McDonald's Is Hiring

 Recently, McDonald's had a nation-wide hiring campaign with which it garnered much publicity. The day of the hiring I witnessed three people being interviewed. The manager used a table next to us to do the interviewing. Our table continued our usual, very important, conversations in which we solve the world problems. The interview table was directly in my line of sight and I got a good look at the candidates. I could not hear what was said but I recognised the manager's body language as doing her duty in interviewing all candidates that show up. She was very patient and her dedication to the interviewing was commendable.

The first candidate was a young, overweight, black girl who had dressed for the interview. She appeared nervous, and kept wringing her hands. I could not tell what the manager thought. The second candidate was a white, overweight, unkept, snarly haired girl. She smiled with enthusiam at all through her interview. The third candidate was a skinny, black man with an unusual haircut. He never looked at the manager, always looked down at the table. To me, his clothes were dirty but they were neat.

The next time I was in McDonald's I asked the manager how many people she had hired from the interviewing day.....her answer: None. That was all she would say and went back to work. I don't know if there was an opening, or if it was all a publicity trick.

I told the others at the table that getting a job at McDonald's would be easy and I could get a person a job if they would follow my instructions. There was more than somewhat sceptisism. To present my case, I told them I had a surefire method to getting a job at McDonald's even if there were no openings. There were a few gafaws at this statement. I said I was serious and offered to tell how it could be done - they wanted to know. So I told them. Every work crew has somebody that is a problem to the manager. Either they come in late, will not work the hours the manager wants, will not come in on Saturdays or Sundays, do the work grudgingly, work slow, have sanitary problems, do only a part of the whole job, require an inordinate amount of time away from work, require excess supervision, etc. etc. Knowing this give an in to help a manager succeed in the job. All managers want to succeed and need workers that truly want a job. Every manager has a few favorites and they are the ones that help the manager succeed.

Knowing all the above is key to getting a job. It is necessary to let a manager know you are the kind of person that they want on their crew. How to do that?  I can get a job for someone that truly wants to work. But, the candidate must be motivated to get the job. Here is how it is done: Target a manager for whom you want to work. Show up every day on that manages shift. Walk outside to see if there is anything that needs to be picked up, if so make the outside clean. Keep track of everything that is done and write it down on a 3 x 5 card, i.e. 1) picked up three cups 2) picked up five napkins 3) picked up spilled french fries 4) picked up two empty bags. Put your name on the back of the card. Print on the back of the card: I am looking for a job. Return every day and do the same. Fill out the card even even if the lot is clean. Say on the card: Lot found clean today, nothing to be done. Turn in that card also. Before the manager has ten cards the person will be hired.

A tip of the hat to Mark twain.

Why Libya? II

The Libya mystery continues, now John McCain is urging support for the rebels. Why? In my first blog on Libya I postulated that it was Obama's war and now McCain is getting into it??? It does not make any sense for him to jump in.

We do not know who the rebels are.

We do not know who their leader is. Further, McCain's statement that they are not al-quida is not convincing. How could he know that when he has been there only a few days?

What is accomplished by removing Qaddafi? Will the next strongman be better? How much money will we spend to aid in his removal? Will we get a better deal on oil? If not, why not?

We got no better deal on oil when we saved Kuait. No better deal on oil when we supplied freedom to Iraq. We are paying in money, goods, armaments and blood. Why do we not get a better deal?
Read more »

Holy Thursday

Back in Miami when we were going to St Timothy's, I received a call from someone at the Church asking me if I would be one of the twelve people whose feet Father would wash. It was to be done at an early evening prayer service. I agreed to be one of the twelve. It was held at five o-clock and Pat said she would not go, she was fixing dinner. All the kids had something to do at Miller Park so I went alone. We twelve were seated in straight back chairs in the front of the pews. There was a short prayer service after which Father Gigante came to wash our feet. Father Gigante was a rather gruff person, not what you would call "warm". He seemed always serious and this caused many young people to form a dislike for him. We were asked to remove one shoe and sock. Then father Gigante, using a pillow on which to kneel, came by with a pitcher and basin, kneeled down and washed our feet. This was done by pouring water on the top of the foot and catching the water in the basin. He was given individual paper towels by the server, and then wiped and dried the foot. The towel was given to the person whose foot he had washed. I noted that he made no effort to dry between the toes, merely drying what was easy to get at. When he was finished with one person, he was helped up by a server, another server would move the cushion to the next person, and father Gigante would kneel down before that person and wash a foot. He was in his sixties and needed all the help he could get. The person next to me whispered: "Hey, I thought he was going to wash our feet, one is not enough." I remember thinking: this is all symbolic, don't get so technical, but I said nothing. I was impressed that the stern image that father Gigante projected to the parishioners, at this ceremony, was laid aside and he became merely a humble parish priest doing his duty.

"Fight Like A Girl"

During a recent Tea Party gathering, Sarah Palin was exhorting republican congressman and senators to do more than compromise, she wanted them to fight. She used the line: "If you won't fight like men, then fight like a girl." I liked that line and found it amusing. After thinking about it for awhile, I realized I did not really know what that meant. What does it mean to fight like a girl? Exactly how did she mean it? I still like the line but admit I do not truly know what it means.

