Trigger Warnings

Off Topic Politics & World Issues
81

[quote]cwill1973 wrote:

[quote]MaximusB wrote:
I would love all of your opinions on this…

Should government pass laws to address chronic truancy in schools ? It’s an idea being tossed around over here.

AB 1866 would fund the modernization of the state’s absenteeism tracking system, allowing all local school districts to do what Compton did: accurately track attendance and build early warning systems to identify and assist at-risk children. And as a statewide system, it would also allow for efficient access to students’ attendance history as they move from district to district.

AB 1643 would require each county to create a school attendance review board. In Compton, we’ve been helped by the collaboration of administrators, educators, parents and other parties addressing truancy through the use of community as well as school resources. These review boards would institutionalize that effort and support wraparound services for parents struggling to keep their children in school.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-brown-compton-truancy-california-20140520-story.html[/quote]

Only if you believe the government owns your child.
[/quote]

There is no desire to own your child; they only want to borrow them for revenue generation.

82

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
He’s a good negotiator too and every so often I actually have to fall back to the old, “because I’m your FATHER and I SAID SO”. [/quote]

I try very hard, very hard, not to do this, mainly because I want my kids to think about what they do and understand the purpose behind why I do and say what I do and say, so they grow up to have purpose behind their actions, and actually think about things before just doing.

BUt sometimes, it is the unavoidable answer lmao… I know I have a reason they shouldn’t be doing something, but explaining that to a 2 year old is fruitless, lol. And sometimes the 16 year old just needs a proverbial boot in the ass.

I crack the joke all the time “if my kids didn’t want me to beat them, they wouldn’t try so hard.” But in realty both my kids are well behaved and well mannered so I should complain.
[/quote]

I’m right there with you - I try not to fall back on it, but sometimes it’s just a contest of wills and he just needs to shut the fuck up and do what I say. And for the MOST part he is spot on with it. It’s only every once in a while he tries to test the boundaries and see what he can get away with. At that point, I don’t care what his argument is - it’s about principal! LOL I’ll be damned if I’m going to explain myself to a seventeen year old who is just pushing limits. In reality, I have no business complaining about him at all - he’s an amazing young man and I respect the hell out of him. But while he’s living in MY house, he has to know who the boss is!

83

[quote]SexMachine wrote:
So kids read about the joys of fisting in 3rd grade then are warned about reading The Great Gatsby at university? No wonder kids are so fucked up these days.[/quote]

It’s more concerning to me that the Great Gatsby is considered college level reading.

84

[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
I would have some smart ass comment about all your northeastern pansies and California weirdo’s but unfortunately I cant. My dad was just telling me the other day that he had made three guys cry and two had quit because he yelled at them, on an offshore drilling rig. He said he hadn’t even gotten harsh, a mildly raised voice with no cursing and one of them literally looked at him and said, “You don’t have to yell at me.” If I would have ever said that growing up I think my dad would have whopped me upside the head and worked me to the bone just to toughen me up. I cant wrap my head around this type of behavior. These people couldn’t have ever played sports or anything growing up. [/quote]

I got some of the best tongue lashings and put downs from coaches playing high school and college football haha.

My dad and granddad (ww2 vet) were also very good at doling out criticism when my young ass needed it in a stern forceful way. Our society today is turning out pussies and just plain spineless, ignorant, gutless, cowardly, and pathetic grown men in record numbers.

And I agree, if I had said that bullshit about not yelling at me… They would have knocked some sense into me and been disappointed I even shared the same genetics as them.

85

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:

[quote]SexMachine wrote:
So kids read about the joys of fisting in 3rd grade then are warned about reading The Great Gatsby at university? No wonder kids are so fucked up these days.[/quote]

It’s more concerning to me that the Great Gatsby is considered college level reading. [/quote]

Haha, good point.

In an American Lit course, I suppose it is essential, but for the most part it’s high school reading.

As an aside, I’ve always considered it among the most overrated pieces of literature in “the canon.” Which is not to say it isn’t good–it is. But I don’t think it’s great.

