Creepy Behaviour

Today I talked to my (Temp) Boss about creepy behaviour.

On Tuesday a rather pretty lady came for an interview. She was dressed really well and was lovely to talk to as well. During the course of her interview, no less than 6 of my male coworkers thought it was okay to come and gawk at her. Seriously. She appeared keen to have the job, so my boss was shocked and surprised when she called yesterday to say she'd found something else.

He said it again today, so I decided to enlighten him. She got stared and ogled at by 6 random men who she'd never met before, who shouldn't have been in the interview anyway.

It was a bit creepy.

It was a bit creepy to me, and I only watched it happen. One of the guys went up to the closed door and complained because the door was closed so he couldn't look at her :/

For a company that prides itself on zero tolerance with regards to harassment, that was really really inappropriate. It was so inappropriate that I wouldn't be surprised if the lady in question only pretended she'd taken another job, because she didn't feel comfortable saying that she'd changed her mind because of this.

I made it clear to my boss that if they'd done that to me or one of the other ladies who currently work there, he would have had me (or them) in his office next thing to complain.

Why is this considered okay?

I'm Sorry, What?

Yesterday I spent a while getting my hair done. Which was great, my hair now looks fabulous. During this time I read three magazines, and in all of these magazines I came across a fairly irritating thing.

Why is it, that any (somewhat attractive) woman, confidently walking down a beach in a bikini is "flaunting" her body? Could it possibly be that she DOESN'T CARE about what you think, and is just going about her business in the same way she would if she was wearing some comfy trousers and a cute t-shirt (ie, owning the look?)?

flaunt |flônt; flänt|
verb [ trans. ]
display (something) ostentatiously, esp. in order to provoke envy or admiration or to show defiance : newly rich consumers eager to flaunt their prosperity.
• ( flaunt oneself) dress or behave in a sexually provocative way.

Because you know, heaven forbid a woman feel confident about what she's wearing without trying to be sexually provocative.

I've given up

I've given up on watching Question Time with the Politicians. Even the bits we get to see during the news make my head hurt. Do they have to shout at each other all the time??? Can't they all at least pretend to be grown ups?

And these are the people who get to decide what we do as a country.

On the other hand, I just watched Q&A, and the way that everyone handled the conversation and behaved themselves staggered me. It's like *swoon* competent and coherent conversation about important topics.

Also, the live tweets are hilarious.

Never Be A...

Every time I have turned on a radio or tv today, I have been treated to Tony Abbott SHOUTING about how the Government has lied, said there would never be a carbon tax and now they are introducing one, oh how can the Australian Public ever trust them again, etc.

May I (and everyone else in the entirety of Australia) remind Mr Abbott that A little over ten years ago, we were promised that GST would never become part of Liberal Party policy?

Two days of childish Question Time where absolutely nothing got accomplished because you kept harping on about the carbon tax and saying everything would go up, without apparently doing any research or providing a viable alternative. I'm not saying it's all your fault for doing this, but you certainly didn't help.

What a remarkable and admired country we would be if our Politicians would actually manage to work together on important things. Yes, like Climate Change. And Asylum Seekers.

never darken my doorstep

I had my name blackened and dragged through the mud by one of those customers today. The kind of person with such an immense sense of entitlement that when other people in Customer Service describe them to you, you honestly think they're joking. She was abusive, she was demanding, she called me names and was so agressive, that I actually refused to talk to her today. My manager said she would talk to her, so I took B at her word; She talked to the customer. I was being "She"'d, I was being "that girl"'d, and I, in the back with my other co-worker K, was really about to go tell the customer off if she used my name like an invective one more time. I have never wanted to smack anyone before. But I honestly did with this woman. Unpleasant is one word.

I suppose the positive of the entire unpleasant experience was, after shouting at my boss after he told her we needed to be paid, she declared that she would never set foot in our shop again. (Also, she did pay. After it was pointed to her that she would not receive her machine back until she paid, and my Boss offered to take her to court over the money.)

I don't think she appreciates how small the Apple repair community in the metro area is. I can think of no more than maybe eight, five of those are warranty centres. So, when she gets herself removed from the other 7... Well. I suppose at that point you have to send your machine away to get repaired. And pay a premium for it.

Normally I would be upset by this kind of thing, as it was uncalled for and rude and really offensive, but to be honest, this woman (and her husband!) is her own worst enemy, and I wish her upon herself.

