that women are making it about gender when it's not. They are wrong. There is a different between explaining and mansplaining. Telling someone how to do something when they are unaware is explaining (someone explaining how a deductible works when I first started in insurance was helpful). To me, mansplaining is a man telling you how to do something/how something works because they believe that they know better than you. Honestly, it's hard to put into words. If it's never happened to you, consider yourself lucky that people think you're smart enough to know about things.
Back to my airport friend!
The conversation started totally normal - he asked me what I was reading, we talked about Walking Dead, and he wasn't even hitting on me or anything. It was a nice conversation! When the bartender came back over, he bought me a drink. Once the drink arrived, that's when it went downhill...
For some reason, he decided we needed to talk about Donald Trump and what is he doing. I said that I didn't agree with anything Trump has done since he's been in office. This guy decided I didn't know what I was talking about.
He spent about ten minutes telling me that it wasn't that I don't agree with Trump's policies! It's that I hate Donald Trump! Jimmy Carter did the same things Trump is doing, and he bets I like him! If Obama were signing these policies I would be in favor! I really just need to separate what Trump is doing from the man himself! These policies are great (and btw he hates Syrians)! No examples or anything, obviously.
Even though I literally sat there and told the guy that it was the policies I disagreed with (I didn't even mention how much I hate Trump because this was going no where good), he continued to tell me that I didn't really think that.
What made that guy think it was okay? To look at another adult and say "You don't know what you think." He barely even tried to tell me why the policies were good (the short version of what he said is Muslims are bad). His entire tactic was to tell me that I'm letting how I feel about Trump get in the way of how great these policies are. On what planet is that okay? Does that ever work?
That beer was good, but it wasn't that good.
Let's get the definition out of the way first. There are people who don't believe it happens or that women are making it about gender when it's not. They are wrong. There is a different between explaining and mansplaining. Telling someone how to do something when they are unaware is explaining (someone explaining how a deductible works when I first started in insurance was helpful). To me, mansplaining is a man telling you how to do something/how something works because they believe that they know better than you. Honestly, it's hard to put into words. If it's never happened to you, consider yourself lucky that people think you're smart enough to know about things.
Back to my airport friend!
The conversation started totally normal - he asked me what I was reading, we talked about Walking Dead, and he wasn't even hitting on me or anything. It was a nice conversation! When the bartender came back over, he bought me a drink. Once the drink arrived, that's when it went downhill...
For some reason, he decided we needed to talk about Donald Trump and what is he doing. I said that I didn't agree with anything Trump has done since he's been in office. This guy decided I didn't know what I was talking about.
He spent about ten minutes telling me that it wasn't that I don't agree with Trump's policies! It's that I hate Donald Trump! Jimmy Carter did the same things Trump is doing, and he bets I like him! If Obama were signing these policies I would be in favor! I really just need to separate what Trump is doing from the man himself! These policies are great (and btw he hates Syrians)! No examples or anything, obviously.
Even though I literally sat there and told the guy that it was the policies I disagreed with (I didn't even mention how much I hate Trump because this was going no where good), he continued to tell me that I didn't really think that.
What made that guy think it was okay? To look at another adult and say "You don't know what you think." He barely even tried to tell me why the policies were good (the short version of what he said is Muslims are bad). His entire tactic was to tell me that I'm letting how I feel about Trump get in the way of how great these policies are. On what planet is that okay? Does that ever work?
That beer was good, but it wasn't that good.
Thursday, February 2, 2017
2017 So Far
One month of 2017 down! I decided this was a good time to check in on my resolutions to see if I had already stopped any of them.
Surprise! I didn't!
1. Blog more
Definitely have been doing this. I have a total of 9 posts (including this one) blog posts in 2017. I just have to keep staying fairly consistent. I have been out of town a few times, so I didn't do as much as I liked, but it is more often than 2016!
2. Go to yoga more
Been good with this one too. The above referenced being out of town cut into the times, but when I am here I am consistent! I went 9 times in January. I think I have this one under control.
3. Do whatever I can to make sure that America doesn't go directly to hell
I have donated more to PPWP, gone to events for PPWP, and am continuing to work on this. I've been faxing Pat Toomey (because it's the only way to get through to that man). Now that I am in town more, I am going to attend protests in person. Also, I should donate more money to basically everyone. (In a future post, I'm going to talk about the guy who mansplained how I feel about Trump while at the airport bar!)
4. Read 125 books.
12 books read so far! Although someone needs to intervention me on what books I should read in public. Like...oh yes, a book called We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out on the plane was definitely the perfect idea. There's no way you are going to make everyone around you uncomfortable by sobbing on the plane in an aisle seat. Previously, I have read The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking and One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway. Maybe it isn't best to read a book about hijacking on a plane. Nor should you be ugly sobbing. Gonna need a happy list!
5. Learn to knit
So, I looked at my knitting stuff. And picked up the needles. It shouldn't be this hard! I sit and watch TV a lot!
6. Get to goal weight.
I'm five pounds away now! I was hoping to have made a little more progress, but trips to NYC and Seattle (plus a total lack of willpower and a love of wine) set me back. No giving up!
7. Find a job.
Slight progress is being made on this front. My NYC trip was actually a job interview - it would be a work from home position. I feel like it went well, but there are other people they are interviewing. I should have an update within the next week or so about it. I'm still applying other places, but this is the closest I have gotten! So...still funemployed.
Edit: spoke too soon - didn't get the job
Surprise! I didn't!
1. Blog more
Definitely have been doing this. I have a total of 9 posts (including this one) blog posts in 2017. I just have to keep staying fairly consistent. I have been out of town a few times, so I didn't do as much as I liked, but it is more often than 2016!
2. Go to yoga more
Been good with this one too. The above referenced being out of town cut into the times, but when I am here I am consistent! I went 9 times in January. I think I have this one under control.
3. Do whatever I can to make sure that America doesn't go directly to hell
I have donated more to PPWP, gone to events for PPWP, and am continuing to work on this. I've been faxing Pat Toomey (because it's the only way to get through to that man). Now that I am in town more, I am going to attend protests in person. Also, I should donate more money to basically everyone. (In a future post, I'm going to talk about the guy who mansplained how I feel about Trump while at the airport bar!)
4. Read 125 books.
12 books read so far! Although someone needs to intervention me on what books I should read in public. Like...oh yes, a book called We Believe You: Survivors of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out on the plane was definitely the perfect idea. There's no way you are going to make everyone around you uncomfortable by sobbing on the plane in an aisle seat. Previously, I have read The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking and One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway. Maybe it isn't best to read a book about hijacking on a plane. Nor should you be ugly sobbing. Gonna need a happy list!
5. Learn to knit
So, I looked at my knitting stuff. And picked up the needles. It shouldn't be this hard! I sit and watch TV a lot!
6. Get to goal weight.
I'm five pounds away now! I was hoping to have made a little more progress, but trips to NYC and Seattle (plus a total lack of willpower and a love of wine) set me back. No giving up!
7. Find a job.
Slight progress is being made on this front. My NYC trip was actually a job interview - it would be a work from home position. I feel like it went well, but there are other people they are interviewing. I should have an update within the next week or so about it. I'm still applying other places, but this is the closest I have gotten! So...still funemployed.
Edit: spoke too soon - didn't get the job
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