Today should just be eliminated altogether, just deleted from the annals of history, forgotten forever. Dramatic? Maybe. But it’s Monday, so it doesn’t count.
Top 10 Reasons why Monday shouldn’t count, at least, not this Monday:
10. Street sweeping day – I had to move my car by 8am, so I skipped my shower and came to work early in attempt to get my car off the street without another ticket. The list should just end right here.
9. Finance day at work – today is the day we all sit anxiously waiting for the counting team to tell us whether we’ve brought in enough money to cover payroll.
8. Counting team is late – so I get to sit here for an extra hour of waiting, filtering through thoughts like: will I be able to pay rent tomorrow? Do I get to keep my health care for one more month?
7. Financial advisor arrives – he too is miffed that the counting team is late, let’s me know that he’d like to cover payroll before paying Edison (thanks for that) and let’s me know that my new spreadsheet is brilliant (there’s a glimmering sparkle of silver).
6. Decisions – I get to make all these seemingly monumental financial decisions today. Before 10am I have already freaked out and can’t even decide where to go to lunch.
5. “Betty” arrives with her new little dog (names have been changed to protect the innocent) – “Betty”, our volunteer phone answer lady, comes in with her brand new little dog. Her doctor said she needed a companion, so she went out and spent $1700 on this little shit. Let me explain about “Betty”; she’s an aging, single, diabetic, overweight lady who lives across the street from the church. She has this wretched hacking cough and whenever anyone asks her how she’s doing, she always answers, “Oh I’m blessed.”
My mind takes a wild spin off the financial road and delves into the depths of a potential future I’d rather not consider: I don’t want to be “Betty”. Good Lord, I don’t want to be “Betty”. I don’t want my doctor to tell me that I need a companion and then have to shell out a thousand bucks for a shit smelling dog that I carry around in my purse. Dear God, don’t let me end up being “Betty”.
What if I end up like “Betty”? Or worse, “Miss Dorothy” – the old lady who’s never been married, but was engaged once and has like a bazillion cats in her house, and wears high heals with jogging pants and pearls. I don’t even like animals that much! What if I end up 50 and alone and the only companion I can find is a mangy pet who sheds and stinks and craps all over the place? Am I really going to end up like that? Did “Betty” and “Miss Dorothy” ever think they’d end up like that? That’s so terribly tragic.
Sorry, I lost track… where was I? Ah, reason number 4…
4. People are so very strange – I got a message from a man whose father died two years ago, saying they are going to burry him this Thursday. Really? He died TWO YEARS AGO and you’re going to have him buried THIS Thursday?
3. Two homeless guys vying for… whatever it is one vies for here.
2. Homeless guy number one – his flea infested dog trots fleas in all over the office and every time he comes within two feet of the front door I catch a drift of that dirty, nauseating dog smell that literally makes my stomach churn.
1. It’s not even 11am yet and already I’m starving, and broke, and … the final financial count has come in. It’s looking dim, my friends, dim.
And all of the sudden I jump out from behind my desk, dance across the office and burst into a rousing rendition of, “the sun will come out, tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow…”
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Love, Politics and Scrubs?
Love is a treacherous thing. And in this tragic life, is it ever found to be easy? Shakespeare pens lines like “the course of true love never did run smooth” and we quote it like we know something of it, like we know it enough to determine its way. I think if we knew it that clearly we wouldn’t struggle so much to follow its lead.
The brilliant Dr. Bob Kelso, of the even more brilliant sit-com Scrubs, says that “nothing in this life that’s worth having ever comes easily.” I think I actually cried watching that episode. Okay, maybe just teared up a little at the realization of what a profound truth that is. Had I not been interrupted by Dr. Dorien’s humorously gorgeous, well crafted, witty narration, I would have broken down and balled right then and there. Or not. We’ll really never know.
At any rate, life continues to prove this thought true. Take the recent “Unity” event in Unity, New Hampshire on Friday. Obama and Clinton, sharing the stage instead of battling over it, stumbling over lines like, “We look back at the votes cast here in the snows of January not as 107 votes for Hillary Clinton and 107 votes for me but as 214 votes for change in America.” I have to hand it to Obama’s speech writer; that was a good one.
