The takers vs the makers

Thought for the day.

For years I worked for you.

You took my skills.
you took my labor.
you took my knowledge.
you took my talent.
you took my time.
you took my best ideas to improve the firm's profits.

In return:
you took my health care to improve your profit line.
you took my pension plan to return more profits to the hedge fund.
you took wage concessions that were to save the company, and instead,
     you took bigger and bigger bonuses.
you took away company profitability, then,
    you took my job and gave it to foreign people.
You then took the firm and sold it to others,
    and took away huge profits for your investors.

Yet you consider yourself makers,
    and me a taker.

Modified from Milwaukee Iron Worker's FB post.

Business versus personal life

I have been struck by the recent number of businesses that seem to think that placing their political or moral beliefs on display is a good idea. We recently had Chick-a-Fill and Domino's putting an opinion, agree or disagree, on very visible display. Each saw reactions, on both sides. Did it make money? I do not know; but it got them some very negative opinions expressed. 

I recently saw political signs on the business lawn of a store I frequented. I thought to myself, "Why give people a reason to not go to your business, that is not related to what your business is formed to sell?"

Here is an example of a particularly striking example:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/president-obama-witch-doctor-display-personal-racist-nj/story?id=17463813#.UHmKV66uWSo

Such a display as the one described in the article will be remembered long after the display is taken down. Plus, it is unrelated to the business, so it has no objective business function.

What do you think?

BTW: The store that put political signs up this year caused me to go to another store. I don't even know who most of those people were, but I figured I could easily find someone who was less opinionated. Turns out, the store without signs sold the products at a lower price. Thus, I am unlikely to return to the political store, long after the election is over. By giving me a reason to go away, I may have gone away forever, even if the business is sold to a less opinionated owner-- and it was not a necessary action for the business to take.

Congress approval rating hits new low

A recent poll showed that the current US Congress has the lowest approval rating in history. The joke below is more true than we would like to think, and shows perhaps why people think so little of congress.

The fight
A person was walking by the DC Capitol and noticed a bunch of politicians fighting on the steps. Soon a crowd gathered. The fight was horrific. They gouged eyes, hit people below the belt, and at every rest period verbal insults were thrown that were really insulting. Others, no one could figure out. For example, "Ah, your momma where hockey boots." was one insult, which no one could figure out.

After a few hours, someone asked what they were fighting about, "job programs, the national debt, social security?" Nah, said a nearby congressional aide. They are fighting over what the name of a post office that will be closed next month will be.