Use It or Lose It

At the gym, some people seem to spend more time socializing than working out. And when they socialize, they stand around the equipment, blocking the way so others can’t use it. Other people sit on a weight machine or a stand on a treadmill, reading a newspaper or book rather than actually using the machine.

It is so annoying to be waiting for a machine and to watch as someone takes his time having a conversation while still sitting there, but not working out. And if you ask them politely if they are done, you get a glare back and the comment, “I’m not through yet.”

Use the machine or get off it. It’s really inconsiderate.

--Curly

The Feminist Backlash

In my last post, I mentioned how a lot of people still seem to be against being unionized. This makes me think of how so many of my younger students are against feminism. They proudly state that they don’t need feminism. Some of them, especially the women, even go so far as to say that they don’t want to be associated with intellectuals or with lesbians or with man-hating, as though all feminists are those things. A number of my female students say they want to wear short dresses and make-up and find men so they can be stay-at-home parents, and they claim that feminism has nothing to offer them. Except, obviously, they wouldn’t be at university without the work early feminists did to demand equality for women, and they wouldn’t be in a position to choose what to wear or how to live without feminism. They’d simply be expected to be pretty housewives rather than being empowered to make that choice.

What has caused this feminist backlash? We still have imparity in the world, and feminism is about challenging and fixing inequity. I try to explain this to my students, but they seem to think the world – or at least their narrow area of it – is completely fair now, and that there is nothing more to fight for. And they certainly don’t want any part of feminism.

--Curly

Union Man

I’m in the union at my job. I think it’s important to make sure we are all treated fairly. But quite a few of my colleagues aren’t in the union and act as though it’s a strange concept. In fact, one colleague (admittedly a difficult one anyway) mocked me for being in the union and for being a union rep.

How can anyone think being unionized is wrong?

--Curly

All My Exes Live in Texas…

This is not so much a rant as a quandary – how much contact is it good to have with one’s exes? Is it better to cut them off completely? My problem with that is that these people were once important to us, so shouldn’t we try to preserve whatever we can of the relationship instead of losing it completely? But then if we do, how much should we tell each other about our lives, including current relationships? It’s hard to renegotiate those boundaries and to move back to being friends from being lovers who shared everything.

For example, I think it’s courteous to tell the most recent exes that we are seeing someone new, and I have done that, but then I haven’t received the same courtesy back and instead found out via a mutual friend. So what’s the right protocol?

These days, I lean more towards to minimal contact side of things. What do others think? Should our exes stay in Texas?

--Curly