Of course Clinton’s admonitions of Obama were just as well crafted (still not as well crafted as Dorien’s witty narrations); “Although we weren't able to shatter this highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it, and the light is shining through like never before… it is this belief and optimism that Sen. Obama and I share, that has inspired so many millions of supporters to make their voices heard. So today, I am standing with Sen. Obama to say, 'Yes, we can.'"
I’m almost positive there is a SNL skit in there somewhere.
Clinton, though was not about to lose her own dearest supporters, "To all those who voted for me… you have inspired and touched me. You have humbled me with your commitment… eighteen million of you from all walks of life -- women, and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African-American and Caucasian, rich and poor, middle-class, gay and straight ... you have stood with me," she said.
Well done, Clinton! Way to reach out to the working class, straight, white men. (Remind me not to use her speech on my next date.)
What does this have to do with anything? You ask. Well, for one, you have to agree that it’s tragic; a black male and a white female, both fighting to become the first “whatever” president of the US – someone’s pride will inevitably be laid out for all of America to shred. At least it was Hillary’s; she has to be used to that by now. And, they say, she’s handling it well (I’ve heard that somewhere before), “I think she's making a good stand down. She's a lady. She's doing it well."
Putting personal bias aside, I realize that at the end of the day, this has to be tough on her. For all intents and purposes, I’m sure she believes and is at least partially baffled by the fact that she wasn’t the one chosen. After all, she has all the makings of a great president – she’s been in the White House for some time now, her family heritage runs long in the political scene, she’s been on stage more often than not. She’s there, she had it, she should have been it! And all of America rises to say, “Really, you’re the best VP and we’d love to see you fill that spot. But Obama’s running for our heart.”
And with that, she pulls herself together, puts on her best political smile and says, “We may have started on separate paths ... today our hearts are set on the same destination for America ... to elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. We are one party; we are one America.” Whether she meant that or not, it had to be hard to say out loud.
So maybe it is true, that nothing in this life that’s worth having ever comes easily. Clinton can still make it to the White House. It might mean riding on the coat tails of Obama for the next eight years, but if she sticks it out, her day will come. Maybe that’s what we’re all waiting for – our day to come. And for some, like Hillary, we find our tune best sung by 3 Doors Down – “It’s Not My Time” – and find comfort in the driving, danceable rhythm.
… And besides, there’s always McCain!
The brilliant Dr. Bob Kelso, of the even more brilliant sit-com Scrubs, says that “nothing in this life that’s worth having ever comes easily.” I think I actually cried watching that episode. Okay, maybe just teared up a little at the realization of what a profound truth that is. Had I not been interrupted by Dr. Dorien’s humorously gorgeous, well crafted, witty narration, I would have broken down and balled right then and there. Or not. We’ll really never know.
At any rate, life continues to prove this thought true. Take the recent “Unity” event in Unity, New Hampshire on Friday. Obama and Clinton, sharing the stage instead of battling over it, stumbling over lines like, “We look back at the votes cast here in the snows of January not as 107 votes for Hillary Clinton and 107 votes for me but as 214 votes for change in America.” I have to hand it to Obama’s speech writer; that was a good one.
Of course Clinton’s admonitions of Obama were just as well crafted (still not as well crafted as Dorien’s witty narrations); “Although we weren't able to shatter this highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it, and the light is shining through like never before… it is this belief and optimism that Sen. Obama and I share, that has inspired so many millions of supporters to make their voices heard. So today, I am standing with Sen. Obama to say, 'Yes, we can.'"
I’m almost positive there is a SNL skit in there somewhere.
Clinton, though was not about to lose her own dearest supporters, "To all those who voted for me… you have inspired and touched me. You have humbled me with your commitment… eighteen million of you from all walks of life -- women, and men, young and old, Latino and Asian, African-American and Caucasian, rich and poor, middle-class, gay and straight ... you have stood with me," she said.
Well done, Clinton! Way to reach out to the working class, straight, white men. (Remind me not to use her speech on my next date.)
What does this have to do with anything? You ask. Well, for one, you have to agree that it’s tragic; a black male and a white female, both fighting to become the first “whatever” president of the US – someone’s pride will inevitably be laid out for all of America to shred. At least it was Hillary’s; she has to be used to that by now. And, they say, she’s handling it well (I’ve heard that somewhere before), “I think she's making a good stand down. She's a lady. She's doing it well."
