Manns Medium

  “ In America, 39 million adults don't have a high school diploma and one way or another, they're getting by” but this is only the beginning trappings of how those who have lost faith in themselves may become a slave to society’s current attitude of failing to correct a problem before it grows seemingly too big to solve.   There are three major reasons why obtaining a high school diploma is in the best interest of not only the individual but this entire nation.   The first is employment because the requirement to get a decent job will require at least a high school diploma.   The second is educational requirement necessary to elevate yourself in the job market and the third and final is self-esteem. Self-esteem is by far, the most important because it forces one to believe even stronger in their abilities simply because by capturing a high school diploma or GED it allows them to believe more in themselves.   “ Too many smart people feel stupid because they we...

While scanning through my email this morning, I ran across a story titled “ The opioid crisis is creating a fresh hell for America’s employers ” published on July 26, 2017 by the Managing editor at Linkedin Chip Cutter. The more I read this article the clearer it became to me exactly why many people are quietly whispering this concept of “white privilege”.  According to Wikipedia “White privilege is a term for societal privileges that benefit people identified as white in Western countries, beyond what is commonly experienced by non-white people under the same social, political, or economic circumstances “but when confronted by this long definition, fear of discovery and lack of clear justifications leads to denials and refusal to accept such nonsense as fact.  It is my thought then that possibly if we shorten the definition maybe then we could truly bring awareness to this reality which explains why I have chosen to define it as simply the assumption. In the previously m...

Growing up in the south, I heard many stories and was lied to many times.  The stories I heard of was about the accepted fact that black men were either destined for jail, the graveyard or limited to working as a farm hand or in the local cotton gin.  I heard these stories from both blacks and whites and after a while began to believe them and settle in for what I was destined to do.  What changed was among those stories was the fact that as a black man, it would be a miracle to even graduate high school.  Like all children growing up, I dreamed of that big house with that white picket fence surrounding it and being able to walk out on my porch and be addressed as mister instead of boy.  To be able to purchase what I wanted when I wanted and do for my mother more than she had ever done for me.  I wanted her to be proud of the boy that she had raised and the man I had become.  It was my desire to not have her want for anything and not have to work so h...

We all have heard of the definition of insanity, where you continue to do the very same thing, the very same way and have the audacity to expect a different result but we ignore a key reason that the jobs promised by politicians and their reasons for why they continue to disappear does not match up with the rhetoric.  Well maybe this article that appeared  at WREX dot come can help you better understand why I have discovered that not only is it the true definition of insanity but it is also with the addition of an attack of apathy. The article is titled “Rockford Old Country Buffet closes” posted by Kristin Crowley yesterday Mar 07, 2016 on wrex.com.  The article reports that “The Old Country Buffet in Rockford is officially closed.  It happened suddenly over the weekend, leaving employees without jobs. Partners Buffet LLC tells 13 WREX the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The company says the Rockford location on Perryville Rd is one of six to close in ...

I have often sat up many nights wondering why so many good men and women are taking their own lives after enduring so many traumas, drama, pain and suffering.  After they may have seen their best friend die right in front of them or held them in their arms as they took their last breath.  Whether it had to pick up pieces of brethren, hoping that by some miracle a Navy Corpsman/woman or some doctor can put them back together and make them whole like they were just minutes before.  Whether their dreams and nightmares are any similar to mine and make me not wish to sleep for the fear of dreaming.  I often wonder if I am personally doing enough to help my fellow brothers and sisters and why a country who says they so love their troops are not doing more.  I wonder these things and other things but the answer seems to come back to one solid clue.  We are losing the good souls not only because of the things I just mentioned but other things that no one wishes to...

Can someone please tell me when the job of school counselor went from teach our children how to settle disputes without violence and morphed into their only job being changing a student’s class schedule, handing out those class schedules and locker combinations?  Maybe it’s just me and this was always the case.  If so then please forgive my interruption but if it’s not then it is high time we looked at reversing that policy and put them back to the purpose of which that position was formed. I thought that a school counselor’s job was to teach our children how to resolve disputes without violence even if that student home life and surroundings are filled with it.  I thought they were allowed to pull each student into their offices, find out what the real problem was and then find avenues to fix that issue so that student could proceed with getting a good quality education and not be allowed to fall through the cracks of a system normally comprised of people with grown...