86

[quote]smh_23 wrote:

I say this in utter sincerity, without a shred of sarcasm: Goddamn liberal pussies.[/quote]

I have so far seen two articles about this in Finnish media. Funny stuff. And weird. Material for the column odd things from the world.

87

[quote]smh_23 wrote:

[quote]usmccds423 wrote:

[quote]SexMachine wrote:
So kids read about the joys of fisting in 3rd grade then are warned about reading The Great Gatsby at university? No wonder kids are so fucked up these days.[/quote]

It’s more concerning to me that the Great Gatsby is considered college level reading. [/quote]

Haha, good point.

In an American Lit course, I suppose it is essential, but for the most part it’s high school reading.

As an aside, I’ve always considered it among the most overrated pieces of literature in “the canon.” Which is not to say it isn’t good–it is. But I don’t think it’s great.[/quote]

Was the only book I had to get the cliffs for and settled for a C on the paper/test.

I just couldn’t. I tried later in life too and just couldn’t do it. Fitzgerald just didn’t do it for me in any way.

Maybe I’ll try again at 35.

88

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

Perhaps, but the title of her article - which I left off - is "No trigger warnings in my class: Why you won’t find them on my syllabi ".

So it seems that you have more in common with a large, black, female Gender and African Studies Professor than you thought.

[/quote]

As a complete aside, I actually do have a “trigger warning” in my sociology syllabus. However, this is under a completely different set of circumstances because I am dealing with the a) compulsory education of b) 14-18 year-old students and c) I have the trigger warning there, by my own choice, due to the sensitive nature of some topics discussed in this elective class. It’s actually saved me some potential backlash by weeding out the occasional, albeit rare, hypersensitive type of kid who is either not ready or not willing to discuss certain controversial social topics away from the comfort of his or her own home, church, etc.

Oh, and in regards to Gatsby, I’ve always had a soft spot for the 1970s film version with Robert Redford. Nevertheless, I agree that F. Scott is largely overrated.

89

All hail Hemingway.

90

[quote]JR249 wrote:
in my sociology syllabus. [/quote]

I credit my college sociology professor with a lot actually. One of 3 teachers/professors in my school life I can, without a doubt say, made such a significant impact on my life it changed it forever.

He was a hardcore leftist. Statist of the highest order. Played the class warfare spins, evil corporations, Bush was the icon of why America was a horrid place, the whole nine.

Within all this, he did enlighten me quite a bit. At that age I ate up his leftist utopian fantasy with a vigor unrivaled. If it wasn’t for booze and vagina I would have actually studied it and fallen in the rabbit hole. But he did point out some things that I’ll never forget, and now are, in a lot of ways, the foundation of why I think his ideas and leftist leanings are largely bullshit.

91

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]JR249 wrote:
in my sociology syllabus. [/quote]

I credit my college sociology professor with a lot actually. One of 3 teachers/professors in my school life I can, without a doubt say, made such a significant impact on my life it changed it forever.

He was a hardcore leftist. Statist of the highest order. Played the class warfare spins, evil corporations, Bush was the icon of why America was a horrid place, the whole nine.

Within all this, he did enlighten me quite a bit. At that age I ate up his leftist utopian fantasy with a vigor unrivaled. If it wasn’t for booze and vagina I would have actually studied it and fallen in the rabbit hole. But he did point out some things that I’ll never forget, and now are, in a lot of ways, the foundation of why I think his ideas and leftist leanings are largely bullshit.[/quote]

Wow, you and I had almost the same experience.

My undergrad sociology professor was perhaps a slight tick to the right of Marx. As politically and philosophically wrong as you can possibly be.

And yet, the intellectual vigor; the utter unwillingness to listen to even a single word of bullshit, whether it was Right-wing or Left-wing; the frankness–it always stuck with me.

I’ll never forget, his first lecture was about MADD as a microcosm of everything that is fatuous and stupid and wrong-headed about American society and politics. Fuckin’ awesome.