Putting personal bias aside, I realize that at the end of the day, this has to be tough on her. For all intents and purposes, I’m sure she believes and is at least partially baffled by the fact that she wasn’t the one chosen. After all, she has all the makings of a great president – she’s been in the White House for some time now, her family heritage runs long in the political scene, she’s been on stage more often than not. She’s there, she had it, she should have been it! And all of America rises to say, “Really, you’re the best VP and we’d love to see you fill that spot. But Obama’s running for our heart.”
And with that, she pulls herself together, puts on her best political smile and says, “We may have started on separate paths ... today our hearts are set on the same destination for America ... to elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. We are one party; we are one America.” Whether she meant that or not, it had to be hard to say out loud.
So maybe it is true, that nothing in this life that’s worth having ever comes easily. Clinton can still make it to the White House. It might mean riding on the coat tails of Obama for the next eight years, but if she sticks it out, her day will come. Maybe that’s what we’re all waiting for – our day to come. And for some, like Hillary, we find our tune best sung by 3 Doors Down – “It’s Not My Time” – and find comfort in the driving, danceable rhythm.
… And besides, there’s always McCain!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Rambler
I'm supposed to sit here for an hour and write; write anything, anything at all. I just wasted the first five minutes staring at the most daunting white screen I've ever seen. The evening breeze carried the sound of my neighbors TV; the sound twirled through the window curtains and into my ears. It's a nice evening here; much cooler than the previous week. The birds are chirping like it's five o'clock in the morning. I hear the sound of cars driving off in the distance. The birds have gotten louder. The neighbor's TV is getting louder, too. I turned off my phone to eliminate distractions but all I can do is sit here and wonder if anyone is trying to call me right now. Speaking of distractions, I opened the shades before sitting down to write and as I look out the window now I am distracted by a lady walking down the street. She's in an odd hurry. My neighbor across the street is standing out in front of her house wearing bright pink pants. How embarrassing.
I decided it was a good time to start another paragraph. The headlights of cars driving down my street are peering into the window. I pause as they pass, wondering who is in them and where they are going. I can hear another car pulling up but I can't see who it is. Maybe it's my knight in shining armor, here to sweep me off my feet. Probably not. Even if it was, I would have to walk downstairs and unlock the gate for him. Then walk all the way back up the stairs so I can act surprised when he shows up on my doorstep. It kind of kills the moment really.
The birds are still chirping, the cars still driving by, the sound from the neighbors TV has faded. The family living below me is banging around in the kitchen; I can here cupboards opening and slamming closed, dishing being moved from one place to another. Looking out of my window I can see kids running out of the house across the street from me; the one where the woman in the hot pink pants was standing earlier. I wonder what the kids had been doing inside all this time, and why did they choose to come outside now? Someone else just came out of that house, walked to the car and is driving away now. I wonder just how many people live in that house. It's a big house, but I guess not so big with that many people inside.
Another car just sped by, this one with the bass booming so loud it set off a car alarm of a car that was parked on the side of the road. Finally someone came out to turn off the alarm. A young Mexican couple are pushing a stroller down the sidewalk. I really just assumed they are young. I couldn't actually see them that well to guess their age. It didn't really take much to guess that they were Mexican though. Pretty much everyone in the neighborhood is Mexican. Except me and the lady across the street in the hot pink pants. She's Asian. I'm not. I'm white, I'm very white.
I can't believe I'm still writing. It's been eleven minutes and I'm still rambling. I can't believe some people get paid to do this. To write, I mean, not to ramble. Although some writers really do just ramble and they get paid for it. Why do people read that stuff, the rambling? I am writing the rambling and I don't even want to re-read my own work. Not that I consider this work of any sort. Maybe I should call it "the rambling". Very creative, yes, that's me. Creative. The creative rambler. Not a bad pen name if I don't say so myself.
I just went back and re-read what I have written so far and I find myself strangely intrigued. "What's she going to write next?" I ask myself in third person with intense anticipation, "She's got me on the edge of my seat! I just can't handle the suspense! Oh for the love of God would you please write something! Anything! Hurry! Hurry! I'm dying here!"
The odd thing about rambling is that the reader doesn't want to stop reading because they truly have no idea where this is going; one thought is not connected to the next, nor the next, and at any given moment the rambler could write something incredibly insightful like "the birds are chirping louder now." And you wouldn't want to miss that line. That's a key line really. By the way, the birds are definitely chirping louder now.
Don't worry, my friend, I only have thirty three more minutes of rambling before the madness ends.
