The Panda Bear Blog

The Panda Bear on Debt, Politicians, and Work

2017-03-02T07:48:00.002-05:00

The Panda Bear will be doing some short posts because she gets tired at night. She had just read an article about how it works to the Capitalists advantage to work people long hours. The Panda Bear actually thinks the economy would function better with more leisure because people would have more time to spend money.

However, the Panda Bear thinks that the Capitalists like getting people into debt where they are obligated to work to pay off their debts. Also she thinks that politicians benefit by people going into debt because it provides the illusion that the economy is growing and that wages are rising which they have not been doing. For better or worse in the post Keynesian era politicians are seen as being responsible the economy; consequently they do things to make the economy look like it is doing well.

Here is a link to the article the forty hour work week which inspired this post.

The Panda Bear on Shirley Chisholm, Longer Days, and Sucess

2017-02-10T15:55:00.000-05:00

he Panda Bear was reviewing articles on the web and she came across a tribute to Shirley Chisholm who was a black congresswoman who ran for president in 1972 under the Democratic party. The Panda Bear remembers Shirley Chisholm when she ran. The Panda Bear admired her. Here was a woman who had grown up disadvantaged and represented a poor community who was running for president. She challenged the Democratic establishment. Her motto was unbought and unbossed. Contrast this to some of women Democratic leaders now namely Hilary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi who grew up in comfortable circumstances and are very establishment.

The Panda Bear sometimes gets nostalgic for the Democrats of old. She recently read a book by someone who worked for the Truman administration who supported a bill guaranteeing full employment to all Americans who wanted a job. Of course, the Panda Bear realizes that this would be a practical impossibility. However, since 2008 its seems that the Democrats have been very tolerant of high unemployment rates and have done very minimal to help people get jobs. She is not surprised that they lost the election.

What inspired today's post was not politics but rather the longer days. It used to get dark at 4:30. Now it gets dark at the late time of 5:09. The Panda Bear used to get so tired at 6:30. It had been dark for two hours and it seemed like it was the middle of the night. Now with longer days the Panda Bear can stay awake later. Furthermore, it seems that one day it will stay light until 9:00. Oh joyous day!!

Furthermore, the Panda Bear has lost five pounds since January 1(her goal is to lose another twenty-five pounds). However, at times she still feels somewhat down. Part of it is probably the winter blues. The days are short. It is harder to get out to see people. Furthermore, the Panda Bear is developing cabin fever from being inside so much.

For some reason the Panda Bear has been thinking about the nature of success. The Panda Bear defines success as obtaining a goal. She thinks of a quote from Oscar Wilde that went something like this: There are two tragedies in life. One is not getting what you want and the other is getting it.

The Panda Bear thinks there is a lot of truth to this statement. She thinks the reality often is a disappointment compared to the dream. Usually the reality is a lot more work and not is pretty nor as glamorous as the fantasy. On the other hand, the Panda Bear thinks(she thinks she got this idea from Buddhism), that in the long run we are happier in reality free from our illusions. Part of maturing is exchanging the fantasy for the reality.

The Panda Bear on Obstacles, Newspapers, and the Ordinary Person

2017-01-23T17:20:00.001-05:00

The Panda Bear Blog is a blog about an ordinary office worker who wants to change the world.

In a previous post, the Panda Bear had written about her New Year’s resolution to lose weight. She even was so bold to state that she had lost a few pounds. Well pride comes before a fall. The Panda Bear unexpectedly had to have gum surgery. Because of the surgery she could only eat soft foods that are room temperature and because she had to restrictions on exercise she gained some of her weight back. However, she now ia feeling better and plans to return to her diet(Here is an exercise tip -instead of exercising for an hour straight break it up into two half hour sessions. It is just as much exercise and it is not as tiring as exercising all at once).

The Panda Bear mentions this because many events that we cannot predict can slow us down from reaching our goals. Instead of beating ourselves up for not sticking to our goals we must simply forgive ourselves and start all over again.

Though this was not a New Year's resolution, the Panda Bear has started to subscribe to a newspaper and tries to read it every day. She decided to start reading the paper not just because of the "fake" news. The Panda Bear felt she was uniformed of some basic facts.

She like Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential candidate had her Aleppo moment. Like Gary Johnson the Panda Bear believes that the US providing the Syrian rebels with arms has increased the bloodshed in the area and is imperialist. She also was not aware of what going on in Aleppo (though she did know that the civil war is destroying Syria).

However, it was really on a local ballot question that Panda Bear was truly confronted with hers and others ignorance of what is going on in the news. In Massachusetts, there was a referendum question on whether to expand Charter schools in areas where the public schools are low performing The Panda Bear strongly supported this measure. The public schools in city of Boston are a total mess and have been for the past fifty years, The Panda Bear works with many people who live in the City of Boston and they use the Charter schools.

However, when the Panda Bear stated her support for the resolution to expand Charters schools on Facebook many of the Panda Bear's friends disagreed. What bothered the Panda Bear was not the disagreement but how neither she nor her friends were uncertain of the facts surrounding Charter schools. Were they free? Were they part of the "public” schools system? Were they regulated? Well in reading today's newspaper the Panda Bear found out that the Charter schools are regulated by the state. (The Panda Bear believes Charter schools are free).

The Panda Bear always heard growing up that the gold standard for news was newspapers-not radio or television. Her local paper done some good investigative journalism and does contain opposing views.

However, it still perplexes the Panda Bear when newspaper editors discuss how they failed to understand public sentiment during this election. The Panda Bear wishes to tell academia, the media and politicians that one trait of the ordinary person is that there are a lot of us. We are not some rare species that has not been seen for decades. Common people are like pigeons, squirrels and sparrows in the city.

If the common person is not seen by the press it is because they are not looking.

The Panda Bear on Weight Loss, Inequality and New Years Resolutions

2017-01-09T16:01:00.000-05:00

Like many living creatures, this year the Panda Bear is resolved to lose weight. She has gained twenty-five points over the past twelve years. In addition, the Panda Bear has over the past two years has developed knee pain; she has been told that reducing weight would lessen the knee pain (there would be less weight on her knees).

However, the subject of weight loss makes the Panda Bear aware of life's inequalities. Men can eat more than women without gaining weight. Tall and large boned people can eat more than short petite people. Furthermore, as people get older their calorie needs decline.

As a small woman, the Panda Bear has always been a small eater. Even when she was a child she had to go on diets. However, the Panda Bear has discovered that dieting is harder as one gets older. Furthermore, with knee arthritis she has some activity limitations. Though for most people the cause of weight gain is the same (eating more calories than one needs), the absolute food calorie requirements of people are different. It seems so unfair.

However, after raging about the nature's great injustice, the Panda Beat has lost five pounds during the holiday season no less. The Panda Bear knows her downfall is that she eats too much after work/in the evening. Slowly the Panda Bear is working on changing her eating habits.