92

These are the reasons why I would never be admitted to a university faculty in the sociology department - my research interests and curriculum vitae, should I choose to pursue a PhD, would never pass the scrutiny of requisite social activism that is required of some many in academia in that field of study. That’s not an insult to anyone who is left of center, it’s just the truth - conservatives and libertarians are rare in the college of arts and sciences at most universities, especially sociology.

93

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]ZJStrope wrote:

I feel for you Beans, I really, really do.
[/quote]

Nah, it isn’t that bad. You get a good egg everyone once in awhile, and I work small firm so we can trim the fat pretty easy. Big firms have HR departments and have to coddle the snowflakes… We can melt the fuckers, lol.

I could go on and on here with examples of the piss poor life skills these kids are coming up with now a-days… but I’ll save it for now. [/quote]

I want to hear more about this if you would share. Particularly interesting would be an example or two of someone you made cry at work (you indicated that in another post) – what were they doing or lacking, and what did you tell them?

What I’m trying to get at is if they’re truly dumb fucks or if you’re super critical and they’re hearing serious constructive criticism for the first time and it’s overwhelming them. An example of a dumb fuck would be an early 20s type constantly missing deadlines that should be easy to meet b/c they’re screwing around all day and not producing work.

94

[quote]BPCorso wrote:
what were they doing or lacking,[/quote]

Two prominent cases stand out in my mind.

Case 1: He was trying too hard. He was trying to go over and above, which is typically commendable, but if you do the opposite of the simple directions you are given in that pursuit you are a dipshit.

He was clearly told to check a set of numbers we’ll call A for simplicity, and not to worry about the set of numbers B. Well he kept checking B over and over, even after being told multiple times to stop doing it. (It wasn’t that B was over his head, he was just checking them to the wrong place, so he would never know if they were right or wrong.)

After the 2nd or 3rd time he failed to listen I started giving the criticism publicly. (The fastest way to break an ego is public criticism of their work, and he had a serious ego. Hence the "I can ignore instruction, I’m so good they’ll love me for not following instruction, because I’m awesome.)

Well one day he called me “chief” and that was it. I called him into a room and ran up one side of him and down the other in a calm, professional way. I did however point out each and every flaw in his game. He welled up then, and broke down in sobs with one of the other girls at work later.

His work was fine for someone his experience level, but his ego couldn’t handle being told he wasn’t king of the mountain, and needed to improve, like the rest of us.

Case 2: He was just a super effeminate boy who had been working with the girls for 2 years and was spoon fed everything. So, seeing as I don’t spoon feed, coddle or otherwise wipe the ass of anyone over the age of 2, when he came to work for me it was a culture shock.

I was calm and professional, but he couldn’t handle being told he made that many mistakes.

I mean, he booked the cash activity for the year for a client. He booked the breakout between interest and principle based off the amortization schedules, and then didn’t understand why I said it was unacceptable he had a variance on his interest reasonableness test. This is hard to explain how just totally stupid this is in analogy if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

He had a set of data: cash activity for the year, and amortization tables. He recorded the activity based off that data. Then, when he ran a proof came up with a variance… AND LEFT IT! He fucking proved out in formula that he made a mistake somewhere, and passed it on, not because he was too lazy, but because he didn’t even understand he had just proven he was wrong the entire time.

Things like this were constant, and I pointed each one out to him. He just lacked basic, fundamental accounting 101 skills. So having this pointed out to him and trying to teach it to him because “he is just so mean, all he ever does is point out my mistakes. It’s like he doesn’t care about all those hours on tax returns I did or any of that.”

To be fair, no I don’t give a flying fuck about that. I can train a monkey to input returns. I could grab a 14 year old off the street and teach them to do it. I need people that will progress PAST input of returns, not hang their hat on it.

A lot. But basically just point out mistakes.

Given that definition of dumbfuck, it is the second explanation.