The sun has just about set now. I see more of my own reflection when I look out the window than I see what's really out there. That's an insightful though, isn't it? Of course, I'm not going to expound on that one. I'd rather ramble about things like chirping birds. God damn it they won't stop!
I can smell the smoke from my downstairs neighbors. They smoke in strategic spots of the backyard, like in the far corner on the other side of the garage. I guess they forget smoke isn't stationary. I don't suppose they care that the smoke rises and drifts into my apartment, into my nostrils, into my lungs and is slowly killing me. I am sitting here in my apartment slowly dying. You are reading my slowly dying words. Not that the word are slowly dying, but I am, and at the same time I'm writing. I am writing while I am slowly dying and you are reading the words that I am writing… as I am slowly dying. Second hand smoke kills. Cough. Cough.
Control – S. Whew. Wouldn't want to loose this document! That was a close call. Nice save, creative rambler. I like your moves.
I hear crickets now. The birds have stopped chirping. I hear a dog barking somewhere off in the distance. And I'm wondering again if anyone is trying to call me right now. That's an odd thing to wonder though because no one really ever calls me, at least not at this time on an evening when I don't have plans with anyone. My call list today included one person, and that was my boss. Sad times, my friend.
I just heard one of my downstairs neighbors laugh. He's an odd fellow. I wonder what he's laughing at. Sounds like his TV is on; he was probably laughing at something on TV. I wonder how often he has heard me laugh. I do that a lot, laugh at something on TV. And I almost always wonder if anyone heard me laugh. I only wonder that when I'm alone though because obviously if I'm watching TV with someone, they definitely hear me laugh. Unless they are deaf but I don't know any deaf people so that doesn't really apply to me.
The sun has completely set now and all I can see when I look out the window is my own reflection, and the street light. I can hear an airplane flying somewhere up high in the sky. From my front porch you watch planes fly into the LAX airport. One of my favorite things to do is stand out there at night with a cup of hot chocolate and watch the airplanes fly in. I wonder who the passengers are; are they coming home? Are they visiting someone here? Are they on a business trip? Maybe someone in their family died and they are flying in for a funeral. Is it a sad trip or a happy one? My mind drifts into who they could be, what they might be here for, and so on, as the breeze floats on and the crickets still chirp. It always makes me smile.
Although I am seventeen minutes away from fulfilling my hour long ramble session, I am already thinking of a clever way to end it. I'll probably write something like… Well folks, sixty minutes, one thousand-three hundred-seventy two words, one huge glass of iced coffee, and one trip to the bathroom later, I am officially ending this creative rant. Our together is coming to a close. I'd like to thank you for sticking with me and reading all this. I apologize for the time you wasted reading all of this. I need to go check my phone messages now to see how many people didn't call me in the last hour while my phone was off.
Okay, well I probably won't end this that way because now I've blown my big ending by letting you read it before my sixty minutes are actually up. I always blow the big endings that way. It's kind of a let down, much like having to go unlock the front gate for prince charming and then pretending to be surprised when he makes it to my doorstep. Very disappointing.
I don't think I'm going to make the last twelve minutes of this sixty minute stretch. Some would argue that I've come this far, I can throw down another twelve minutes. Okay eleven minutes now. But I would argue that they don't know me; they don't know the natural quitter inside. That's unfortunate. They are about to be severely disillusioned by my sudden ……..
I just can't take it. Ten more minutes is just too much. I quit.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Girls who go to church work harder
No joke, this is an actual article from TIME online. Awesome. You can check out the original post here:
Girls who go to church work harder
Growing up, I was made to go to church every week without fail. The experience left me with deep psychological scars. Here's one, according to a new study: having gone to church regularly apparently makes me work harder.
Researchers at the University of Georgia found that women who had attended religious services frequently (at least once a week) during childhood work about 80 additional hours per year when they are older. This effect is roughly equivalent to the impact on labor supply of an additional year of labor market experience.
A whole extra year! But at least I was raised a lazy Catholic. Worse off are my Protestant sisters:
Among Protestant women, the effect on annual hours worked of frequent religious participation when young is almost twice that amount.
Economics prof Ron Warren of Georgia's Terry College of Business, who conducted the study along with colleague Chris Cornwell and Terry alumna Karen Tinsley, a researcher in UGA's Housing and Demographics Research Center, speculates that
religious observance when young may give women a direction or "calling" to their personal conduct as adults, including a grea ter focus on market work. "Religious participation in childhood may instill a work ethic that is driven by early religious training, beliefs, or practice," he says.