And may I never set eyes upon her again.

I don't generally like

I don't generally like swearing. People tend to use the f-word, and various other swear words at the drop of hat, sometimes literally. I can count the number of times I have used "the usual" swear words on two hands with fingers left over.

But even though I dislike swearing, that doesn't mean that when something terrible happens, or someone is really really wrong, I don't want (or have) words to use.

Some words came from (the Harry Potter) fandom. Words such as T00b, or my favourite, ass-hat. Calling someone an ass-hat, or telling them they are t00berific can be satisfying, although since I started at my current job more than a year ago, another word has been introduced to me.

I learned it from my co-worker K, who when really frustrated with something or someone, and at work will say "You PEANUT!". Peanut, is an excellent thing to shout at someone. It's a non-offensive word that never the less conveys your feelings about them at that particular moment.

Although I still wouldn't use it on customers whilst in hearing distance :P Not even if they well and truly deserved it.

And when I am really annoyed, and want to vent steam, I have a phrase that my mother uses :D I won't try to write it, as I'll spell it wrong. But it is really really effective. <3

On Saturday we get to vote.

The Election is on Saturday. I recommend reading this Infograph to dispel misinformation. Read it all the way through.

I got the latest information from my local federal government representative today (Liberal). I read it, the messages sounded good, it was filled with smiling people who looked happy.

One problem; I read it, I looked at all the pictures and... there was not one person who looked like me. Everyone was white. There were no aboriginals (or people with dark skin), there were no asians. There weren't even any eurasians (and of course there are lots of us). But of course there weren't! I can't explain the lack of indigenous Australians (other than an over-sight), but of course they can't have asians, they've been harping on about "keeping out the boats" for months! Guess what the faces of the "boat people" look like?

To be honest, it doesn't make me feel comfortable at all when I hear any of the political parties trying to get people on-side by bagging boat people. Because when I was a child in the 80's, and people were more overt with their racism, I used to get told to "go home". Which is a bit difficult as Australia has always been home to me. What with being born here and everything.

Way to make a girl feel alienated in her own country.

Make your vote count on Saturday.

The results of Bullying.

Earlier this month a boy took a loaded gun to school (in Esperence) in response to being bullied. He was suspended, arrested, and police initially refused to release him on bail. He's being prosecuted, it's possible that he won't be allowed to return to school (which he might not want to do either), and it also will probably make it harder for him to change schools.

He was wrong, violence is never the answer, and this shouldn't have happened, but;

Here's a question; Why aren't we hearing about what is happening to the kids who bullied him so badly that he felt the need to bring a weapon to school to defend himself?

A lot of children are bullied, some quite severely. And speaking from experience, often the response of authority figures (including teachers) is quite often very lacking. Personally, after three years of being bullied by a boy from my Primary School, when he tried it in High School, he got whacked with Here Be Dragons (roughly a thousand pages). It was a paperback though. I'm not cruel, I didn't use the hardcover. When I took my issues (in Primary School) to my teacher, I got no help. When I went to his teacher, I was told she would turn a blind eye if I chose to retaliate.

The really annoying thing is, had I gone to our Principal, when it first started in year 5, it would have been sorted. Or if I'd told my Mum (my Mum is very awesome), I know she would have done everything to help me. But for reasons unknown, I didn't, and just took it until explosion point (I'm a bottler, I know I'm a bottler. But as I've got older, I know it's important to say what I really mean. I've learned how to say this in a tactful way, for work, but still, you need to stand up for yourself in a positive way.)

I suppose my point is; to kids who are bullied: Go talk to an authority figure you trust, who can stand up for you and be your advocate. Kids are incredibly cruel; whether because you have red hair, you happen to be a minority in your school (like I was), or just because. And to adults: It is not cool to turn a blind eye to a child who is being bullied. Kids who are bullied can turn into bullies themselves, can do things like the above story, or they could you know get help from you and sort their problems out.

Bullying is wrong.

I'm really tired of

I'm really tired of people who come into the shop, and feel the need to ask me "Where are you from";

And I say "Australia".

Then they say "No where are you really from?" (Like I just lied to them)

And I raise an eyebrow and say "I'm from Australia".

And then the smart ones apologise as they realise how rude the question was. The dumb ones keep asking.

The really rude ones say "What are you?"

I'm not a what, I'm a who, and I already told you my name.

I think I'm kind of tired of this. I never got these questions when I was in Administration.