Secretaries and stewardesses went from endangered to extinct. Simultaneously, the new species of Administrative Assistants and Flight Attendants evolved. “Professional correctness” is taking off in this modern day workforce and men want in too!
Well at least that’s what I take away from a Monster.com article that re-terms “cowboy” with “ranch or farm manager.”
The only explanation I can think of for this modification is that the connotations of “cow” for “fat” and “boy” for “young” offended an overweight man with an inferiority complex. If this was simply a sexist issue, why not just use “cowperson?” Or did Nickelodeon already copyright that term for a cartoon?
Whatever the reasoning behind this change, it’s not just the occupation formerly known as cowboy that will be affected.
For those aspiring to be country singers, remember that you will now need to fit in two extra syllables when lyrically describing the men of the West. Good thing The Dixie Chicks peaked in the 90’s. “Farm manager take me away” somehow doesn’t strike as romantic a chord.
And for those planning on being politically and professionally correct parents, you better make sure it’s “Ranch managers and Native Americans” your kids are playing at recess.
Inspired by “10 Cool Jobs and What They Pay.” By Dona DeZube. http://content.comcast.monster.com. May 5, 2008.
Amateur Afterthoughts: This movie’s title is a little deceiving. There wasn’t that much blood. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one expecting war, gore or horror - even a documentary on The American Red Cross would have worked. Instead, we have a film on the pioneering of America’s oil industry. “Blood” is some sort of metaphor. Maybe for “time” because there certainly was a lot of that - the movie was 2 hours and 38 minutes! But completely worth the extra popcorn you’ll need to fully experience the performance of Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis. As if that moustache he grew for the role didn’t command enough attention, his voice has such powerful projection that it stays in the silence following his lines. Would it be too bold to title him “the Charlton Heston of our time?” Perhaps that is a call reserved for our parents’ generation. Maybe grandparents’?
Truby Takeaway: Becoming a drug lord, holding hostages for ransom, cooking the books - all strategies to get rich, all guaranteed to corrupt. We of course know this and most of us will opt for another plan to make out like a Rockefeller - working hard and being smart. But how can we be sure that the right means will lead to a right end? “There Will Be Blood” exposes the highly vulnerable ego of humankind. Even the oil man who worked his way up the ladder, literally, from the bottom of the well to the top of the rig, through sheer passion and persistence - he is still at risk for conscience corruption. As is the boomtown’s self-appointed prophet. As is the man who had nothing more than the clothes on his back and a blood relation to a tycoon. As is you. As is I. As is everyone.
People are outraged over Donald Trump trying to trademark “You’re Fired.” But I think we should be celebrating. Let him broaden his real estate properties to include intellectual ones. Once he owns that phrase as his brand, guess who can be held liable for saying “You’re Fired?” OUR BOSSES! Landing a job now equals employment for life!
Okay, the reality is that “The Apprentice” star is marketing his clothing line. If his application for a trademark is approved, he will have sole privileges to print “You’re Fired” on clothing, and the right to block other designers from accessorizing their fashion with his phrase.
I still think we should celebrate – for the future of our work wear. First of all, the fewer designers entitled to put that phrase on clothing, the better. And second, I for one am just grateful that The Donald isn’t launching a hair care line.
Of all people, it was the crusader against organized crime and corporate wrongdoing who turned out to be a high-paying customer in a prostitution ring.
So who has the last laugh now at former Governor Eliot Spitzer? His Wall Street targets, his white collar convicts, Republican radio show hosts, and even us Trubys???
HA HA – Hold it! Thanks to public confessionals from the new New York Governor David Paterson about his past affairs and drug use and to Detroit’s latest setback involving Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s infidelity, perjury, and incessant text messaging, we see that the nation’s top leaders are vulnerable. And whether we want to admit it or not, we are too.
The reality is that the wrong decision will be easy to make throughout our careers. Sometimes we won’t know we’re doing wrong at the time. I, for one, swear I had no idea that a blinking red light was code for “Feed me any more paper and I’ll die.” Unfortunately, my decision to continue the task at hand resulted in a company casualty. RIP Shredder.
Other times we’ll know what we’re doing isn’t right. It always seems to start off innocently – we expense a beer tab that really wasn’t business related or we indulge in flirtatious conversation with a blind eye to the ring finger. But such activity can grow beyond our control and pretty soon we might be no better than the corporate tycoons who cook the books or the politicians who allocate tax dollars towards the cause of call girls.
So I’ll suspend my judgment for now and instead admire Eliot Spitzer for stepping down immediately in the interest of the people of New York. Plus, anything I say here is subject to being hypocritical. I still have an entire career ahead to make mistakes in…
In the Real World, there is one drug addiction that’s completely acceptable: CAFFEINE. No limit. Any time of day. Available in the forms of coffee, soda, tablets, even Snickers just came out with a caffeine infused bar!
This is the good gateway drug! Caffeine allows us to maintain our youth staying up late, and then function in full the next morning alongside our seniors! Without putting our lives in jeopardy! And the only side effect seems to be overdosing on the exclamation point!
Well, not exactly. Caffeine is a cover-up. WAKE UP AND HEAR THE EXPERTS!
EXPERT #1: Dr. Charles Czeisler, Director of Sleep Medicine for Harvard Medical School, advises that if you only sleep four or five hours a night, your performance level will be that of someone who’s been awake for 24 hours.
EXPERT #2: Christopher Drake, Senior Scientist with the Henry Ford Sleep Disorders and Research Center, validates exactly what we were taught in grade school – “the human body needs approximately seven to eight hours of sleep to maintain optimal alert levels during the day.” But he goes on to dispel the myth that many accomplished people operate fine off of a four or five hour sleep. “Imagine how much more brilliant and productive they would have been if they’d gotten more sleep.”
There’s the clincher. As both a night owl and early bird – we think we’re going to build the ultimate nest egg. And we are, in fact, winging it thanks to caffeine. But how much higher could we be flying?
We won’t know for sure until we open our eyes to shutting them… three or so more hours each night.
Inspired by “Learning to Live Like an Early Bird” by Melinda Beck.
The Wall Street Journal. Tuesday, March 4, 2008.