And guilt. Don't forget the guilt.
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Reader Comments (28)
I wonder if the same applies to boys? I went church every week, received all the sacraments, and was even an altar boy for a time, which meant that I sometimes served mass every day. At 7 in the morning. In the summer.
Thing is, though, that I never believed a word of Christianity. From the beginning, it made no sense to me. Perhaps being forced to do what I didn't want to do prepped me for the working world. It's not so much of a work ethic as a cross to bear.
This past weekend I attended my niece's first communion. Seeing her dressed up like a tiny bride, hearing the talk of crucifixion and cannibalism, watching the guy in the special clothes sprinkle the special water on people to make them special too--I wanted to grab her a run like hell, to save her from a lifetime of conflicted emotions and guilt.
I feared that even witnessing such claptrap would make my daughter crazy. But when the priest said that we were in the presence of God, I heard her say, "Well, I'm not." I stifled a cheer.
Posted by Gerry
| April 15, 2008 11:30 AM
"religious observance when young may give women a direction or "calling" to their personal conduct as adults, including a great ter focus on market work. "Religious participation in childhood may instill a work ethic that is driven by early religious training, beliefs, or practice," he says."
Maybe it's more like girls who go to church learn the "Shut up and do it" ethic better than girls who don't, which also applies to the workplace?
Ahem...I say that as a churchgoing Catholic.
Posted by Lulu Lulu | April 15, 2008 12:42 PM
I'm sorry that the author encountered scarring. However, while I wasn't raised in a christian household, I became a born-again Christian during college. Looking at how life works, which is laid in clear times in the Bible, my life is better. I do try my best work hard, and that's at everything I do. I struggling being lazy like everyone else, but I'm called to be responsible for what I'm given. However, this doesn't mean we're to be work-aholics, that was why God created the Sabbath :) So, there's a balance, and I think it's good when some places can encourage a hard work ethic instead of lazy "what can I do to get by and make the most money" which we all struggle against.
Posted by Silveralsa | April 15, 2008 12:57 PM
I am not Catholic so I have no idea what's that's like but I say to the Gentlemen in the first comment if that's the way you feel about your religion do something about it. If you ever feel like that about you religion then obvestly it isn't what God wants for you. I can tell you from my own experience that feeling like you want to run away from somthing usually means you have to stand up and do something about it. For me I was going to a church where God wasn't the leader and therefore my heart was in the wrong place and yes it took time but I found my heart in Christ and in a different church. And I couldn't be happier.
My question about this is how any of this is wrong? By going to church and learning that being in this world that there are responsibilities? I see no wrong in that and I think that no scarring can come from that. If you are guilty that means you haven't given your sins to God. He CAN and WILL forgive you for them you just have to love him with all of your heart. Now if the parents of the child refused to let the child have a mind of it's owns and explore the world of religion then don't blame church blame your parents. Church by all means is NEVER a bad thing. I mean really think about it if you find as church that really has the spirit of Christ think of the possibilities...
God's are endless. He made the sun and moon stop for Joshua and his army. He took Paul, a murder of christians and showed him compassion. Grow from Christ and let Him love you.
Posted by Maggie | April 15, 2008 3:58 PM
I am not Catholic so I have no idea what's that's like but I say to the Gentlemen in the first comment if that's the way you feel about your religion do something about it. If you ever feel like that about you religion then obvestly it isn't what God wants for you. I can tell you from my own experience that feeling like you want to run away from somthing usually means you have to stand up and do something about it. For me I was going to a church where God wasn't the leader and therefore my heart was in the wrong place and yes it took time but I found my heart in Christ and in a different church. And I couldn't be happier.
My question about this is how any of this is wrong? By going to church and learning that being in this world that there are responsibilities? I see no wrong in that and I think that no scarring can come from that. If you are guilty that means you haven't given your sins to God. He CAN and WILL forgive you for them you just have to love him with all of your heart. Now if the parents of the child refused to let the child have a mind of it's owns and explore the world of religion then don't blame church blame your parents. Church by all means is NEVER a bad thing. I mean really think about it if you find as church or a family that really has the Spirit of Christ in them...think of the possibilities...