I’m not easy to work for, don’t get me wrong, however I’m not a tyrant either. I’m not just bashing people and shitting on them to make myself feel better. I just have high expectations, and let you know if you don’t meet them in an acceptable way.

95

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]BPCorso wrote:
what were they doing or lacking,[/quote]

Two prominent cases stand out in my mind.

Case 1: He was trying too hard. He was trying to go over and above, which is typically commendable, but if you do the opposite of the simple directions you are given in that pursuit you are a dipshit.

He was clearly told to check a set of numbers we’ll call A for simplicity, and not to worry about the set of numbers B. Well he kept checking B over and over, even after being told multiple times to stop doing it. (It wasn’t that B was over his head, he was just checking them to the wrong place, so he would never know if they were right or wrong.)

After the 2nd or 3rd time he failed to listen I started giving the criticism publicly. (The fastest way to break an ego is public criticism of their work, and he had a serious ego. Hence the "I can ignore instruction, I’m so good they’ll love me for not following instruction, because I’m awesome.)

Well one day he called me “chief” and that was it. I called him into a room and ran up one side of him and down the other in a calm, professional way. I did however point out each and every flaw in his game. He welled up then, and broke down in sobs with one of the other girls at work later.

His work was fine for someone his experience level, but his ego couldn’t handle being told he wasn’t king of the mountain, and needed to improve, like the rest of us.

Case 2: He was just a super effeminate boy who had been working with the girls for 2 years and was spoon fed everything. So, seeing as I don’t spoon feed, coddle or otherwise wipe the ass of anyone over the age of 2, when he came to work for me it was a culture shock.

I was calm and professional, but he couldn’t handle being told he made that many mistakes.

I mean, he booked the cash activity for the year for a client. He booked the breakout between interest and principle based off the amortization schedules, and then didn’t understand why I said it was unacceptable he had a variance on his interest reasonableness test. This is hard to explain how just totally stupid this is in analogy if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

He had a set of data: cash activity for the year, and amortization tables. He recorded the activity based off that data. Then, when he ran a proof came up with a variance… AND LEFT IT! He fucking proved out in formula that he made a mistake somewhere, and passed it on, not because he was too lazy, but because he didn’t even understand he had just proven he was wrong the entire time.

Things like this were constant, and I pointed each one out to him. He just lacked basic, fundamental accounting 101 skills. So having this pointed out to him and trying to teach it to him because “he is just so mean, all he ever does is point out my mistakes. It’s like he doesn’t care about all those hours on tax returns I did or any of that.”

To be fair, no I don’t give a flying fuck about that. I can train a monkey to input returns. I could grab a 14 year old off the street and teach them to do it. I need people that will progress PAST input of returns, not hang their hat on it.

A lot. But basically just point out mistakes.

Given that definition of dumbfuck, it is the second explanation.

I’m not easy to work for, don’t get me wrong, however I’m not a tyrant either. I’m not just bashing people and shitting on them to make myself feel better. I just have high expectations, and let you know if you don’t meet them in an acceptable way. [/quote]

You sound like my boss. Get your simple mind numbing shit handled efficiently, you get 0 points for that because anyone could do that (they could, its simple payroll processing) then come to me and I will give you some real stuff to do, that I actually value. If you fuck it up, I will tell you how to do it, but you damn well better be able to ask intelligent questions and have tried to find the answer enough on your own that you have a beyond basic understanding of the material. Come to her with a lazy question that you could have found, or just a general so how do you do this, and you just bought yourself an ass chewing. Granted she is a little harder on me because she is training me to be her predecessor but I like being held to an higher standard. Just means she actually thinks I can do it, because if she thought she was wasting her time she wouldn’t bother biting my head off. (Unless it was a huge fuck-up, which has happened with a co-worker).

96

A large part of me feels like I am missing an opportunity by not going into a firm type job where I am using my accounting degree more, and I have forgotten a lot of from shear lack of use, but the hours are great here and most of the stuff we do is fairly simple.

