Mike's Grand World

As I come into work each day and see the empty office floors that once were full of life and activity, now sit silent.  I thought that these floors were getting renovation.  But, sadly, no, they were cleaned out and a “office space for lease” sign sits in front of the building.  BofA leasing out space that once were full of bank employees.  I know that the bank was to layoff around 35k employees as the ecomony sinks or recovers (depends on one’s perspectives).  Since the part of the company that I work in, is in healthcare, I did not even know what the people on these floors did.  Layoffs here where I work were limited to a few but it is sad that some of coworkers lost their jobs.  I may be critical of a few select coworkers from time to time, I don’t want to see any of them (or myself) lose their (or my) job.

I am sure those who lost their jobs are a result of the two biggest recent acquisitions by the bank: Countrywide and Merrill Lynch.  Mergers and aquistions always present overlap and redundancies and there are always layoffs… I guess a necessary evil of “doing business.”  I am thankful that I am still employed as the alternative would be devistating…

The third floor (the floor I work on) seems to be the only floor outside of the ground floor that has anybody on it.  Sad.

I look at the second and fourth floors and see vast emptiness… in hopes that one day they are full of people working to make the bank a better more profitable company.

There is a site called, Ashley Madison (http://www.ashleymadison.com), that I have heard ads for on my morning radio station, Rock 100.5.  This site is controvertial because it is a “dating site” for people who are already in relationships.  Isn’t this sort of a contridiction?  In other words, they are facilitating cheaters.

Cheating isn’t necessarily about the sex act, but about the breach of trust that a couple has.  Cheating doesn’t even have to be sex.  It could be an anything intimate, such as dinner or any other “couple activity.”

The CEO of Ashley Madison defended his site by saying that it is “preserving families.”  In the short term, possibly, but in the long term, I seriously doubt that this kind of site will do anything but cause the divorce rate to increase (as if it isn’t high enough already…).  Anybody who uses this site for an “encounter” are seriously breaking the marriage vows and a commandment or two… lying and cheating are no way to preserve a family.  Even if the site is anonymous, getting caught is enivitable…

I realize, however, that nobody is forced to join such a site or even visit… but I am a bit disheartened to be told that there are 3.6 million members of the site.  Not only that they have a large membership, but that there is an actual market for this type of behavior… and a site like this fosters and facilitaes it… shame on them.

I am far from a political activist or even a parent… however, after watching RealSports Episode 144 last night [with Dana], I am horrified for the future of American kids.  It only begins with banning dodgeball (which is the basis of this discussion) but it extends to some “New PE” educators calling for the elimination of musical chairs or anything competetive where there might be a “winner” and a “loser.”

This is where I am horrified.  Why can we not teach our children that there are winners and losers in life.  From real competitive sports like football and baseball to getting a job.  Not everybody makes it on the varsity football team or gets the job they apply for.

This goes far beyond a simple game.  I found a great blog post that makes a lot of great points and it points to an article called “What’s Wrong With Dodgeball.” by Matt Labash (the link on my source site doesn’t work… so it must not be on the web anymore.)  In my opinion, “NOTHING.”  I played dodgeball as a child and I am a well adjusted adult.  I was not horrified or terrorized by the game or being a “loser.”  I was not the most athletically gifted and was often a prime target but I never felt like a loser.

In the RealSports piece, there is a school in Phoenix, AZ where touching is not allowed.  TOUCHING?  Really?  A high-five?  A hug?  A hand-shake?  How does this help kids?  Oh, and at the same school, traditional tag is not allowed.  They do “shadow tag.”  They don’t touch the person to make them “it.”  They step on the person’s shadow.  I just don’t get it.

These are things that make me not want to have kids.  I really want to be a father, but not if what is taught in schools contradicts what is being taught in the home.  Dana and I have very similar views on raising children and disciplining children and what it means to be a “winner” or a “loser.”  I want my children to know that they can’t win at everything, but also that winning isn’t everything.  It’s how you play the game (learn how to follow the rules) with class and dignity.  If they can do that, they are a winner in my eyes.