God's are endless. He made the sun and moon stop for Joshua and his army. He took Paul, a murder of christians and showed him compassion. Grow from Christ and let Him love you.
Posted by Maggie | April 15, 2008 4:02 PM
Nothing related to your post, but welcome back!
Out of sheer habit, I kept on clicking on your blog link, only to see "I'm the turkey in this sandwich." (Incidentally, only reminded me of Dagwood and how much I like Turkey club sandwiches)
Glad your back.
Posted by Yes we can? | April 15, 2008 5:36 PM
Oh, yeah, Lisa. Welcome back.
And Maggie, I did do something about it: I realized I'm an atheist.
Posted by Gerry
| April 15, 2008 7:29 PM
From Maggie - "Church by all means is NEVER a bad thing."
What are your thoughts on the ranch in Texas? That's church.
I wonder where the study pulled the sample from? If in Athens, GA, then it seems like the results would be skewed since the majority of people here grew up going to church regularly. When so many people go to church - the probability of those who work harder also going to church often would be pretty high.
AND what if working harder is not what you want to do, but working smarter is. Then wouldn't it benefit you if you didn't go to church regularly as a girl? If you work smarter then you have more time off with your family. Isn't that important to God?
Posted by Stacey | April 15, 2008 8:16 PM
I suspect this has more to do with the structure of going to a certain place at a certain time every week, versus really the fact that it's "church". So it's not about any sort of belief system as it's how the act alone of getting into some sort of focused routine at an early age will reflect at a later age in one's work ethics.
I would like to know the extent of the study though and if this would be the same if taken in a big city where less people go to church.
Posted by Lyn | April 15, 2008 8:47 PM
Gosh forbid there are institutions that teaches us at a young age the virtues of hard work. Sad day when these institutions are insulted for simply instilling in us a sense of pride for doing the right thing.
Posted by brerol | April 15, 2008 9:55 PM
As far as working harder, I agree with the person who noted that lots of people go to church. Maybe this study should do a few more cross tabs and see if other factors also influenced hard working behavior. Possibly those working longer are also working smarter, the study didn't analyze that.
Concerning the other comments, I went to church and the first time I heard that I should feel guilty was in high school when the guidance teacher informed us all that people who went to church felt guilty. The Catholic kids didn't feel guilty either.
The surprising and hurtful thing was that the non-churchgoers believed the teacher. But I realized that kids naturally want to go along with the teacher and some said that they were concerned for their grade. The teacher was wise not to ask us churchgoers since it was obvious that he would not believe us if we said that we did not feel guilty. Maybe churchgoers may work harder because sometimes comments about churches are hurtful and churchgoers may feel that they have to do better to be considered equal. Did the study look into that?
Posted by happy | April 15, 2008 10:32 PM
Is this a gender related issue at all? How strong is the correlation with "girls". Are women included in the sample.
Seems to me that the corporate mind has managed to do it's fair share of brain washing for either gender. A cousin of mine is a CPA. Talked with him last week, and said he had put in a 120 hour work week. He attends a baptist church in one of Obama's narrow minded, gun totin' small towns.
Can you enjoy a lazy moment or do your thoughts move so fast that you must be productive, driven, and escapist into work so as not to feel. Time for a good arm chair, cup of something hot and a good novel.
Posted by Mensch | April 15, 2008 10:35 PM
This is just a load of garbage. Out of all the women that I've ever known and still to this day have ever demonstrated is laziness and the expectation of someone else doing everything FOR them. If anything, I see ALOT more people that do NOT attend church having to prove themselves more and work harder in life. Whoever wrote this is an idiot and living in a dream world! Most that go to church have no inclination of the world around them and are closed-minded to everything. They can't handle any type of pressure or doing anything on their own, and they are also oblivious to anyone around them.
Posted by shelgrl | April 15, 2008 11:30 PM
Shocking, a college in the Bible Belt spews out this study.
Please do a little more investigative work. Which Christian organization funded this study?
Posted by kiber | April 15, 2008 11:51 PM
My, my, my. The comment section is on fire!
I grew up and still am Lutheran (Missouri Synod). I never had issues with guilt (beyond the normal, "I hope mom doesn't find out I skipped school!"). I met about a dozen or so Catholics in high school and college that claimed to be riddled with guilt. Then I heard someone tell a joke about Lutherans and guilt a couple years ago. I was totally confused. My mom explained that it was well known us Lutherans had some guilt issues. I was dumbfounded.
