Research Question *revised*--again

My research question is, "Are racial inequality and prejudices amongst employees of the National Education Association real or imagined?

The Squatting Toad

At the beginning of our course, you mentioned The Squatting Toad in conjunction with a quote by William Faulkner that said "You cant eat for eight hours a day, nor drink for eight hours a day nor make love for eight hours a day-all you can do for eight hours{a day} is work. Which is the reason why man makes himself and everybody else so miserable and unhappy".
I think what you meant has to do with the poem entitled "Toads.

In the first paragraph the asks a question: “Why should I let the toad work / Squat on my life?” By comparing day-to-day office life to a toad, the author depicts the tedium of years sitting behind a desk, leaving no room for fun. The author directly compares work to a squatting toad. We learn that work dominates his life six days out of seven each week, month after month, year to year. The toad work paints a picture of a man being crushed by the squatting weight, “Just for paying a few bills!”

The squatting toad poem touches on a couple of work related factors such as finding work, where the poem talks about many people who “live on their wits." Other than lectureres, who make a living by teaching, the rest of the “folks” living on their wits — “lispers, / Losels, loblolly-men” and “louts” — have difficulties finding work. Lispers are those having or affecting the air of sophisticated culture, a losel is literally a “worthless person”; a lout is considered a “clumsy, stupid fellow.” These people manage to “live on their wits” without ending up as paupers, or common beggars, as perhaps society expects of those who reject conventional careers.

The author continues to focus on the people who seem to get by without working.
He also talks about “their unspeakable wives,” implying that the male made the decision on work, reflecting the “male as breadwinner” This touches on the key term we worked on in the semester of gender roles in work. many companies reward their long-time employees by offering them a pension, or paid compensation, at the time of their retirement. So even if you have to “slave away” your life for twenty years or more, at least when you reach a certain age you can stop working and continue to collect monthly paychecks.

We learn the toad might not be alone “for something sufficiently toad-like / Squats in me, too.” This is the author talking about himself, having toad-like tendencies. It is in his nature to work six days a week and a squatting toad is like working six days a week at the office.

Interview questions...

1. How did you get involved with the National Education Association? What made you want to work with them? Is this job something you "fell into" or was it somewhere that you always strived to be?

2. How much training/education is necessary to be a Uniserv Representative/Director?
3. Did you work your way up to Director or were you hired directly for the position?
4. What is the hiring process like? Descrive your experience in terms of race and gender ratio.
5. What is the most challenging part of your job? What is the most discouraging part if any? What is the most rewarding?

6. Through working with the NEA, in what ways would you say this position has shaped you? In what ways has it changed or enhanced your views on education in America?

7. Do you find that your position gives you a sense of stability, and how so?
8. Apart from a paycheck, what do you gain from working with the NEA?
9.Why is education in America, and the proper and fair representation of educators important to you?

10. What makes NEA's Uniserv Program praticularily effective?
11. What aspects of your job would you consider to be emotional labor?
12. As a woman in a directors position, do you experience any kind of sexism? If not, what kind of "isms" do you face? What is the greatest prejudice that you encounter on a regular basis?

I am definately interested in learning more about the world of medicine, all different fields of it. Mainly so that i can get an idea of what it is that I would like to get into. Ive been at odds with the different fields of medicine because the entire human body totally facsinates me, and I have no idea which part of it to focus on!

I would probably definately love to interview a GP that i worked for from 2007-2008 who has his hands in a variety of different medical issues on a daily basis. I am sure that he could give me great insite on the day to day activities, feelings and issues he experiences. He has been in this area of work for about 15 years, and i think he would be an excellent candidate.

I think that Levine's story and poem were honest, but it seems to me that at the same time he seems a little bitter, and somewhat frustrated and fed up of the difficulties we face in America, in the job market. His story definately relates to the texts' we have been discussing in class, because they outline the hardships of working in America, and finding proper and fulfilling employment.

