"Unqualified candidates need not apply"

Part of my weekend routine is to check out the newspaper, of which there are only 2 sections that I bother to read.

The first is the editorial section - for educational purposes.
The second is the classified ads - for entertainment purposes.

Let me explain the latter.

For the past weeks, I've taken it as a personal project to see just how many times I'll find my favorite catchphrase for a want ad. Sure enough, I was not disappointed to find no shortage of it.

To know what that phrase is, check the collection below:
(click on image for an enlarged view)

The curiousity drove me further to Google the keyphrase "pleasing personality in job want ads" (quote marks not included). Below are initial findings from this quick survey:

1. The Top Two Countries of Origin for ads containing this phrase are India and the Philippines.
This, to me, seems to imply that employers from these two countries place unsual premium on such a personality. This, in turn, is perhaps because they've had several run-ins with employees who were big jerks.

That doesn't speak so well for countries that pride itself with the personalities of its people, doesn't it?

2. The majority of these advertised openings that include the phrase are jobs for assistants, staff members and other rank & file positions.
I have still yet to find a want ad for the position of Finance or Marketing Manager, much less for an Executive position. Even ads for Human Resource Managers don't carry this (which you would think would be a prime requirement).

That being said, I suppose the corporate message NOT being said here is this:

The higher up the ladder you get, the more you are entitled to be an a**hole.


Furthermore, you would think that everyone (employed or not) SHOULD have pleasing personalities. (Even the phrase itself begs definition - but I won't even go into that.)

If this was true, then there would be no need to place it as a requisite for employment listed among other unimportant requirements such as a college education and work experience.

Unfortunately, the fact that it's stipulated in a want ad only means that there are real jerks and a**holes out there. Then again, this is no new revelation.

I suppose I just lament the fact that even something as mundane as a job ad attests to this.

Best for Baby, Best for You?

Something's wrong here....

.... I just can't tell what though.

Ponder Me This:

There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

Even in this day and age marked with calloused and jaded sentiments, I still think it's disturbing, if not frightening, to hear someone say that man is corrupted from inside. And it is not because of a crapy childhood or because the environment one grew up in "has fostered disruptive behavior."

Claiming so just reeks of finger-pointing and the refusal to admit any personal responsibility for how one behaves.

In a nutshell, what this guy's saying is:

everyone starts out already screwed up.


No wonder babies come out into the world crying their eyes out.

It is also no wonder, therefore, that when left to his own devices, man tends towards things that destroys not only himself, but those around him. Then again, I suppose this tendency keeps with one of the universal laws of physics (paraphrased below):

"Given enough time, all things turn to crap."

It makes you wonder then how humanity had ever survived despite the depravity and the corruption within. If man is a time bomb just waiting to explode, why is it that we still have a humanity to speak of?

What then prevents man from completely destroying himself, if he cannot rely on himself to save his own hide?

Such things I think of. And thankfully, more so, have answers to.

If you don't know them yourself, it might do you good to ask. Why not drop a line or two if you're curious?

Revocation of Rights

In between the hours of work and lunch break, while idly browsing through health articles galore, I made a stunning, if not shocking, discovery:

By sitting in front of a desk and doing little to nothing else, I have relinquished my right to that plate of linguini sitting on the pantry table.

And to think I prepared my own lunch for the day!

(Grumble, grumble, grumble) - > and this isn't my tummy complaining....

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As it turns out, by jockeying a desk from the hours of 9am to 12 noon,
I have consumed a grand total of: 4.8 calories.

My plate of linguini: 250 calories.

My look of dismay: priceless.

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Be it ever so escapist,


ignorace.

is.

bliss.
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If you want to know just how much "goody points" (read: calories) you're allowed after an activity, you might want to check this out.

Pretty interesting stuff, too.

Who'd have thought 90 minutes of non-stop kissing would consume 150 calories? (I'd imagine that one's jaws would be pretty numb by that time, though.)