Downer Music

It is a nice sunny day today and the drive to Church was pleasant. I usually get there early so I can go over the readings at the mass. There were noticeably more people in Church today and I wondered why. Near the start of the mass, a voice came over the sound system that requested all persons to leave the Church for the start of the mass and procession into the Church. Arggg, this is Palm Sunday and the congregation is expected to start the procession outside, emulating the people that followed Jesus to Jerusalem. Near me are a few people, over seventy, that have a good deal of trouble walking and kneeling. Once in place it is an imposition on them to get up and enter the procession. I stayed in place in sympathy with those old people. (Yes, really.) While entering the Church all the people were singing "Hosanna," using four syllables. This was sung about thirty times - it gets old. Once in, the music used for this mass consisted of flute and clarinet, no piano, no organ. I am used, at this point, to feel uplifted and joyful; but this brought me down. Being down is the point, we are sorrowful that Jesus has begun his Passion toward death on the cross. During the mass we had more hosannas (meaning: pray, save us) and the music never got better. The kids nearby were hitting one another with the palms they were given. A girl of about sixteen sat weaving crosses out of her palms. A young couple nearby, in a playful way, kept prodding one another with their palms. The entire story of the Passion is read while the congregation is standing, an imposition on the older adults because it is long. The effect of mournful music did get to me and I began to feel bad. Yes, remembering Jesus died on the cross for me is important, but feeling bad goes against my nature.

Speaker Boehner

The tea party people are dismayed at the performance of Boehner in this last budget extension. He caved like the old days showing he is more like Denny Hastert than a Tip O'Neil. He does not get the idea that elites (of which he is one) are no longer going to be tolerated as making the decisions to increase spending. The media is already patting him on back and saying what a great Speaker he is. They are trying to convince the tea party that they have a great leader. They of course did that when they wanted John McCain to be our presidential candidate, praising him as often as they could. It is time to can Boehner and get a new speaker that does understand what moves are necessary to get us out of this huge fiscal problem the U.S. has. The pussyfooting has to stop, this is serious, the country is going down the drain. We need true leadership and not what the media points out is good for the Republican Party. Today, I received a request for a donation to the Republican Party and I wrote them that I would not give until Boehner is gone. I am sending my first donation to the Tea Party instead.

The Racist

Last Sunday at McDonald's, a couple was passing through that we seldom see. She is a republican and he is a liberal, I do not know their names. He was fond of coming over and expostulate about what our horrible president George Bush was doing. He was able to run off a long list of his inadequate governing (some of which I agreed) and stupid remarks. He said he would wish for his being shot except that Chaney would be president and that would only be worse. When I asked his wife if they argued often, she answered: "Oh, I just don't listen to him and we get along great." This Sunday he came over with a smile of his face and said: "How about that health care bill, isn't that something?" When I said it was unconstitutional he replied that Obama was going to get whatever he wanted. When I pointed out that the present conflict in the House right now was to pare away some of the things Obama wanted. He immediately said: "Yes, but the Senate will give him what he wants. I then mentioned, in support of his argument, Senator Schummer's statement: "Never, never, never defund Planned Parenthood." I was surprised by his next statement. "Margaret Sanger was right, we need to get rid of all the blacks through eugenics." (He did not say blacks and I did not know he knew the word eugenics.) He was pleased to relate that fifty percent of black women get abortions. He wanted the number to go up and that is why we need to keep all funding for Planned Parenthood. When I said the real issue is government spending, he responded that we have all the money we need because republicans have been hoarding the money for years.

Averting A Shutdown

Last night a government shutdown was averted by the Republicans giving in. This is not what the majority of the congress was sent to do. It is a great disappointment to all people that voted for tea party candidates. This setback will now require a reassessment of the candidates that won, were they really going to reduce the size of government? If not, then a new crop of representatives will be needed, incumbents will be questioned more closely this time around. Senator Schummer was quoted as saying: "Never, never, never defund Planned Parenthood." He has no concern about the size of government. Tea Party people are concerned about the size of government and it's intrusion into the lives of people. Never, never, never will they stop trying to reduce it's size.

A New Art Form

The capitols of state house's are witnessing events that used to be extremely rare, flocks of people there to protest. The recent filming of the protests at the Wisconsin state house showed that protesting has ratcheted up from what we used to see. Protests used to be peaceful with persons demonstrating with their presence that some remedy was needed to pacify them. Once they had made the protest, sometimes only taking an hour, the protesters soon dissipated and everyone went home. Recent events have shown that we have learned something from Europe and the Mid-east - unruliness and boorish behavior. European demonstrations are increasing because those countries must reduce the programs the Socialists installed. If the countries do nothing they may cease to exist due to economic failure. People in those programs do not accept that they must change their lifestyles in order to keep their Country solvent. The Socialists had simply promised too much. Demonstrations in Europe last longer, are more violent, have larger crowds and destroy private property at will. In our state houses the protesters are now staying longer, shout down any attempt to pacify them, engage in inane slogan shouting and attempt to convince authorities that they will stay there until their grievance is remedied. They now stay all night and show their displeasure by spreading trash and refuse, leave toilets unclean, sleep on the premises and do what they can to inconvenience the authorities there. One state learns from the other and now it is a failed protest if it does not exceed the one held at Wisconsin. The planners of the protests are union bosses who are used to getting their way. It is they who will lose power it the protest is unsuccessful. They are masters at riling up their members. If not enough members join the protest they go out and rent some, even going to other states to get them. Nearly all states have run out of money and expenses must be cut. The unions will resist at every stage. There will be many opportunities for one union to outdo the others, and they will try. What new forms of protest will we see?