Recently, the Panda Bear has heard of some weight loss strategies which she thinks has a downside. Some people takes bets on who can lose the most amount of weight over a certain period time. Another is to set a goal to of a certain number of pounds by a certain date.

The problem with both strategies is that they depend on things outside a person's control. While one does have control about how many calories one eats, one does not have control of how much or how fast one loses the weight. Some kinds of weight easier are to take off than others. The Panda Bear has heard that the last ten pounds of weight loss can be slower and harder to take off than the first ten pounds. Older people tend to lose weight more slowly than young people.

The problem the Panda Bear thinks with a lot of New Years resolutions (and other goal setting) is that their success depends on factors outside of one's control. Instead it is probably easier and more rewarding to focus on developing certain behaviors that will enhance the changes of one's obtaining a goal. Our behavior is in our control; often the outcome is not,

The Panda Bear on the Year 2016, Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party

2017-01-01T17:19:00.000-05:00

The Panda Bear Blog is a blog about a humble office worker and her opinions,   She is proud to live in a time when as President Obama complained that "anyone can call themselves a blogger".

This morning the Panda Bear was hearing and reading commentators stating that 2016 was a year of surprises and stress. 2016 was a stressful year for the Panda Bear.   She lost a job and had problems walking due to knee osteoarthritis.

However, the Panda Bear has overcome the obstacles.   Her knees have improved.   More importantly she found a new and better job in a much less stressful line of work.

The Panda Bear succeeded in her job hunt despite her personal disadvantages which are that on personality tests her chief characteristics were honesty, kindness and loyalty.   The Panda Bear was crying when she read those test results and thought no one would hire her. The Panda Bear feels that often those who succeed are cutthroat and ruthless.

However, when most people refer to 2016 as being stressful, they are referring to the US presidential elections.    The Panda Bear heard on the radio the editor of the New York Times state that he was not aware of the anger of the average person in this election cycle.   Clearly he had not being reading this blog which seeks to expose the lies of the establishment and the anger of an average office worker.

The Panda Bear did not vote for Hillary Clinton(and she supported her 2008 and Bill Clinton 1992).   She voted third party.    However, many political consultants might have thought Hillary Clinton might have appealed to the Panda Bear for these reasons:

They are both women.
They are both Feminists.
They both went to Seven Sister colleges
They both don't drive(Seriously, the Panda Bear would have considered a Clinton victory a triumph for people who don't drive).
They don't have flamboyant personalities.
They both can be a bit wonky.
They are short(authority is often seen as tall even in women),
They are both fair skin white people(Hillary is blond and the Panda Bear is a redhead).
They both use e-mail a lot

However, this last shared trait has made the Panda Bear loose all respect for Hillary Clinton. The Panda Bear works in environments where they are laws about how e-mail should be used; furthermore, people could be fired or prosecuted if these rules are not followed. As soon as the Panda Bear heard about Ms. Clinton's private e-mail server, Ms. Clinton lost the Panda Bear's vote.   The Panda Bear thought that Ms. Clinton thought she was above the law.

The Panda Bear believes, maybe naively, that in a constitutional form of government the ruler is under the law.   She also does not believe in two tiered systems in that there is one set of rules for one group of people and another set of rules for the other.

Also her campaign was hacked. For the good of the country she should have been using the proper protocol in dealing with sensitive materials.

Though Russia was wrong to hack into the Democrats e-mail what they showed about the Democrats was not flattering.   The Democratic leadership seems to be oblivious to the rule that you don't put things in writing that you would not want to be published.   If you do have to write something that needs to be totally private it should not be on an e-mail but on regular paper where it is burned once it is read.

The Panda Bear on Election Stress, the Middle Ages and Health Insurance

2016-11-03T09:36:00.001-04:00

This year the election has been stressful. As this blog is intended as a relief from the stresses of life The Panda Bear will attempt to be nonpartisan. However, the Panda Bear is saddened by the deteriorating nature of the American political system. In fact the Panda Bear thinks the American political system is increasingly sounding like pre-Enlightenment European politics. In these ways the Panda Bear thinks American politics looks more and more like pre-modern politics.

1) The election is more about the candidates rather than political issues.

2) This election resembles a war. In the Middle Ages governing was about brute force, power and alliances. In this election one feels the winning party is the one that can impose his/her will on the rest of us by a display of massive strength. Rule of law does not seem to matter. The candidates try to win alliances with certain groups.

3) It is election it one is seen as a traitor if one supports the opposing candidate. The idea seems to be gone that one can be patriotic and loyal to this country but have differing world views. The demonization n of the opposition is used to justify this warlike nature of the elections.

4) Religion has become a key issue for both of the two dominate parties. The Panda Bear grew up in the seventies where she was taught that in the United States after John Kennedy people did not vote for candidates based on their religion. She also was taught Christians were trying to resolve their differences and become more united. In this election, the Panda Bear has heard both Trump and Clinton state proudly that they were mainstream Protestants. The Panda Bear thinks this is a step backwards for both political parties in terms of religious toleration and commitment to secular government. The Panda Bear thinks the religious tome of this election resembles something of out 1600 not 2000.

Meanwhile in her personal life, the Panda Bear will be starting a new job next week. It is twenty hours per week. The Panda Bear does not need the money from full-time employment. To her the greatest luxury is an afternoon off. More importantly, the Panda Bear does not need health insurance from work. For the past twenty years the Panda Bear has gotten health insurance through Mr. Panda.

Some people think it was an accident in US history that health insurance is employment based. The Panda Bear knows of many people who work mainly for the health insurance. As the Panda Bear hears of more people embracing the idea of Medicare for all, the Panda Bear realizes that this idea would be a revolution not just in the world of health care but in the world of employment. It would be a drastic change in the nature of employment if people did not have to get their health insurance through work. Probably this change would benefit small business. However, the Panda Bear thinks this effect of Medicare for All on the workplace needs to be examined.

The Panda Bear obtains a New Job, Russia and Globalism

2016-10-24T13:53:00.000-04:00

As readers of The Panda Bear Blog know, the Panda Bear Blog was looking for work after attending a training program.    The Panda Bear is pleased to inform her readers that she has found a new humble office position,   This piece of information makes the Panda Bear feel that the official statistics were correct and unemployment is improving in Massachusetts.    Since the Great Recession the Panda Bear mistrusts the official statistic; she is convinced all what the financial interests who control this country would be quite happy with high unemployment as long as the stock market was doing alright and inflation was low.

Like many Americans, the Panda Bear feels burnt out by this election...    She is frustrated by major role the social issues play in the elections when major issues of US' security is at stake.   Furthermore, she is tired of the US major parties having the same arguments about the social issues year after year.

However, The Panda Bear feels very depressed that some US politicians seem to be so anxious to have a confrontation with Russia when the welfare is of the US is not directly involved.    How many wars can the US fight at once?

