Got any burning assistant-related questions? Just want to know what my favorite color is? You can ask me anything at Formspring.
Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
In a totally depressing article, the Daily Mail reports that one third of women in the UK claim they have experienced sexual harassment at the workplace. Some lowlights:
- 14 percent are “dreading” going to their holiday party because they’ll have to dodge a drunk and/or handsy coworker
- 20 percent say they have had to fend off a coworker’s sexual advances
- 5 percent report that they have quit a job because the office harassment was so bad
- 32 percent say that they have experienced harassment in the form of lewd “humor” or inappropriate jokes
However, that’s not the only disheartening thing about this article. The recommended reading link in the middle of the article links to something entitled “Moody, indecisive, and trying to act like a man, why ladies make truly lousy bosses.” Seriously? I have two things to say to the author of that piece: one, it’s called a colon and you should try using one, and two, shut up.
IT IS NATIONAL CAPSLOCK DAY.
DO WITH THAT INFORMATION WHAT YOU WILL.
In yet another installment of Naked Picture Week here on STA, word comes from the UK that Labo(u)r party deputy leader Harriet Harman wants to push legislation that would ban people tacking up nude or seminude photos at work. I have to admit - maybe that’s common in the UK, but I have never seen anyone do that in the US. I mean, even stupid people know that having pictures of naked people up in your office is pretty much asking for a talking-to from somebody in HR. Maybe this is just another example of Americans being more prudish than Brits - who knows? Anyhow, Ms. Harman deems the act of putting up naked pictures (including calendars or pinups) to be tantamount to harrassment. What do you think? I went for a cheap shot with this photo, obviously.
Bee Shaffer, the daughter of Vogue editrice/notorious boss Anna Wintour, is just like a regular person! She may get to join Mom in the front rows of fashion shows, but she took a less predictable route by studying theater at Columbia University. Now that Bee is out of school, she’s applying for jobs - and, oddly, hasn’t had much luck. Yes, it turns out that the recession affects even the daughters of legendary magazine editors. According to the New York Daily News:
The 22-year-old former Teen Vogue contributing editor went on a staggering 24 interviews since graduating from Columbia in May - all of them unsuccessful.
Part of me wants to be all bitter and “well, I sent out easily 200 resumes without getting a single interview, so suck it up already,” but part of me is also like “man, if it’s hard for this girl, imagine how bad it is for everyone else.” I think it’s safe to say that no one likes the job search process, especially when it’s your first job. Going on dozens of interviews and not having any of them pan out is embarrassing and disheartening. [I think Post Grad covered that fairly well.] Repeated job rejection getting to be a universal human experience, and that’s pretty depressing.
So, good luck, Bee, and I admire that you’re choosing a career other than the one where it would be super easy for you.
Hi everyone, it’s Lilit here. I’m back from spending three weeks in Israel on a fellowship. It’s the longest I’ve ever been away from STA, and I had some major withdrawal. Luckily, the awesome triumvirate of Ashley, Garrett, and Heather were here to take care of STA in my absence. They did a great job and I’m so happy to count them as friends and co-conspirators. Not only that, but I’m also happy to get back to work. So expect a ton of posts over the next couple of days as I get over my jet lag and get back to my obsession with all things assistanty.
I recently saw 9 to 5 the Musical on Broadway. I saw it on a Thursday night after a particularly frustrating day at work and this was definitely the cure. Alison Janney, Megan Hilty and Stephanie J. Block were hilarious and had great chemistry together. I wished they worked in my office instead of the one other female who thinks she’s a princess and creates drama.
Dolly Parton, hero to STA, did an amazing job with the music and it took the story to another level entirely. The fantasy sequences were my favorite. Their takes on getting even with the boss were exhilarating. Kathy Fitzgerald stole the show as Roz singing in the bathroom in her musical number. I don’t know about you but I’ve had days when I wish I could escape to the ladies room and belt out a tune.
The musical also showed how far women have come in the workplace as well as how far we have to go. There are so many things in the show that they accomplished that are status quo these days. I think it is important to understand what the women before us overcame in the workplace so we can fully appreciate their progress. 9 to 5 is a fun way to do this.
Grab a couple of your assistant friends after work, go to TKTS and get discounted tickets for 9 to 5 the Musical. It’s more fun than happy hour. You can follow them on twitter @tdfnyc to see if they have tickets on sale that day. Tickets are subject to availability. You may leave the office defeated but you will leave the theater with a smile on your face.
- Heather
Hi all - STA-cofounder Ashley here. It’s been a while, but Lilit is off journeying (again) and has asked me and a few other fellow bloggers to blogsit for her. Everything will proceed as normal… hopefully. I think last time I blogsat for Lilit there was some kind of porn situation in our newsletter. Stupid hacked Photobucket account.
Posts will be a bit less frequent but still just as entertaining and workplace distraction-worthy. Feel free to comment and email as usual.
Cheers,
Ashley
bernie madoff assistant
As a reality TV junkie, I’m used to fellow junkies trying to come up with explanations/justifications for their habit. One common answer is that humans like to watch people who are in worse situations than us so that we can think to ourselves “At least I’m not trapped in a horrible relationship with Spencer fucking Pratt” and thus improve our own self-esteem. Over on Beliefnet, blogger Hillary Fields discusses her feelings about the Bernie Madoff scandal, admitting that she got a little joy out of knowing that a former evil boss of hers had been a Madoff client:
Could I be remembering it right? I recalled thinking at the time that the enormous profits she’d been reaping (I couldn’t help peeking while I was photocopying, though I tried not to) seemed far out of line with what the market was doing at the time, though I was no expert.) Thinking about it, I was pretty sure my mean former boss was indeed a client of the world’s largest Ponzi schemer.
And I was feeling pretty gleeful about it.
Would you share a similar feeling of schadenfreude? Or would you manage to dredge up some remorse for the person who screamed at you and called you names? I can’t say I would take the high road, honestly.
Remember when the economy first started to tank and all these big companies were getting bailouts? There was a fun buzzword - buyout sex - for employees of companies that were about to go under and figured protocol didn’t matter anymore. Now, there’s the more broad recession sex, which is when people have lost their jobs and are thus poor and have a lot of free time, so they start boning more often.
AdAge, of all places, has an article about this trend. The news hook for them is that sales of personal lubricants and “sexual enhancement devices” are way up.
“When the economy goes down, sex goes up,” said a Johnson & Johnson [who makes K&Y Jelly] spokesman by way of explanation, but he and the brand team declined to elaborate on why their products seem to be booming when the economy isn’t.
“These seem to be products people are actually gravitating toward in a recession,” Mr. Daniels said. “I’m not a psychologist, so I don’t know why that is. We are seeing people spending more time at home. We’re seeing people’s relationships being stressed. We’re seeing people looking for means to reconnect with their partner and invest in relationships. In some cases, people may have more time on their hands if they’re not working.”
Isn’t this the same reason why there’s always a mini baby boom nine months after a hurricane or blackout - people are stuck at home with no TV or internet and need something to keep them occupied? Regardless, if you can’t afford to go out and buy things, you might as well stay home and get it on.