Point: To some a broken arm is a battle wound they will never forget. To others it is just something they need to stop by the doctor's office to get fixed.
Another interesting point: If you read through the comments carefully you will find a couple people totally misunderstanding each other. It's facsinating! It's like watching a game of Telephone when the story gets changed bit by bit until it's nowhere near the original story anymore.
Posted by hrwench
| April 16, 2008 1:54 AM
As a scientist one question would be how did you arrive at these statistics. Another question would be define work. For women that continue going to church as adults, does work include volunteering at church and other things like that that beyond the workplace is just one subquestion to this point.My 3rd question would be how does your design of experiment ensure that the link to higher hours truly is related/isolated to childhood church attendance. Is this the old ice cream consumption increases in summer and auto accidents increases in summer therefore ice cream sale increases causes more car accidents kind of statistics.
I find it ironic that some of the same folks who are responding are also so quick to combat Christian beliefs as indicated by the responses, but yet are so quick to blindly believe a study like this. I guess putting a university name behind the study is the modern day Bible.
Posted by mlg | April 16, 2008 2:23 AM
I think the article is misleading--it shows the girls who go to church work longer, not necessarily harder. To assess if the women who went to church work harder one would have to show that they accomplished more in the same amount of time as women who did not go to church went they were kids. however, the article does seem to imply that working longer is better....and I'm not sure that it is.
Posted by diana | April 16, 2008 7:55 AM
It's the truth. Now let's see the study which shows how lazy and abusive the men who grew up in the church turned out to be.
Posted by Skittle | April 16, 2008 8:02 AM
This study was done by the business wing of the University of Georgia. That's a state school, not a church college as some have suggested.
As far as statistical method, the most likley one was a simple survey with fairly straight forward anaysis of variance on the results. This is afterall a business school so socialological methods are the most likley.
Since they actually reported a difference it was almost certainly signicant at a 95% confidence interval, anything less would have gotten them laughed at. Of course the error was likley estimated based on the number of surveys, changing those assumptions might change some of the the results but probably not enough to push it out of the 90% confidence range.
More interesting to me was what they didnt report. After collected a large number of what were likley long surveys and correlating every factor to every response, the only significant correlation they could find was that women work more hours if they have gone to church. I get an image of a grad student desperately combing though the data looking for something, anything that they might draw a conclusion from.
I sounds like they were trying to understand the effects of childhood activities on future work performance, a perfectly reasonable thing for a business school to be doing. But I also thing that the correlation between good parenting and church attendance isnt as clear cut as they might have been hoping.
What truly bothers me is the way this study will be misquoted by those that have already assumed that good==church.
FYI, I am a Presby, heck I'm even a serving elder.
Posted by mike | April 16, 2008 8:33 AM
This is further proof that the school system has failed at providing the ethical leadership that the church does, which is sorely needed as our culture demands more entitlements.
As far as your personal experience, I feel very sadly for you and am disappointed in your negative commentary. Not everyone shares your opinion, although you write as though this is a common belief.
Our adult children do share your sentiments; they attend church regularly. Our youngest just finished her second missions trip and is returning this summer to Brazil for at least one more year.
Whether your bad experience was due to your parents, the church, or both, I sincerely hope you have or develop a personal relationship with the Lord.
Posted by GSH | April 16, 2008 9:21 AM
friends--judging by your comments here and your numerous e-mails, i'm seeing that many of you have passionate opinions about just WHY women who grew up religious would work harder as adults. and that my catholic jokes don't go over with non-catholic readers. the joke, friends, is that catholics are motivated in large part by guilt. i don't presume to speak for other christians. in fact, i don't presume to speak for all catholics--just this lazy, guilt-ridden, bad-joke-making one. peace to you all. :)
Posted by Lisa Takeuchi Cullen
| April 16, 2008 10:14 AM
Maybe the Catholic church, with its lumbering hierarchy and convoluted and contradictory belief system, creates a greater share of guilt than a less centralized denominations. The guilty people I've known--myself included--have had a difficult time reconciling what they've been taught and what they think is true--cognitive dissonance. I have never met a Catholic who agrees with the pope's views on major (or minor) issues or even knows Catholic theology all that well, which means they aren't Catholic. Even my mom, who thought about becoming a nun as a child and goes to church, um, religiously, laughed at me when I told her that Catholics are supposed to believe that the host physically turns into human flesh and the wine into human blood. She thought I was kidding. I had to show her a book that talked about transubstantiation, and she still doesn't believe it.