The Panda Bear is no lover of Russia or the former Soviet Union.   She has met when the Soviet Union was still strong Russian communists and she hated them.    She also felt they were totally dishonest and highly manipulative.   However, after 9/11, the Panda Bear felt somewhat nostalgic for the old Cold War,    The USSR did not seem to be bent on self-destruction to further their goals. .   Furthermore, despite all its shortcomings, the USSR did seem to want on some level to be a "modern”, "civilized" country. In some parts of the world, much of the population seems not to pay even lip service to what Americans think of as being modern society.

It also ironic that the US party that now favors confrontation with Russia is the Democratic Party which used to be the more pro conciliation with the former USSR is now more hawk like than the Republicans in this respect. .   Furthermore, Hillary Clinton herself is old enough to remember when the Democratic Party was the party of moderation concerning the former Soviet Union.

What stressful times we live in now.

The Panda Bear returns to Blogging, Unemployment and the New Science of Job Hunting

2016-09-26T18:47:00.000-04:00

The Panda Bear Blog, the populist blog of a humble office worker is back.

When the Panda Bear last wrote her last blog piece, she had lost her job and decided to go to school to upgrade her jobs skills. She went under what is called Section 30 where unemployment lets you go back to school instead of job searching. The Panda Bear successfully completed her program in August and since September has been job hunting. She has learned much since she has started her new job hunt.

The first thing she learned that despite the official unemployment rate being at four percent, people are still unhappy with the job market. The Panda Bear is surprised that so many people are still ashamed to say their unemployed, despite there being many layoffs and high unemployment rates(The Panda Bear thinks it is ashamed that so many people are still quiet about being unemployed. These people are loosing some networking potential and it stops society from recognizing the extent of the unemployment problem.

The Panda Bear notices that two age groups have the hardest time finding jobs. The first group are the young workers with no or very little experience. Employers nowadays don't want to train people. The other group of workers that seem to be effected are the "mature" or not young workers(this group includes the Panda Bear). Probably these workers are have more trouble finding work because of both ageism and this group can be costing companies more money earning higher salaries and being eligible for more benefits.

The unemployment office gives advise on how to get around age discrimination in the workplace. The first suggestion is that one should remove dates on resumes of when one attended school and the work history should only go back ten to fifteen years. Less obviously, the Panda Bear discovered that the fonts one uses could indicate age. People should be using modern and contemporary fonts not the old fashioned Arial and Times Roman.

It is not without controversy about whether business practises are correct or outdated. One young career counselor upset a lot of people in her class by saying that the use of the word "Dear" in cover/business letters had become outdated and suggested the person using it was old. Many clients objected and said that using "Dear" was proper English. The Panda Bear tried typing a cover letter and just addressing it "Hiring Manager" seemed abrupt. However, upon reflection that Panda Bear thought that modern cover letters probably are a shade more informal since they are uploaded into an application system rather than going through snail mail. Also the Panda Bear has heard that the younger generation constantly abbreviates the language and many say they don't use proper English. Therefore, the Panda Bear has decided to address cover letters to "Attention: Hiring Manager".

The use application(automated) tracking systems has in itself revolutionized the job hunting process. The application is screened by a computer before it gets into human hands. There is a whole series of strategies that one has to use to get it to clear the system sp the hiring manager sees it. This
type of application does not bother the Panda Bear too much; in her type of job one is expected to be good at computers. However, even the simpliest types of jobs now require online applications which many people find difficult to use.

With the start of applying jobs, the Panda Bear has started to feel the beginnings or work pressure. She has been surprised with how busy she has gotten job hunting.

The Panda Bear bids Au re·voir to her readers for the present.

2016-05-06T12:12:00.000-04:00

The Panda Bear will be moving indefinitely to other blogging projects under her real name. She needs to move in her life.

However, Panda Bear sees many other writers share the anger she has felt. She encourages other humble bears to hold hands and help each other confront the elite oligarchy.

The Panda Bear on Vocational Training and College Education

2016-02-04T13:22:00.001-05:00

The Panda Bear Blog is the blog of humble but kindly office worker who wants to reform the world.

As the readers of the Panda Bear Blog know, after a steady work history for twenty years, the Panda Bear lost two office jobs in two years. She has recently been approved by Massachusetts Department o Unemployment to attend an advance office skills program which includes an internship.

The Panda Bear thinks that job training programs are very much needed nowadays even for people with job skills. Organizations now want people to be up and fully functioning after the first week the employee starts. Companies are now running very thin staffed so employees don't have time to train people. With rising concerns about job security, many workers think that a form of job security is that no one else but you can do your job so they don't want to help other workers. In additions, it costs money for companies to train people and nowadays employees don't stay long with companies. When companies train people, they are taking a risk that employee may not be able to do the job.

However, the Panda Bear also thinks companies are being lazy in not training people. Every company has a unique structure and culture which new employees need to learn. Probably many employees simply don't know what they are doing and are afraid to ask. In times of high unemployment jobs go unfilled because workers need a shorter training program. (Also it is a source of job dissatisfaction for those that are working that the companies don't provide them with training and growth opportunities).

The Panda Bear in Massachusetts is seeing more joint industry and state educational ventures to give people job training that leads to jobs. For example the Panda Bear is seeing industry-state bank teller training programs; banks used to to training in house but now they want experienced tellers.

The Panda Bear thinks that in the modern environment training is actually more important that "higher education". Counselors at the Mass Unemployment Office(and from what the Panda Bear agrees from has seen) say that even if people with get college degrees the jobs are there for people with with very narrow skills.

The Panda Bear also thinks that companies not being willing to train people is leading to abuse of the practice of bringing on foreign workers on Visas. There is no attempt to train Americans even if it is a very minimal training requirement.

The Panfa Bear on her Return, Personal Life Update and the Great Recession and the Arts

2015-12-28T13:32:00.000-05:00

The Panda Bear Blog will be resuming publication.   The Panda Bear Blog is a blog by written by a humble office worker who is writes against the oligarchy.

During the years of her blog, the Panda Bear has seen a rise in anger against those in power.   The Panda Bear is most proud of the defeat of the plan to hold the Olympics is Boston.   The leaders who opposed the building of the Olympics said this was an example of a grass-roots effort rising against a plan put forth the make the Oligarchy rich.   The Panda Bear was proud to contribute her small social media presence in opposing the plans to build the Olympics.

On a personal note, the Panda Bear lost her job after having it for a year.   Readers of the Panda Bear Blog will remember that the Panda Bear did not like her previous to last job.   The job the Panda Bear just lost she liked better.   The Panda Bear worked very hard at it and vowed to be totally positive about the job for as long as she had it.    However, hard work and a positive attitude did not stop the Panda Bear from losing her job.

