Unions and lamb burgers

I was talking to a *nice lady dressed for work at the Starbucks last Friday as my dad was helping to get my new kindle fire registered. Yes I will be reading even more now. Yay! We were having some difficulty understanding the customer service representative with Verizon who had an accent when the nice lady sitting next to us said something about not having customer service representatives here in the U.S.

Since my Dad had gone outside to clarify something with Verizon on the phone, the nice lady told me she thought unions were part of our problem here in the U.S. and that companies here can't afford to compete with labor costs in other countries because they have to pay benefits and union wages. I thought about this while she was also telling me that she was a former marine (or air force veteran?) and she had been decorated by former president George Bush when he was veep because Ronald Reagan had the flu. I couldn't think of what else to say except congratulations and thank you for your service. I asked her does she really think unions are part of the problem? She said yes, the employees get paid so much our president elect needs to get rid of the unions so we can compete better for jobs here. I thought about that and then by the time our conversation would have continued my Dad walked back in the store and the kindle fire was working then so it was time to leave. I shook the hand of the nice lady and told her it was nice meeting her and we left.

So are unions part of the problem here in the U.S.affecting our ability to compete abroad?

The nice lady I talked to at Starbucks argued that if an american company could a chinese worker seven dollars a day there is no way they would choose to pay a worker in this country where minimum wage is $7.25 per hour plus that many full time employees expect benefits. Also minimum wages in this country are increasing. Thankfully for many.

Someone like me, a democrat, might say that the people at the tippy top (high earning CEO types) might have part with $$$ to get their companies to stay with U.S. labor. It might mean fewer trips to the Hamptons or Aspen. But I really believe that we can keep jobs here.

I've always thought unions were part of the solution. Especially when it comes to farmworkers. Before the union they didn't get paid minimum wage and just recently were guaranteed overtime pay. In all honesty I don't know a lot about unions. So I did a little light reading.

Additionally, Arizona (where I live and work) is a right to work state. One of 26, that doesn't require union membership.Also we are an At-will employment state which means employees can quit when we want and employers can terminate us when they want.

Since we still have to eat, enough about unions.

A local restaurant in my neighborhood has new ownership. They have great food and reasonable prices. Breakfast and lunch kind of place. Benedicts, 2 egg breakfasts, sandwiches and salads. Yesterday I was having breakfast there and a man came to pick up our dishes and introduced himself as one of the new owners. My Dad noticed his accent and asked where he was from and he told us. Australia. I asked does that mean you're going to put lamb burgers on the menu? He said no and looked at me with something I couldn't quite read. Contempt? Maybe he was tired of being asked that question many times already. But I think our neighborhood is ready for more lamb burgers. We are evolved. Maybe that's just me. Maybe he thinks the menu should just stay the same. My Dad asked if they were going to now put a flat white on the menu. Then the new owner educated us on what a flat white is. He said, you know, it's just an americano with steamed milk. Like we didn't know that or we couldn't have possibly known that. Anyways, I don't think he knows his clients very well. I hate it when someone presumes I don't know what something is.

*http://www.biography.com/people/caitlyn-jenner-307180

Recounts and the electoral college

Watching a news program this morning,  Jill Stein, the independent Green Party candidate was talking about a recount of votes in Michigan from the presidential election. She said 7500 votes did not include a presidential preference and that was suspicious. If there are problems with voting machines then they should be fixed in my opinion. It is good to have an accurate count, even though the electoral college vote and not the popular vote determines who wins the presidential election.

I was and remain curious about who are the members of the electoral college. The names are posted so one could find out easily where each member went to school, what values they support and why they voted the way they did.   Were they upset with Hillary? Did they prefer Bernie? Was it the email scandal? Are they against abortion? Do they feel Trump will do a better job at helping recover our economy? 15 out of 50 states electoral voters have the option to vote out of their party, according to Heavy, so I am curious what might have made any of them do this.