Plus, when I do get her job it will be in the 80-90k range so that’s not half bad, especially to not have a CPA (haven’t filled the work requirement to take the test). I look at some of my counterparts though, kids I finished better than, and they are moving up faster than I am in other places. Kind of makes me wonder if I made the right choice.

97

I clicked on this thread thinking it was about some sort of warning about tricky triggers on some given firearm – you know, don’t shove a Glock in your pants without a holster or you’ll go off half-cocked.

Damn, I was disappointed.

98

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]BPCorso wrote:
what were they doing or lacking,[/quote]

Given that definition of dumbfuck, it is the second explanation.

I’m not easy to work for, don’t get me wrong, however I’m not a tyrant either. I’m not just bashing people and shitting on them to make myself feel better. I just have high expectations, and let you know if you don’t meet them in an acceptable way. [/quote]

Cut down your post for brevity. Thanks for the response, I like hearing stories like that from other people/offices.

I don’t think anything you did was out of line and no way should those two have freaking cried (in public no less) in response. The first guy calling you “chief” - holy shit that would’ve set me off. Having high expectations is a good thing b/c it forces people to do good work and that benefits people as they progress through their careers. Hell you mentioned you work for a small outfit and those types of shops can’t absorb lazy people or people don’t follow directions. There’s no where to hide and you will be exposed if you suck.

I think the transition from college to professional life is harsh for a lot of Americans these days b/c too many 20-somethings don’t ever want to lose the connection to what they perceive as the pinnacle of their lives - college. Good jobs at good companies require a higher level of expectations and attention to detail than many are prepared for. You can’t half ass work or directions like you can selectively do for college classes. You’re no longer working for yourself and your GPA, you are working for a company and you’re shitty work is screwing someone else and effectively their livelihoods.

Young people in their first jobs benefit from getting their shit together ASAP and accepting that a college lifestyle and the relaxed expectations that go with it are no longer acceptable. Not if you want to compete at a high level and make a good living in an office. When you realize that life is real serious and no one is going to pay you decent money to go through the motions and be mediocre, that’s when people grow up and become better. If anything, you did these guys a huge favor.

99

[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
Granted she is a little harder on me because she is training me to be her predecessor but I like being held to an higher standard.[/quote]

Grammar nazi time-
You mean “successor”, not “predecessor” =P

On topic-

Countingbeans, did those people you talk about have any actual “serious” work experience prior to working at your company?

I think, regardless of your upbringing and your experiences, your first real job in a “hard” environment will be a kick in the balls. It is one thing to receive criticism on paper and another entirely to receive it in person, for example.

100

[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
A large part of me feels like I am missing an opportunity by not going into a firm type job where I am using my accounting degree more, and I have forgotten a lot of from shear lack of use, but the hours are great here and most of the stuff we do is fairly simple.

Plus, when I do get her job it will be in the 80-90k range so that’s not half bad, especially to not have a CPA (haven’t filled the work requirement to take the test). I look at some of my counterparts though, kids I finished better than, and they are moving up faster than I am in other places. Kind of makes me wonder if I made the right choice. [/quote]

Life is full of second guessing past choices so my advice is to try not to stress over it too much. As far as your skills from your accounting degree, you can always practice that stuff in your own free time if you really want to. Even if you’ve forgotten a lot it’s always easier to refresh old skills than learn completely new ones. Just like muscle memory.

And you can always change your life plan or career trajectory if and when you’re willing to deal with the effort and uneasiness that comes with making huge changes. You sound young and trust me you can change paths if you want to. The most important thing to do while you’re young is to continue building a skill set and making connections. Opportunities always arise for those really looking for them and willing to put in the effort. You’re first or second job is not a life sentence.

What you don’t want to happen is get in a situation where you are no longer improving or expanding your skill set. In that case you need to think of alternative strategies to work on your skills or craft out of the office, or look hard for a new job or do the work to get into a decent grad program. Getting in a zone where you’re not learning anything at work is dangerous b/c it can either lead to too much comfort (lack of challenge or variety) or depression. When you’re too comfortable it’s hard to change.