Victor Rozek
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As I See It: Paying To Play
October 31, 2016 Victor Rozek
… Read moreIt was Fitzgerald who is credited with making what is surely one of the more self-evident observations in history. Namely that “the rich are different from you and me.” To which Hemmingway supposedly replied, “yeah, they have more money.” It didn’t actually happen that way, but small matter. The exchange–more literary than conversational–stuck in the popular imagination.
Different though they may be, the rich have the same essential needs as their less affluent brethren. Like the rest of us they crave connection, but that craving is informed by a fear of being taken advantage of. That, in brief, is the
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As I See It: The Girl Who Liked to Count Things
September 19, 2016 Victor Rozek
… Read moreShe was born nearly a century ago in a little town in West Virginia with the unappealing name of White Sulphur Springs. There, the well-healed gathered to escape the summer heat and soak away their ailments at a resort that employed her father. She would not have been welcome there as a guest, however. She is black.
At the time, educational opportunities for black children in her county–those who could even contemplate such lavishness–ended with eighth grade. So her parents were forced to find a high school she would be permitted to attend, the nearest being about 120 miles away.
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As I See It: Breakup
August 22, 2016 Victor Rozek
… Read moreI went to a wedding last weekend and it was everything a wedding should be: beautifully located, attended by scores of family, supported by legions of friends, and replete with that singular optimistic naivety that believes in happily ever after. While it would be foolish to marry without a firm belief in the prospect of future happiness, regrettably “happily ever after” has a shelf life for about half of all married couples. There’s a fair chance that at some point during the career of a married employee, divorce will bring an unexpected end to what might have been.
Whether amicable
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As I See It: Boob Job
August 8, 2016 Victor Rozek
… Read moreIt’s no secret that attractive people have an advantage when interviewing for a job. Studies show that appealing people are assumed to be more intelligent and better educated. They are believed to possess superior motivation and greater capability. If hired, they will almost certainly earn more money than their less attractive counterparts, and are more likely to be promoted. It’s a form of genetic favoritism, amplified by the preferences of the observer. And while a face may no longer launch a thousand ships, it sure can quick start a career.
Although many forms of discrimination have either been legally banished
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As I See It: Rediscovering The Big Fresh
June 20, 2016 Victor Rozek
… Read moreExercise has always been my salvation. Over the years the jobs I’ve held varied in challenge and satisfaction. But whether the work turned out to be exceptionally demanding or excruciatingly dull, exercise was my deliverance. It was a curative constant guaranteed to soften the stress and alleviate the boredom.
And on those occasions when my youthful righteousness spilled over and I felt compelled to lecture my manager, exercise served as the antidote to the inappropriate expression of strong feelings. After all, there’s only so much emoting welcome in the workplace. Laughter is one thing; frustration, ah, no. Sadness or anger,
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As I See It: The Other Intelligent Design
May 23, 2016 Victor Rozek
… Read moreWhen you are 25 years old, a quarter century sounds very much like a lifetime, but it’s probably less time than the Kardashians collectively spend admiring themselves in the mirror. Still, in the time it took another generation to come of age and embark on their career paths, the law of cause and effect as it pertains to the job market was turned on its head: working people had become all but irrelevant to the creation of wealth.
Nowhere is that more evident than in IT. While manufacturing has long since resigned from the nuisance of hiring Americans in favor
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As I See It: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
April 18, 2016 Victor Rozek
… Read moreThe sheer magnitude of the math first caught my attention. It was an article I came across called 19 Signs Your Employer Doesn’t Care About You. Nineteen, mind you! Not the usual 3 or 7 or even the venerable Top 10; someone actually dredged up 19 different indications that a stranger–who they only glimpse professionally–may not be their most ardent admirer.
OK. Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they don’t dislike you. But let’s face it, you have to break a sweat to think up 19 tells that prove someone doesn’t give a rat’s thumb drive about you. Most
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As I See It: Playing With Pain
March 14, 2016 Victor Rozek
… Read moreI’m loopy. Heavy drugs can do that to you. I can tell I’m loopy because my brain is operating at the speed of an impaired sloth. But I’d like to think I’m still coherent. Can’t be sure, though, because I’m loopy. (See, I just repeated myself like loopy people do.)
The full effect of pain on productivity in the workplace is unknown. Millions of people go to work under the influence of prescription drugs. And those who have difficulty functioning on drugs stagger through their day enduring chronic pain.
Pain, we are taught, is a private matter. Revealing it brings
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As I See It: Beware Of Beware
February 15, 2016 Victor Rozek
… Read moreAt some point in our lives, a transformative event or some perceived injustice propels many of us to become active in social or political movements. At least for a period of time. Regardless of left/right orientation, where politics and social justice matters are concerned, emotions tend to run high and rhetoric flows. And since there are few, if any, centrist movements committed to nothing nobler than nurturing the status quo, activists typically congregate on the margins, doing and saying things they think will best publicize their cause.
The more outrageous and controversial their actions, the more media coverage they are
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As I See It: Asking The Right Question
January 11, 2016 Victor Rozek
… Read moreAh, a brand new year, blinding with possibility and so fresh with optimism it can make your eyes water. For most of us, it’s another opportunity to commit to resolutions that will never be kept beyond January. Nevertheless, for the next few weeks, sugar is the enemy, credit cards will be shredded, and every gym in America will be full of people testing the limits of Lycra.
Making resolutions is the national binky, pacifying with false promise. And every January millions resolve to manage two of the more important aspects of their lives–fitness and finance–through a firm, if fleeting, commitment