Working genders

Growing up, I mostly had my mother as the main object of observation when it came to working. She always, always had a job, and not just any jobs, but secure ones. Jobs that she had to go to school to obtain a degree or certificate of some sort in order to get. So for me, my view of work was that the female just always did, whether or not the man did or didnt. My mother always did, however, have the typical job expected for a woman. Nurse, telemarketer, data entry clerk, secretary. But gender has not shaped my goals in terms of work at all. I believe that a person should do whatever they find to be the job that makes them feel comfortable. Personally, i chose medicine, and to me this is not subject to any one gender.

Status? or "state us"? Does status define who we are?

What gives someone status? What does the word status really mean? Maybe in a community or group, it means something. But in a family, should it even really matter? One would be surprised. In my family, (particularily my paternal side), status is ridiculously huge!! Who went to college and actually graduated, who's making that "American Dream" money, the size of this persons house compared to another. The cost of ones vehicle and where in the world they reside, to them, determines how successful they are and their acquired "status".
But who really cares? At the end of the day, if someone in your family is successful, and makes it to the top, we should be proud of them for just making something of themselves right? But what if that same person, lost it all, and went right back to, what they would call, the "bottom"? Do we love them less, or give them less attention, because they now have no "status"? A persons status should not define who they are, or how we treat them, or even how often we communicate with them. Unfortunately, my family doesnt realize that regardless of how high up or how low down on a scale someone is, they still remain the same person that they grew to love, and appreciate. But I sometimes wonder if that is the way my family in particular is, or if it is a notion that is carried down in the black community. Well know that blacks started off by not really having anything, and being subjected to slavery and oppression. So is this now the reason why we as black people strive for all the latest and greatest gear, to show that we now finally have status. The shinnier my car, the richer I am? The bigger my house, the more it will show how much money I have?
Personally, I aspire success as opposed to riches. I want to be a successful doctor, not because I want a certain status for others to see, but because this success is what I want for myself.

A job and a career...whats the difference??

Growing up, I never really saw work as being something that was entirely "necessary". To me, it was just what people did when they grew up. I always knew since the age of 3 that I wanted to be a doctor, or a nurse, or some kind of somebody that was LEGALLY allowed to cut people open, allow them to bleed profusely, mess with the stuff on the inside and put them back together again. I just thought it was what older people did, not a job, or an occupation of any sort. Just some kind of observable behavior in adults<--(i learned that in Psychology this last week!) Obviously as I got older, I began to learn more about what it meant to have a career, or settle for a job.

My mother always told me, "make sure you finish school and get a career, because you don't want to be like me and have to settle for a job!!"....Huh? What the heck was the difference? Let's see...A job was something you left your house to do on a daily basis, complete a particular task, and get paid. Sounds good so far. A career was something you left your house to do... on a daily basis... complete a particular task.... and get paid. Hmm. I'm sorry? Why do I need to finish school again? Oh that's right. Because she didn't want to see me going from job to dead-end job, meaning more than likely, different industries everytime, low wages, graveyard hours and the idea of not getting as much respect as you deserved, (not to mention the constant fear that you may wake up that morning, and not know if you're going to be fired or not). Watching her slave on a daily basis, sometimes not even being home when I got home from school or not being home when I was getting ready for school, made me realize that a career may possibly be the better way, and that I definately wanted better for my own life.

I never knew what my father did as an occupation. I just knew that somehow, he "got money". At 24, believe me, now I know. My mother on the other hand always had a legit 9-5, (call centers, hospitals and telemarketing), because her main concern was feeding the 4 mouths she birthed, nurtured and loved from the depts of her soul. And that alone was enough for me to know, that for myself I wanted, needed and deserved better. Better than the constant hatred of leaving your children to slave night and day for a person, or people that treated you like you didn't matter. Better than the 2 dollar and 5 cent checks she was receiving that barely made it home, because by the time she cashed it, it was gone. Better than the long days, and sometimes lonely nights she spent wondering when better will come. Better may not have come for her, but at least she'll be able to witness better out of something she created.

And that I know will be more than enough.