The Panda Bear thinks the economy is in a terrible state-much worse than is mentioned in the news media(maybe because most big news outlets are owned by big business).    However, the Panda Bear finds it interesting that the poor economy is not making much of an appearance in popular culture(i.e movies, TV, fiction).    The book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is the only book recent book the Panda Bear has come across where the economic downturn of 2008 plays a role.   The Panda Bear wonders why the entertainment/popular culture and the arts are so afraid to take on the current economic downturn.

The Panda Bear on Work Stress, Personal Stress and Blog Publication.

2015-05-25T12:37:00.001-04:00

The Panda Bear Blog will be suspending publication for the summe. The summer is always a bad time for the Panda Bear Blog. With the nice days, the Panda Bear does not want write and blog but rather side outside and read(The Panda Bear knows this is a pitaful idea of summer fun). In addition she faces a very busy job and several personal issues. Therefore, the Panda Bear Blog will suspend publication until October 1, 2015,

The Panda Bear on Her New Job, the Boston Marathon and the Olympics

2015-04-20T07:13:00.000-04:00

The Panda Bear is the blog of a humble office worker who wants to change the world.

In November, the Panda Bear switched jobs. She likes her new job much better than her old job, She will be learning new skills-this is the first time she has on the job training in about twenty years(the Panda Bear thins this is a major problem in the job market today is that employers no longer want to train people). Unlike her old office, the new office is pro-plant and in general a much more lively place then her former position. Furthermore, her new organization’s goal is to challenge the status quo in her industry a goal which the Panda Bear shares so she feels more of personal commitment to her job.

However, the Panda Bear has also learned that a job one likes is still work. She still comes home from work tired. Her employer acknowledges it is a high stress position and the Panda Bear expects to feel more stress as she gets more experienced. (In the Panda Bear's work life she has found that the two year anniversary on the job can be a high stress time. She will be seen as fully trained and will have made some mistakes on the job ;). Also the Panda Bear has found just changing jobs can be stressful. It takes the Panda Bear a while to get used to the new routines and the new people. In the past, the Panda Bear has underestimated how tiring job change can be.

Therefore, the Panda Bear will be posting less frequently then she has in the past. She needs time to get used to her new job and some personal issues have come up to keep the Panda Bear busy. (Note-this is a problem in modern life-people go from job stress to personal stress after work).

However, the recent events in the Boston area have made the Panda Bear take up her pen again. The intense security measures that there are today because of the Boston Marathon and Red Sox games and the disruption this is causing many businesses and workers makes the Panda Bear think that it is absurd to have the Olympics in Boston. She thinks only a few special interests will benefit from having the Olympics here. Somehow, the ordinary taxpayer will have to foot the bill for a big part of the games. In other countries where they have had the Olympics the Panda Bear hears about how ordinary people have to suffer to make more "pretty" the area of the games.

Furthermore, there is some evidence that most people in Boston don't want it in Boston. The push for the Olympics is coming from the local government which is run by the political party the Democrats who are seeming more and more undemocratic.

The Panda Bear on Hillary Clinton and The Panda Bear's New Work Schedule

2015-03-10T19:30:00.000-04:00

After the terrible snows of the Boston area, the Panda Bear is having one her first "normal" evenings at home.   The Panda Bear's husband(Mr. Panda) has gone to the YMCA.    It is the first time the Panda Bear has been at home in her apartment at night in several months due the snow and Mr. Panda's month off at the end of the year. It is in these times of quiet solitude that the Panda Bear can write her blog.

The Panda Bear Blog is the blog of a humble office worker who wants to change the world.   She wants to restore the position of the average worker to that of respect for being the mainstay of the economy.

In November of 2014, the Panda Bear started a new job.   Her hours have changed; instead of working from 7:00-3:30(a schedule that she has worked for many years), she now works 8:00-4:30.   The reader may laugh and say that is not a big change in hours.   However, the Panda Bear has found these small changes make a difference particularly in modern times when there is pressure to do ev many things in short time frames.   One advantage the Panda Bear has found with working slightly later is that when she comes home it is dinner time.   On the earlier schedule, the Panda Bear wanted to have a snack after work than eat dinner.    The later schedule eliminates the need of a before dinner snack.

Today, in the Panda Bear's new humble office job, the Panda Bear heard on a television in office lounge Hillary Clinton's lame excuses for using personal e-mail for government business.   Now the Panda Bear supported Hillary Clinton in 2008 and thinks its cool that she has not driven a car for many years(the Panda Bear does not drive).   However, the Panda Bear thinks Hillary Clinton is in the process of self destruction; she did put herself in this bind not the evil right wing.

Hillary Clinton sounded like a teenager in her need to use personal e-mail.   She sounded like a dumb blond(which she is not) in the problems using two devices one for personal and one for the job.

However, national defense is a serious issue.   Even in the Panda Bear's humble job, she knows that work e-mail is more secure than personal e-mail and that work and personal e-mails should be separate.

Hillary Clinton had her own server in her house for her e-mails. It appears that she never used her work e-mail.   The Panda Bear thinks it was very well thought out decision on Mrs. Clinton's part not to use the government e-mail in order to hide information.   Her releasing her e-mails is like Nixon releasing the Nixon tapes(and Hillary Clinton worked on the Watergate hearings).   Someone objective needs to go through the materials.

The Panda Bear is tired of "leaders" of all political stripes and organization types who think they are above the rules the rest of the world needs to follow.   Many of these rules came about for a reason.   The theory behind constitutional government is that a country is more effectively run when the rulers follow the laws.

Please Hillary don't run-let's get someone new.

The Panda Bear on Snow, Political Corruption and Hillary Clinton

2015-03-08T11:13:00.000-04:00

Readers of the Panda Bear know that the Panda Bear lives in the Boston area which has been hit by enormous amounts of snow. Life for the Panda Bear for the past six weeks has just been a struggle to get to work and back. The snow banks are very high and the walking is difficult. Cars are having time driving through the snow. While the Panda Bear does not drive, she finds the walking difficult and frightening. For the first time in her full-time working life of nearly thirty years all what she does is go to work and back home(rather than doing additional activities after work).

Normally, this time of year the Panda Bear would be feeling something like cabin fever. However, this bad winter has made the Panda Bear not hurt but numb. All of her energy has been going into getting to work and back. She feels the large banks of snow will never go away. The Panda Bear feels that people have been snowbound here for so long that it is effecting people’s physical and emotional health. The return to "normal" life will be like a person returning to "normal" life after an illness; it will be an adjustment.

However, the snow has also made the Panda Bear and others more critical of the corruption of government. People feel the government could be doing a better job of removing the snow. The mayor of Boston has proposed putting large fines for people who don't clean their sidewalks within a few hours of the snow stopping. While the Panda Bear does see some sidewalks where the people have not cleared their sidewalks and probably should be fined, she still thinks the Mayor of Boston proposed fines smack of those in power making one set of rules for themselves and another set for those below them. She thinks the city of Boston has not made snow removal a top priority and that the Mayor of Boston diverted some resources from snow cleaning to the Patriots victory parade this winter.