In the future I will struggle to justify myself voting in the general election. But I will still vote in the primary elections. Should the electoral college be disbanded then I will again vote in the general election.

Still I struggle knowing that people I am friends with voted for the president-elect. I want to know their motivations for voting for him, although some people have been more outspoken, even in the workplace than might be appropriate. Someone in particular who was less supportive at best of Obama, saying some people said he was the antichrist (really, at the workplace?) and that there should be a firing squad, thinks that our president-elect is the best person for the job. And I'm not trying to be elitist about this but I ask myself, where did she go to school, what news programs does she watch and what internet sites does she visit to justify her beliefs systems. I'm working through this struggle every day. Although for sanity purposes I'm trying to put less emphasis on it and concentrate more on what I can control at work, with my family and in relationships.

If our president-elect is able to help our economy by keeping more jobs here by lowering taxes then that will be good for some people.We will have to see what is the real outcome.

In the meantime I will be doing my own little part to help the economy by spending more money on food, as I am the inconsolable eater.And doing so locally. Our turkey this year was from the nice people at Double Check Ranch in Winkleman, Arizona.
 

We recently had dinner at China Village, a local restaurant that we like to go to for great sweet and sour pork.

One of my favorite places for snacks is Tropical Snowflake Raspados, where the agua mineral preparada is sweet, sour, bubbly and slightly salty.

The struggle continues.

Using an inside voice

So lately, since we've had the elections, I'm struggling to use my inside (ahem) appropriate voice. I'm having to filter out a lot of words like bigot, womanizer and racist. I am not going gentle into this good night.

Picking one's battles is not easy. I've learned to do it pretty well at the workplace though, in the last couple of years. If it's going to get me fired or give me demerits, it isn't worth my time (or breath). Thankfully my boss is a good listener. The truth is, I'm in a very harmonious place at work these days. And I'm thankful for it.

I don't talk about religion or politics with people I don't know. And even then when I do discuss it now, voices are raised and people quickly become defensive. Especially in the lunchroom at work. Because it's neutral territory (mostly). Stuff we can't say on the floor we can say in the lunchroom (as far as I can tell with a wink and a nod to the person at the other table). So today I was in the lunchroom at work having a leisurely lunch with a few of my friends and as soon as politics came up, voices got raised. So I might have to start censoring myself in the lunchroom too. It's too bad. I'm going to start wearing a safety pin, though. Or two, or three. I arrive late to symbolic movements so if I give old news, that's why.

I'm getting worried about the future of our country. I'm worried that the progress we have made with healthcare, voting rights, affirmative action, fair housing, women's rights, the dreamers, people who are not white and lgbt may suffer.

Thailand, Mexico, New Zealand and Spain all look good as prospective living quarters. My aunt said Ireland looks good too. Cold though. But they would have lamb burgers so that is a plus. I'm not in a position to move financially right now so maybe that's premature.

I'm not trying to be negative. I'm just looking at who our president-elect is talking about hiring (and who he has hired) and they are people with really different values than me. I want to keep women's rights. I want to keep healthcare (Obamacare) and ensure the dreamers can stay and that gays and lesbians can still get married and have/adopt children. I read somewhere that one of the people who is being considered as a new appointment in the supreme court would jail gay people who have sex. I have big a problem with that.

So all of this has me quite inconsolable. And I am also an eater. So that's why I chose that title for this blog. It was time for a change anyways. Yummies and Chamoyada were old news. Well I still love chamoy, of course. But big (sad) news calls for big actions. Or at least...big blogging.

Here's a place where you can get a burger and a beer for $10 (a special they have going on). If you are also an inconsolable eater this should make you happy. Here's a picture of my lamb burger from tonight.

And they have local beer, which always makes me feel better. Especially if I'm ...(wait for it) inconsolable.

Disclaimer. I will try not to just give opinion here. I will include some facts/links and hopefully common sense. Woody Allen type humor will appear often. I am not a great writer.