Imagine where we’d be without them!
Tag Archive for work
While You Shop, Do This
Use your immense power as a consumer. Ask where items you’re buying are made. Why? Activists to Retailers: Shoppers Need to Know Who’s Making the Clothes explains. Here’s a short excerpt:
“Consumers have more power than they think. If a store manager has their shoppers asking questions about where their clothes are being sourced, we think they are more likely to listen….In an industry where garment companies pocket huge profits whilst workers are being exploited…we want brands to listen to those who produce and buy their clothes.
“Asking a question as simple as ‘Who is making my clothes?’ takes into consideration how workers are being treated, where materials are coming from, and whether or not your clothing has been made sustainably. On average, garment workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and India receive 70 cents an hour for their 12-hour work days and live in poverty. Publishing supplier lists is one way to help consumers start shopping responsibly and improve conditions for garment workers.”
READ MORE AT http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/12/02/fashion-suppliers
Thanksgiving Prayer
Here’s a very simple act that we can all perform each day: offer up the “Thanksgiving Prayer.” Not just at Thanksgiving, but all year long. Because prayer transforms us, allowing God to transform the world through us.
Oh, God, when I have food, help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work, help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a warm home, help me to remember the homeless;
When I am without pain, help me to remember those who suffer;
And remembering, help me to destroy my complacency and bestir
my compassion.
Make me concerned enough to help, by word and deed, those who
cry out for what we take for granted.
—Samuel F. Phgh
Why We Bother Working
Sometimes we feel all we do is work, work, work. And to what end? Today’s Thursday Thought gives a glimpse into the future.
“Our work is to sow. Another generation will be reaping the harvest.” (Dorothy Day, Aims and Purposes) — So let’s get to work!
Are You Donating $162,000 a Year?
Salary.com has added up the monetary worth of a parent who stays at home to care for his or her child: $162,000. That’s $5,000 more that last year. If you are in that position (although not getting the money), you know the myriad of jobs being a stay-at-home parent entails. And next time you’re asked, “Do you work?” you should reply, “Yes. I earn $162,000 a year but I donate it all.”
Extending Thanksgiving
Let’s extend Thanksgiving a day…no, a lifetime. If prayer (or God) isn’t your thing, substitute whatever guiding force you use in your life, maybe simply “Conscience.” It’s the content here that matters, not necessarily who we express it to.
Thanksgiving Prayer
Oh, God, when I have food, help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work, help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a warm home, help me to remember the homeless;
When I am without pain, help me to remember those who suffer;
And remembering, help me to destroy my complacency and bestir
my compassion.
Make me concerned enough to help, by word and deed, those who
cry out for what we take for granted. — Samuel F. Phgh
I Get the Caravan
I’ve been watching those 3000, then 5000, then 7000 migrants in the caravan from Honduras through Mexico toward the U.S. I’ve heard the statements–none of which have been observed or proven–about the group containing criminals, gang-members, and mid-Eastern terrorists. As I look into their faces on the news I put myself in their midst.
Since I’ve been widowed I’ve been urged to move into a smaller home or apartment in a more affordable area. I think about it and realize I would be giving up all that I’m familiar and comfortable with, like my friends, local family, my church, the city I grew up in, and neighbors who support me. I’d move to an area where I’d have to learn to navigate new roads and find the best shopping. I’d face people with different attitudes towards us senior citizens and/or disabled. My new location would require new ways of doing things, new challenges for me to adapt to. In short, it would likely take a long, uncomfortable while to become “home.”
I believe that these souls who are walking thousands of miles carrying a few meager belongings and their children are just what they say they are. I believe they are giving up their homes and all they held dear to escape violence, danger, death, and poverty that never ended despite their hard work. I believe they’re looking for a better life where fear and uncertainty is not a daily occurrence. I believe they are willing to work hard to give their children a chance to survive and grow into productive adults.
I’d be leaving behind so much less than they are, taking a far less of a chance than they are, working a lot less hard than they will have to work to achieve their new life.
And I have a real choice, while they do not. I get it.
Help for the Weary Caregiver
Many of us find ourselves in the position of being a primary caregiver, whether to a child, a spouse, a parent, or a grandparent. Yet, we need to keep our jobs, too. This makes for a very full–and tiring–life. But we do it out of love.
There are ways to ease our burden of love, though. AARP has a few tips to do just that. Learn about those tips at their Balancing Work & Caregiving.
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balance, caregiver, child, grandparent, job, parent, spouse, tips, work
Funny Things You Hear on Take Your Child to Work Day
What’s your reaction to today’s Take Your Child to Work Day? The kid loves it, and it’s great parent-child bonding. But how do people react? Read on. (Taken from Take Your Child To Work Day’ Quotes: 10 Funny Sayings You Can Share At The Office.)
“Sorry, but your child told your boss what you really think.”
“I actually look forward to Take Your Daughter to Work Day. I’m not great with kids, but I want to get better. Because I’m getting married. So I put on a bunch of extra candy on my desk so the kids will come talk to me. Like the witch in ‘Hansel and Gretel.’” — Pam Beasley from “The Office”
“I like kids, but this not a kids environment. This is like HBO, no limits. Who knows what I’m going to say, crazy stuff, and it is R-rated, it is not rated G. I am like Eddie Murphy in ‘Raw,’ and they are trying to make me into Eddie Murphy in ‘Daddy Daycare.’ Both great movies, but still.” — Michael Scott from “The Office”
“Now that I’ve seen you explain your job to your child, I realize how little you actually do.”
“Take your child to work day is a wonderful opportunity to pull the fire alarm and blame the children.”
“I noticed on take your kids to work day that your child was actually better at your job than you are.”
“I’m bringing my kids to work so they can see why I’m such a bitch when I get home.”
“Taking my kid to work will only further reinforce my fear that I can be easily replaced by a six year old.”
“Today our office will be overrun by smaller and even whinier versions of ourselves.”
“I refuse to take my kids to work because they’re so much more talented on those computer things than I am.”
Guilt-Free Chocolate
What is the first secular thing that comes to mind with the word “Easter”? Chocolate, of course. Chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies…gobs of chocolate that make our minds twitch with guilty pleasure.
How about guilt-free chocolate? The pounds may stay, but not regrets about how that yummy stuff got to us. The same with coffee, tea, rice, sugar, juice, honey, wine, flowers, crafts–all sorts of things that often reach our homes through the mistreatment of people in other countries. Many, often young children, work under harsh conditions to support their families. But it’s the only work available. The FAIR-TRADE MOVEMENT aims to change this, to provide employment, fair wages, decent conditions, and money that goes back into their communities for health and education. This is not “free trade,” which is political, among nations, but “fair trade,” valuing the well-being of people.
Participate by buying products on-line (Google “Fair Trade”) or at Safeway, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Cost Plus, Peet’s, Starbucks, and elsewhere. Watch for the “Fair Trade” symbol on packages. Ask the manager. Make your interest known. Then, maybe just one more nibble wouldn’t hurt….