Of course, the major politician who has been in the news for breaking the rules is Hillary Clinton for using personal e-mail for high level government work. The Panda Bear thinks she should not run for president; she has too much baggage. The Panda Bear also thinks the Clinton e-mail scandal reflects negatively on President Obama who must have known about this arrangement. Did he not promise to have an open and transparent administration?

In many ways the Panda Bear considers herself to be a "Liberal" but she thinks many "Liberal" leaders are corrupt and elitist. Political corruption and elitism need to be confronted regardless of political party.

The Panda Bear on Christmas in the Office and The Poor Economy

2014-12-28T12:45:00.000-05:00

The Panda Bear since she has started a new and better job has less time to blog. However, she will continue to blog in the future. She will begin a series of posts attacking the privileges of academia elite. Not that the Panda Bear is against education but she things that academics often regarding themselves as a priestly elite. The Panda Bear Blog is the blog of a common office worker.

One thing that the Panda Bear is glad in her new job that not much is made of Christmas. The Panda Bear was raised that it was wrong to celebrate Christmas. Until about 2001 the Panda Bear did not have problem with the office Christmas. What went on even in the office was basically secular though this was called Christmas+.

However, after 2001, though the name was changed to “Holiday”, for one month, the Panda Bear get barraged about the “Christian” nature of the holiday. These messages have included managers of secular organizations. Through the Christians at work, the Panda Bear has learned about the “Christian” nature of some ornaments that the Panda Bear once thought of as simply pretty decorations.

Though Christians are the overwhelming majority of the Panda Bear’s workplace, they feel angry and persecuted. They feel oppressed if they cannot express their religion at work even though the institution they work for is secular and is located in a large diverse urban environment which the includes many religions and nonbelievers.

The Panda Bear believes Christianity is not well served in offices on the holidays. It does not come across as a religion of hope, faith, charity, love and goodwill. Rather it comes across and self-centered, militant and materialistic (endless discussions of shopping for presents).

The Panda Bear on the Democratic Loss, Unemployment and New Job

2014-11-14T18:25:00.000-05:00

The Panda Bear is not at all surprised that the Democrats lost control of Congress. The Democrats were defending in the position of defending a poor economy. The Panda Bear would consider herself to be a progressive but she thinks the American Right has been more accurate recently about the state of the economy. There is high unemployment and the lower nine-five percent’s income has dropped drastically in recent years. People who have jobs are stressed out and feel discouraged by the lack of opportunity. Probably many employees feel like indentured servants rather than free labor.

The Panda Bear knows first-hand about the high unemployment rate. On October 10, she lost her job. She went to several unemployment agencies where the staff said the unemployment rate was high in Massachusetts and people were having a hard time getting jobs (despite the Democrats asserting things were getting better). However, the Panda Bear has heard Massachusetts is not as bad as other parts of the country.

The Panda Bear's period of unemployment will be short lived. On November 17, the Panda Bear will starting and new a better job. The Panda Bear will learning some new skills and earning more money in her new position. (The Panda Bear thinks it is a major problem for both employed workers who are getting stale in the jobs and for the unemployed who can’t get jobs that employers no longer want to train workers. She can understand that training workers is a major expense for companies but lack of company training is creating problems for Americans).

Of course, the Panda Bear would not have gotten a job so quickly if she had not been involved in an intensive job hunt since July 2013, when her old office banned plants at work. In took the Panda Bear several years for her to work on her resume and she paid for a professional resume consultation. (In the modern economy with jobs being so unstable the Panda Bear thinks everyone should be able to quickly produce a good resume. Once when the Panda Bear was laid off very suddenly and unexpectedly, it slowed to her hob hunting process a lot that it took several months for her to develop a good working resume.)

For the jobs the Panda Bear's field of work, the internet is the prime source of jobs. How, the job hunting world has changed from when the Panda Bear started in the working world!! She remembers buying the Sunday paper (for the help wanted ads) and sending in resume and cover letter via snail mail. However, even, the best job hunting web sites change. In 2013, the Panda Bear was told that Monster and CareerBuilder were no longer the top job hunting websites; the best website to look for jobs was Indeed(in fact, this web site was where the Panda Bear found her new job). However, in 2014, the Panda Bear heard that companies no longer liked Indeed but were recruiting from LinkedIn. In fact, several employment counselors told the Panda Bear that companies were telling the State of Massachusetts that they wanted all employees on LinkedIn.

The hiring process can take a long time nowadays. The Panda Bear applied for her job in as soon as it was advertised in July and she was offered the job on November 4. Therefore, the Panda Bear thinks a person can be easily on unemployment for a year and be actively job hunting.

Of course, the Panda Bear getting her dream job and going to job heaven means that she will no longer be blogging about her current job. The Panda Bear blogged about her old job more than was prudent but jobs are a big part of one's life and if one is unhappy with one’s job one can be unhappy with life.

Instead, the Panda Bear Blog will more focus on the problems of the world. The Panda Bear recently read the Autobiography of John Stuart Mill, the famous nineteenth century philosopher. She was inspired by John Stuart Mill's statement that his being an office worker contributed to his understanding of the world and enabled him to come up with ideas for critiquing and reforming the major institutions of his time. He was also for expanding the power base of his time for which the Panda Bear admires him.

In the spirit of John Stuart Mill, the Panda Bear will continue to blog; a blog of an office worker who wants to improve the world and advocate for the lower 95 percent.

The Panda Bear on Jury Duty and the Stress of The Unknown

2014-10-28T18:26:00.000-04:00

Recently, the Panda Bear was called to serve on the jury. She went to the court house and sat in the jury room for about two and a half hours and then her and all the other potential jurors were dismissed. All the cases were settled before they went to trial. The court official assured the people who were called up for jury that the court was not wasting their time. Just the threat and ability to go to trial scared people into settling their cases.

The Panda Bear is a big fan of the idea of just being there prevents a damaging action. The Panda Bear thinks her cat has the best job of all; just her being there has scared the mice out of the Panda Bear's apartment. The Panda Bear felt she was acting like her cat in this respect in the court house. Her simple presence had an effect(When the Panda Bear was at the courthouse there was a movie about jury service in Massachusetts. The Panda Bear found out that women could not serve on the jury in Massachusetts until 1950 or nearly thirty years after women had the vote! In many ways, the Panda Bear would think it is more important for women to serve on juries then vote but the Panda Bear believes women should have all the same political rights as men).

The Panda Bear is having an emotional crisis. Some potential good news may be coming her way. However, it is not definite. She feels the uncertainty stresses out her out more then bad news does. With bad news one can plan a course of action but with things being up in the air it immobilizes future actions. The relief some people feel after a person dies is not purely because nothing more has to be done for the person who died. The Panda Bear feels the when a person is dying his/her situation is unresolved; death is a sad resolution to an issue but it is a form of certainty none the less.