I'm not guilty anymore because I don't believe the stuff I was taught as a child. But this weekend, during my niece's communion, my mom burst into tears. Later she told me she was crying because my brother's kids will be the only ones who receive the sacraments because neither my sister nor I are Catholic. Jeez, thanks ma.
Posted by Gerry
| April 16, 2008 11:54 AM
I agree so much much with this, but i don't think it has to do at all with guilt. I think it's just an inner conviction to seize the day. we only have so much time!
Posted by jason | April 16, 2008 11:57 AM
What I find interesting is that in the last quote block Lisa posted it says
"'Religious participation in childhood may instill a work ethic that is driven by early religious training, beliefs, or practice,' he says."
It doesn't say "Religious participation in childhood will instill", or "is likely to" or "has been shown to". Instead, it just says "may". That doesn't seem very definitive at all.
I don't think that this study is saying that children who regularly attend church become better, more productive members of society, or more positive people. All it is saying is that they "may" work longer hours through their lifetime. Regardless of your religious beliefs, is that a good thing? Is it a goal of any church to train children to work more hours in their lifetime instead of spending it with family, or producing art, or giving it to their faith?
Posted by Jared from NYC | April 16, 2008 12:37 PM
What struck me was that the study is probably right, with some people. Religion doesn't take with everyone, in fact, the behavior of some of the fanatics strongly turned me off so much I felt like they were psycho-manipulating my mind & ran away. It took me 15 yrs to start looking seriously at Christianity again, to be able to separate the people from the teachings.
Religion brings out the extremes in people. Good and bad. Churches are no better than the people in them. The woman who said look for a church that has real love is right, if you can find it. (As you can see, I'm still skeptical about love in churches.) I admire the Shakers, who put simplicity & purpose in their work; their motto was, "Hands to work, hearts to God." They combined work with Godliness, they didn't separate them.
I woke up about 10 yrs ago and realized I was living life from "the outside in" instead of from "the inside out", as Martha Beck says. My church did not teach us to feel God, it taught us to obey. Maybe that's what a 'midlife crisis' really is. I know one thing, since I woke up, I don't want to be a part of the rat-race ever again. I want a meaningful life, not one lived fanatically adhering to someone else's idea of ethics, one lived according to my instinctive knowledge of right & wrong.
Work should be wonderful. If it's not, I figure I'm in the wrong job. And I've been in wrong jobs way too long.
It's a shame people don't live to be 500. It's taken me 50 yrs to learn to enjoy life.
Posted by Jeni | April 16, 2008 3:15 PM
Jeni - Good for you! Great comment.
Posted by hrwench
| April 16, 2008 3:27 PM
response to mike---not having seen the study, I would have to agree with your guess on the statistical method. If so, this is very entry level statistical analysis(high school really). With all the dynamic variables that go into an individual's make up, that is way to simple of a statistical method to be drawing those conclusions. You can make data say anything you really want if you massage it enough or don't analyze it enough or don't apply the proper methods. Thanks for your comment mike.
It is still amazing to me how many conclusions people draw from simple statistics that are not even looked at with a critical eye.
FYI--a scientist and a Christian and a woman who decided in freedom not guilt to leave the workplace for a year for the value of rest
Posted by mlg | April 17, 2008 2:36 AM
I don't see why people are getting up in arms over this. It does NOT draw any definitive conclusions.
"religious OBSERVANCE, WHEN YOUNG, MAY give WOMEN a direction or "calling" to their personal conduct as adults, INCLUDING a greatER focus on market work."
It's not saying "being religious", it's saying "religious observance" - i.e., most likely following the family rules. It re-emphasizes that they only have information on WOMEN who did this activity WHEN YOUNG. It acknowledges that the work ethic thing is only one possible effect of this activity, if it is an effect at all ("MAY"). It doesn't specify what the "focus on market work" is "greater" THAN.
So yeah, pretty much everyone except for the actual researchers were the ones drawing conclusions.
[Shelgrl: It's really quite depressing to realize that I am actually a crazy, close-minded, oblivious idiot who expects everyone else to do my work and can't handle any pressure. I was so oblivious and close-minded that I never realized that before. I am forever indebted to you for having brought me to my senses.]