Thanks to STA reader Kristine for sending along this article from the Wall Street Journal.
According to the WSJ, the current generation of people entering the workforce (btw, that’s probably you) are the most overpraised generation in history. Raised by parents who constantly told them how beautiful, special, and perfect they were, they expect that same kind of constant positive reinforcement at the office. While most articles on this topic take a very self-righteous “kids these days” tone, author Jeffrey Zaslow takes a somewhat more nuanced look at the situation, even citing a recent study showing that “the average college student in 2006 was 30% more narcissistic than the average student in 1982.”
So how are workplaces handling this wave of new workers? If they’re anything like my former boss, they continue being giant douchebags and don’t give any praise, let alone constant praise, but let’s imagine some of you work at a company more like the ones in Zaslow’s article than the one where I unhappily toiled. Lands’ End Bank of America, for example, even hired a “celebrations assistant” whose job is to praise workers for doing something well by buying balloons, tossing confetti, or passing around a card for everybody to sign. That could either be a really fun job or the most obnoxious one in the world: I’m on the fence about it.
For more about the phenomenon of the narcissistic worker and how different age groups ask for praise at work, check out this article.
Ryan Phillippe is currently starring in the film Stop-Loss and doing his first round of press since being the bad guy in his divorce from Reese Witherspoon. He’s doing what he can to look like a good person, even though the entire world knows he cheated on Reese with his costar in the very same movie he is currently doing publicity for. Ryan claims he has a core group of close guy friends, and names two of them: actor Breckin Meyer and “my personal assistant.” This personal assistant, of course, has no name. It’s possible said assistant is a quiet, lowkey kind of dude who doesn’t want his name floating around in the press. Or it’s possible that Ryan Phillippe is a giant tool.
[Pictured: Ryan and Breckin. I'm positive the mysterious third BFF is standing right behind Ryan and just didn't fit in the frame.]
That said…would you feel bad if you were supposedly BFF with two fairly well-paid working actors and the best you could do was working for one of them as a PA? Or would it be worse to be reduced to starring in the movie version of Garfield? It’s a tough call, really. We’ll never be able to dislike Breckin Meyer thanks to his awesome role in Clueless, and we’ve always thought that the reason he doesn’t get as much work is because Hollywood has a bias against short dudes who aren’t also crazy Scientologists. Regardless, we toss the question to you, readers: would you rather be Ryan Phillippe’s personal assistant, or Breckin Meyer? Tell us in the comments.
Kristin “Billie” Davis (not to be confused with Sex and the City star Kristin “Charlotte” Davis) was the proprietress of Wicked Models, a high priced call girl ring which has just landed in the news thanks to one of their patrons, fallen New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Davis was just arrested for money laundering, but her connection to Spitzer has made her–and her ‘girls’ tabloid fodder for the past few days. And it turns out one of these ‘girls’ was Jessica Cutler (below), a former Washington, DC staffer whose notorious sex blog Washingtonienne gave her fifteen minutes of fame, a book deal, and a Playboy spread. Cutler, who is identified on Wicked Models’ site as “Brooke,” apparently started working for the agency when her roommate got hired as Davis’ personal assistant.
Now, there’s one person whose task list we are dying to see. “Pick up jumbo packs of condoms,” perhaps? “Clean and sanitize all sex toys”? “Update calendar with regular sex appointments”?
If the roommate/assistant ever wants to write a memoir, we’re first in line to buy it.
We hadn’t heard of Australian “music guru” Molly Meldrum (below), but we’re all ready to declare him an awesome boss. Molly’s longtime personal assistant, Yael Cohn, recently gave birth to a son, Jacob. Not only is Molly totally cool with Yael bringing her baby to work, Molly joins in and helps care for the infant so Yael can get work done. Very few working mothers get opportunities even close to that one, and even fewer assistants. Kudos to Molly, Yael, and little Jacob for their role in reconfiguring the modern workplace.
So, there’s this woman, Rita Konig, who writes a blog for Domino magazine. The blog, “Girl About Town,” deals with NYC hotspots, beauty, fashion, and more. A recent blog post made fun of the Jason Croy Salon, a West Village institution that lost its lease to a Marc Jacobs store. Many commenters on her blog (and Jason Croy himself) lambasted Rita for her universal praise of all things Marc Jacobs (below: one of his bags, which we covet), correctly assuming her preference for the designer brand was based on her continual swag from them. Check out the following comment:
I know you have to blow Marc Jacobs at every opportunity, given all the swag he undoubtedly sends your way, but is there really a need to take such a cheap and baseless shot at Jason Croy, owner of the salon you’re sooo happy to see go? You obviously never set foot in the place before you sent an assistant to the MJ opening party to score a goody bag, the contents of which you had her sell for you on e-Bay.
In case you weren’t sure, Radar makes it very clear: “While selling magazine swag for personal gain is a fireable offense, selling a party giftbag is just tacky.” And tacky is the last thing a fashion/beauty/blog assistant ever wants to be, Rita Konig.
Last night’s finale of Celebrity Apprentice pitted “bad boy” Brit Piers Morgan (pictured below, the one who isn’t Donny Osmond) against aw-shucks American Heartland dude Trace Adkins. And, because it’s a business show, the nice guy had to lose. After an evening of dealing with manufactured drama from the four remaining members of the Backstreet Boys and some uncomfortable “jokes” about homophobia, Piers pulled out a victory.
I know the guy was portrayed as kind of a douche, but he had the good sense to hate Omarosa before even getting to know her, and he was really nice to Paul Potts when the underdog won Britain’s Got Talent (the show Piers is a judge on back home).
In the ongoing saga of Natavia Lowery, former personal assistant to celeb realtor Linda Stein (pictured below), Lowery was today denied bail. She’s in jail, charged with murdering Stein. However, recently DNA from an unidentified male was found in Stein’s sink, which means it’s possible a male killer washed his hands in the sink. Adding to the drama, Lowery is also five months pregnant.
More on this story is on CNN.
Ever sat staring at the pile of faxes that came in yesterday and thought about how many trees died to create your busywork?
Yeah, you’re not the only one. The folks over at The Green Workplace have great resources about everything from sustainable business practices (working from home!) to tips for using more environmentally safe products at the office. It’s highly worth a look–and a couple of forwards around the office.