The Panda Bear often complains about her simple and routine life. However, she does not deal well with the unknown.

The Panda Bear Blog on the Fall, Relaxation, and Organizations in Distress

2014-10-02T17:49:00.000-04:00

While the Panda Bear likes the autumn, she went into a panic in mid-September. She felt overwhelmed with things to do. She had a bit of a cold so she took a day off to relax. Then she went into a crisis mode of trying to narrow down the many things she would like to do in her four hours of scheduled down time. What she probably did sleep.

Finally her high anxiety broke. She thinks what finally broke it was doing some dreaded household chores. It probably was the exercise that was involved in doing the dreaded chores that relaxed the Panda Bear and the Panda Bear felt she was actually accomplishing something (Actually, the writing of the Panda Bear Blog has helped the Panda Bear in doing some of these chores. She now can think of her blog posting while doing the chores. While now her fellow workers complain about the amount of non-paid employment time these chores take, Panda Bear takes it with sense of stoicism).

The Panda Bear has also used some to reduce her stress some stress management techniques. Exercise is a good multi-purpose activity that also reduces makes people feel good. As a relaxation technique she likes is called autogenics which is not well known where you make statements imaging heaviness and warmth in various parts of the body and you keep stating to yourself "I am calm". The Panda Bear also practices what she calls the cat meditation where the Panda Bear tries to meditate by focusing her attention on her purring cat that is sitting on her stomach. The Panda Bear is also trying to cut down the amount of caffeine she drinks which she heard can increase anxiety (The Panda Bear is a coffee lover. She now uses coffee with half the caffeine taken out).

The Panda Bear used to think that affirmations were stupid but now she does find that there is something to saying “I am calm” when she is upset. The Panda Bear admits she has a gloomy streak. She is jealous of some bloggers who obtained many viewers with their expressions of gratitude and happiness. However when she is down now she repeats this which is a paraphrase of from the book of Ecclesiastics from the Bible. It goes something like this:

Life is unfair. The race is not always won by the fastest. The unjust prosper. It is foolish to think the world is going to work according to your logic. However, what can you do about it? Nothing- so just enjoy yourself.

The Panda Bear feels that this gets a certain realistic gloom about the state of the world out of her system.

One thing that strikes the Panda Bear as illogical is how little organizations nowadays reward loyalty. The Panda Bear thinks for institutions/governments/organized crime groups to survive they both have punish behavior they don't like but they also reward behavior they like.

There were benefits to being a member of the Communist, Nazi, and Fascist parties. In at least novels, organized crime just does not kill people-they offer riches to their members and to those who cooperate with them. Being nice to people and doing them favors gives you some power over people that just being mean does not.

The Panda Bear is old enough to remember the old fashioned company. It controlled its employees by being nice to them in the way the new organization that are now strictly business cannot. Organizations can exert a lot of pressure on people by threatening to withhold some of its favors. The Panda Bear feels if companies would have a lot better morale and be a lot more efficient if they did more for people then their stated policies. They could withhold certain privileges if employees complained. Nowadays the Panda Bear sees complaining and "disloyalty" (i.e. getting other jobs) as being rewarded. She thinks this no rewarding of good behavior is going to catch up to organizations.

However, what does the Panda Bear know? She is just a humble office worker who is glad she is not part of the corrupt plutocracy that seems to be in charge right now.

The Panda Bear on Her Return, Her Day Off and More Job Interviews

2014-09-16T20:52:00.002-04:00

The Panda Bear is now back from her summer vacation. So much has been going on in foreign affairs it is hard for the Panda Bear to stay informed. However, she continues to say no to an imperial US and thinks the United States needs to focus on its problems at home.

The Panda Bear had an unusually productive last Tuesday. She had a busy day at work, post a book review, voted in the local elections and watched a television show (The Panda Bear watches TV at most for about three hours a week). She was in awe of her efficiency.

Then she came down with a cold and was tired over the weekend. This Tuesday she took the day off to do errands and she also had (ta-ta)-a job interview. Furthermore, she was told both by the interviewer and a friend of hers who talked to the interviewer that the Panda Bear did well on the interview; the interviewer liked the Panda Bear's knowledge and personal style.

Of course, the Panda Bear has gone on many interviews recently and they have not led to anything. However, the Panda Bear has been spending her day drafting her resignation letter- now her favorite piece of writing.

Dear Ms. Boss:

It is with mixed emotions that I am writing to tell you that I have accepted another position. I am giving you my two weeks’ notice. My last day of work will be on _____. My new employer is very anxious to have me start as soon as possible. I have given careful consideration to making this job change.

Regards,

Panda Bear

The position in question as well as some other positions the Panda Bear has for would be a pay cut. The Panda Bear has been reading that salaries have been going down since 2008. However, the Panda Bear is fortunate in that she can afford to take a pay cut. She is glad she leads a frugal lifestyle. The Panda Bear is not taken in with the false promises of happiness that the consumerist society makes. , The Panda Bear feels it is time for a change and that she needs to learn new skills. (The Panda Bear thinks nowadays people too long in their positions are increased risk of layoffs) She thinks some companies would offer her a more pleasant work environment.

However, in the unlikely event the Panda Bear gets a new job she will stop writing about her job in her blog. Whenever, she goes on a job interview she promises herself try to be as happy as possible in her new job and have no expectations of advancement or promotion which has caused problems for her in previous jobs.

She no longer needs promotion or advancement to feel smart and competent in her life; The Panda Bear has found her passion in the Panda Bear Blog.

The Panda Bear will Be Taking the Rest of the Summer Off. Publication to resume sometime in September

2014-08-04T19:33:00.001-04:00

The Panda Bear Blog is about the importance of personal space in today's busy world. Given that the blog is about the lack of rest and relaxation, the Panda Bear has decided to take the rest of the summer off from blogging.

She is exhausted. Work has been busy. Also surprisingly enough the Panda Bear has been getting a lot of job interviews. Granted many of these jobs are at lower pay but the Panda Bear is getting hopeful that she may find a new position. Though she is but a humble office worker, her skills seem to be in demand.

Even though getting job interviews is "good" it is making inroads in what little free time the Panda Bear has. It is tiring and stressful. It eats into the Panda Bear's "vacation" time as some of her time off is used for interviews.

The Panda Bear feels to enjoy her favorite summer activity of sitting outside and read. She will return to blogging in the fall.

The Panda Bear on July 4th, the Office and Out-of-Touch Psychologists

2014-07-15T19:27:00.004-04:00

Before the Panda Bear gets into her post she would like to offer prayers for world peace.   War is a terrible thing.   She can understand that countries need to defend themselves but she thinks war should always be a last resort.

The Panda Bear would like to share this Op Ed piece by Mortimer Zuckerman in the Wall Street about how more and more people are only able to get part time jobs. Janet Yellen of the Federal Reserve also states that unemployment is very high.   The Panda Bear has heard political conservatives state the economy is bad and complain that there are not enough jobs for people.   The Panda Bear things that if these people think the economy is bad (usually conservatives blame the unemployed for their problems), the unemployment rates must by sky high.   The Panda Bear has always felt that it was terrible that the look term unemployed don't get counted in unemployment statistics.   Also the Panda Bear has always felt that government economists (since they are hired by the government) have something vested in making the current regime's economy look good whether it is a Republican or Democrat in charge.

Meanwhile the people who have jobs (such as the Panda Bear are not happy with them.   Employers take advantage of the bad job market.   The Panda Bear has recently heard a psychologist state that if people feel negatively about their jobs should get new jobs.   Where has this psychologist been? Jobs are hard to get now. The Panda Bear has believes that the "market rate" of some jobs has actually declined.   It is hard to take a pay cut and one really has no guarantees about the new job.

A more realistic idea nowadays is to have interests outside of work.   However, this can be hard to do as many people feel compelled to work long hours.   Where the Panda Bear works they hardly ever close early for the holidays anymore and that included this this 4th of July.   The lack of early closing makes people less like to celebrate the holiday.

The Panda Bear sees the American Revolution as being a victory against economic exploitation of the British.   The Panda Bear heard a biographer of George Washington state that George Washington was getting tired of sucking up to the colonial rulers.   The Panda Bear can understand the feeling of being tired of trying to butter people up.

The Panda Bear has an American Flag at her desk.   The reasons are in part patriotic and in part to contrast the freedom of the US with the lack of freedom in the office.   The Lowell Mills Girls in the 1830's wrote many statements to point; the workplace is no democracy.

Whenever the Panda Bear feels upset at having to work she thinks of a strike song the Lowell factory girls used to sing:

Oh! Isn’t it a pity, such a pretty girl as I

should be sent to the factory to pine away and die?

Oh! I cannot be a slave, I will not be a slave,

For I'm so fond of liberty,

That I cannot be a slave.

More directly contrasting the freedom of the US with the restrictions of work here are some of other quotes:

Let oppression shrug her shoulders,

And a haughty tyrant frown,

And little upstart Ignorance,

In mockery look down.

Yet I value not the feeble threats

Of Tories[British] in disguise,

While the flag of Independence

O'er our noble nation flies

Those who work in the mills[or offices]...ought not have the status of machines ruled by private despots who are entrenching monarchic principles on democratic soil as they drive downwards freedom and rights, civilization, health, morals and intellectuality in the new commercial feudalism.

The Panda Bear fully believes that the principal of feudal hierarchy is alive and well in US Business and industry.

In the Panda Bear's office, not only is there no right to free speech but there is little opportunity to speak at all. People have gotten reprimanded for talking to their coworkers too much. Headphones are ok but not talking to each other. Nowadays even if one works in an office (as opposed to working at home) there can be very little social interaction. The Panda Bear herself got a reprimand in March 2014 for speaking too loudly which has intensified her job hunt.

The Panda Bear feels that the US economy is heading in the direction of no one being able to:

Find a job
Find a job at a living wage
Find a job where one is decently treated.

The US has had a reputation for being hard workers. However, we are heading in a direction of people being unable to work or people being overworked at disliking their jobs. This can’t be a good thing for the future of the US.

The Panda Bear on the Emperors Clothes and The Light in the Managers Office

2014-07-02T18:33:00.000-04:00

The Panda Bear Blog seeks to expose the social truths that people experience but like the people in the Han Christian Anderson's fairy tale The Emperor's New Clothes are afraid to express for fear of seeming to be unfit.  The Panda Bear is a humble office worker who is unafraid of telling the truth as she experiences it.   Most of the time the Panda Bear thinks she has a valid point of view. If the Panda Bear is wrong she hopes her readers will pity her and help her see the world in a clear fashion.

The offices where the Panda Bear works are full of falsehoods that the organizations' leaders create.   The untruth that the Panda Bear wishes to explore in this post is the light in the manager's office.   The Panda Bear has experienced this phenomenon in several organizations she was worked in with different supervisors so she thinks this is the way mangers are told to deal with their employees.

What the supervisor does, when he/she is out of the office for part of the day, the supervisor leaves the light on in the office so their employees think the manager is still around.   The Panda Bear admits she has been fooled by this maneuver more than one time.   However, usually another employee will blurt out to the Panda Bear that the manager does this when he/she is out.    Sometimes the Panda Bear herself has caught on that the light is on the manager's office when he/she is out.   Often supervisors will answer e-mails from home and not admit that he/she is not in the office.

The Panda Bear and her coworkers chuckle with each other.   Doesn't the management realize that we are on to them and know they are not in the office?  Do they think we are that stupid? (The Panda Bear suspects the answer to the last question is yes). There are differing opinions on why our supervisors want to create the illusion that they are in the office when they are not in the office. One of the Panda Bear's coworkers thinks it shows they don't trust us.   Another coworker thinks that the managers think the workers will fall apart if they are not there.

The Panda Bear privately rejects both theories on the grounds that it seems to take the management along while to go after supervisors who really do have problems being at work when they are supposed to be there; if was really that necessary for the supervisor to physically be there these problem supervisors should have been sooner told to leave.     Also many supervisors now can supervise remotely and from long distances with modern technology. Thus, Panda Bear rejects the notion that upper management feels that workers need a supervisor to be physically present.

Instead, the Panda Bear thinks the management is on a different kind of schedule then the workers who are on some version of nine to five.   The Panda Bear is aware that many of her supervisors have worked nights and weekends and they may get some additional time off as compensation for the additional hours worked.    She also thinks the management has a much greater flexibility then the workers in terms of hours worked.   The Panda Bear thinks the managers don't want disclose that they are on a totally different type of work week then the workers they supervise.

However, the joke is often on the management. Many workers are convinced when the managers aren't there during the day they are being delinquent in the job duties which they may not be.   To the Panda Bear it shows that supervisors can lie about small matters when they could be telling the truth.   Supervisors aren't to be trusted.

Of course this longstanding illusion that when the supervisors aren't at work, the workers don't realize it persists because workers are afraid to bring to the management's attention that they can see through this manipulation.   The management would discipline the workers.

However, outside the workplace in the presumably free United States, the Panda Bear thinks we should not be afraid of speaking out against untruths as we perceive them.

The Panda Bear on Friday Afternoons and Out of Touch Economists

2014-06-20T18:46:00.002-04:00

It is a Friday afternoon.   The Panda Bear feels the work week increases in sneaky ways.   The Panda Bear remembers a time when employers on a regular basis let employees out early on Fridays and the long weekends.   Now the Panda Bear's employers never let their employers out early.   The Panda Bear feels this "bonus" free time could add up to two or three weeks of extra vacation days a year.    The Panda Bear also feels she was a much more enthusiastic worker when employers gave their workers additional time off and seemed to want them to have a life outside of work.    It's karma. What comes around goes around.   Even the Panda Bear's boss admits that the office nickels and dimes its employees in terms of time. The Panda Bear feels the heads of the organization set the tone. If they don't give her anything extra, she won't give them anything extra.   The Panda Bear advises her readers to be careful about give extras to employers; some employers are just takers.   Your above and beyond effort may be a volunteer effort for them. The Panda Bear has nothing against volunteering; this blog is a volunteer effort.   She just thinks that when one volunteers it should be clear that it is a volunteer effort.

However, the Panda Bear wanted to draw to her readers attention to an article she found on www.alternet.org about how off economists were about the job market.   Indeed the Panda Bear since the Great Recession has started in 2008 the Panda Bear has a hard time believing what was being said in the news about the economy.

Just this week, the Panda Bear heard on the Wall Street Journal's radio show, one reporter say almost in despair that Americans were still unhappy about the economy despite the stock market doing well, the low inflation rate and the low rate of interest.

The Panda Bear wishes to defend the American people to this reporter.   First of all, many Americans who aren't wealthy are not directly effected by the stock market.   Their major source of money is their paycheck. Some workers (including the Panda Bear) who work for nonprofits that have endowments that are in the stock market probably are indirectly benefiting from the good stock market.   However, for the majority of Americans who need their pay check to survive the stock market is not a major concern.

Also the low interest rates are not benefiting everyone.   Many people are being hurt in that banks are not paying much in the way of interest on bank accounts.   Not everyone wants to put their money in an investment where there is risk of losing the principle.   A lot of people have lost a source of income because the banks are not paying much in the way of interests on their deposits.

In regards to low inflation, if you are unemployed you would rather have a higher inflation and higher employment rate.   Also many employed workers have not gotten cost living raise in many years so salaries are not keeping up with inflation-even if the inflation rate is low.  Low salaries and high unemployment keep the inflation rate low because of the reduced demand for goods and surfaces and labor costs are not increasing.

During 2008, the Panda Bear was hearing economists stating things that sounded straight out of Orwell's 1984.   She would hear on the news the economy was improving because it was the rate was slowing in which the economy declined.   Then the economists stated the recession was over when large numbers of people were acutely suffering.   When the Panda Bear heard that statement she thought there were probably a lot of unemployed economists looking for jobs in the Obama administration.

The Panda Bear wishes to enjoy the rest of her Friday by reading a good book.  She hopes to resume posting on her regular bi-weekly schedule.

The Panda Bear on Unengaged Workers, Capitalistic Socialism, and Job Interviews

2014-06-18T18:49:00.001-04:00

The Panda Bear has found an article from a learned professor and former CEO called Fixing the 'I Hate Work Blues' on the Harvard Business School website.   It describes how most first level workers feel overworked and underappreciated.     They feel micromanaged and are disengaged from their jobs.    The article says poor worker morale hurts the organization.   Managers need to learn how to lead rather than nitpick at their workers.

The Panda Bear Blog is a blog by a humble first level employee who agrees with the article as she experiences these problems in her work day first hand.   She feels that all her energies are going to a job that is stressful and has gotten stale.   She feels more workers need to come out and express their dissatisfaction for there to be a change for the better in the nature of employment.

Many social critics have complained that the US has gotten somewhat socialistic in that there is an alliance between business and the government.   The Panda Bear thinks the US has gone socialist with a certain lower level segment of the workforce.   We aren't supposed to be working for our own advancement and welfare but for the "good of society".   Growing up the Panda Bear always heard the idea of working for the social good while sounded nice in theory did not work in practice; workers did their best when they felt they profited from own efforts.

However many workers the Panda Bear talks to nowadays feel that projects that may improve things for the organization are nothing but more work for and pressure for them.   The Panda Bear might accept some idea of working for the good of the society.   However, the Panda Bear feels that the rewards that she is not getting in terms of money and respect are not going to the disadvantaged but to higher ups who make a lot of money and coworkers who don't treat her very well.

The Panda Bear got this joke on Facebook from the Occupy movement.    The question is how many capitalists (the joke also works if you use the term manager) does it take to change a light bulb.   The answer is none-it takes workers.    (Another statement she got from Facebook from the AFL-CIO she liked was "If you can read a book thank a teacher, if you can read a book at night thank an electrician.").

Of course the problems of the employed are made worse by the high unemployment rate.   Employers feel little incentive to change because turnover is low.  Employees are supposed to be happily (happy that they have jobs) unhappy (they don't like their job and don't want to be there).   In a previous post, the Panda Bear stated that a high unemployment rate benefited the military in that military gets a steady supply of recruits because they can't find other employers.   A high unemployment rate also benefits employers. Labor costs are kept low.   Managers don't have to constantly be recruiting and replacing employees.   Salaries are kept down.   In the Panda Bear's experience, employers are much nicer to employees when there is a high turnover.

As readers of the Panda Bear Blog know, the Panda Bear herself embarked on a job search when the office forbade the workers to have plants (micromanagement).   The Panda Bear has not yet found a job but she has been getting interviews which she has heard some people cannot get.  The Panda Bear has been in her job for nine years.   In a good economy she thinks the shelf life of her job would be four to six years.

The Panda Bear has found some elements of the interviewing process have change in the past nine years.   It has improved in that there is an initial phone interview where in the past first interviews were always done in person which required the Panda Bear to take time off from work.

In the beginning of the post, the Panda Bear said employees felt unappreciated for the hard work they do. When going for interviews, the Panda Bear has heard from managers of other organizations that the Panda Bear has a heavier than average workload for the industry.   However, the Panda Bear hears no praise for this when she is at work.   The managers somehow make one feel stupid for working so hard.   Instead of thanking the employees for their hard work, the managers say they will automate the process to make it easier making the Panda Bear feel like she is stupid for doing so much.

Since it a tight job market, the Panda Bear is trying to interview with as many organizations as possible to get practice interviewing so she would seem more smooth(in the past when the Panda Bear had a job she could be somewhat selective about interviews).   This strategy appears to be working as last week the Panda Bear went on an interview where the manager said she seemed very relaxed for the interview.

The Panda Bear has heard that it is a terrible mistake to seem nervous at an interview.   In general the Panda Bear has heard that at work one is supposed to exude confidence.   However, the Panda Bear thinks she has discovered a major problem in US industry.   It is overly concerned with "approach" not with results.   The Panda Bear has seem extremely incompetent people say they know everything; they get jobs and fail.   Some highly qualified people appreciate the risks and know their limits but don't get jobs because they seem apprehensive.   To paraphrase Alexander Pope-fools can rush in where wise people fear to tread.