For years now veterans have been complaining that civilians does not get the mindset of a vet and some have went as far as to plug in former military members in certain section of their businesses hoping to put an end to that argument.  Still the issues of vets seem to survive and many even multiply and grow larger than they once were.  The newest crop of veteran’s organization has stepped up to solve one or more of the issues but still cannot seem to make a dent in the much larger issue.  The largest issue is the missing link between military life and the civilian world.  The largest issue is losing that “ Esprit  de Corps” that many feel when they serve with a group of others that they know will have their backs or watch their six.  The largest issue is hearing that there is support of the troops but failing to see this support in the area most needed and the key to their transition.  The veteran needs to see, touch and feel that support that has gu...

For quite some time you have heard me scream my head off about veteran unemployment, homelessness and suicides.  You have heard me say that there is more we, as a nation, needed to do and more that we, as individuals, could do.  You have also heard me advise any who would listen, that instead of just accenting the problems, if we intend to be passionate and truly care about a particular subject, we also need to provide solutions.  Well, I have taken my own advice and I believe I have discovered the perfect way to address, greatly reduce and/or completely eliminate these same issues.  It’s human nature to believe that money is and always will be the answer to any problem and while we all soon come to learn money is but a part of the over-all grand need but never will it be the total answer to anything, we must also admit that money is required to help with these problems.  But let’s not get it twisted and think that our current status of throwing money at th...

We hear people telling us all of the time that the one thing we need to establish within our lives are goals.  Levels within our lives that we would like to achieve in order that we feel satisfied with life at the end of our term or successful.  We call it a legacy or something that we can look back upon in our golden years to show that the many days we existed here upon this earth was indeed fruitful and not a waste.  We tell ourselves this in order to feel better about the times we fail to act or fail at fulfill.  Now while I must admit, goals are a good thing to have, I do agree that goals are for the reasons previously stated.  My own personal take on a goal is that it can measure your seriousness about accomplishing the mission you have assigned to yourself and not some idea that others have saddled you with but like all things there is always a good and a bad. The only bad thing that I can come up with when it comes to setting goals is not that some a...

It is so breath-taking and refreshing to see or hear about a human being that refuses to follow directions from their superiors that they object to and in some cases these objections are not very popular within the community as a whole but every once in a while it is.  This is one of such a case where standing up for right did come at a price but not one paid by those who make a courageous decision to display their spine.  The story in question comes to us from Reuters written by Daniel Wiessner and titled “ CVS required workers to racially profile shoppers, lawsuit claims” The story claims that “managers at CVS Pharmacy Inc. stores in New York City required loss prevention staff to racially profile shoppers and subjected minority employees to racist slurs, a lawsuit against the Rhode Island-based company claimed. The proposed class action lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan by four black and Hispanic former CVS "store detectives" who claimed the...

I have been searching to a better way to write this but noting comes to mind so instead of racking my brain trying to come up with a much more digestible way to word this, I am going to just say it. Some wishes you to believe that the economy of America is not coming back and they cite so many reasons as to why.  Some wishes you to believe that the economy of America is coming back and they also cite so many reasons why but to every single unemployed person in America and for those struggling to make ends meet, both sides seem to be talking out of the sides of their necks.  Many wish to pinpoint the problem so that it may be addressed and others wish to blame the lack of jobs as a reason for the riots in Baltimore and the over-all feeling of disenfranchisement felt by the majority of those.  I think the culprit is simply three and as long as the power to decide are left in the control of them, this economy whether coming back or not will never each the apex of what i...

T here is this group of scam artists who has now appeared to have set their sights on veterans and many of whom may already suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), have found that they were subjected to contaminated drinking water on the U. S. Bases on which they were assigned, currently fighting with the V. A. regarding disability, education and other benefits of which they earned and convincing an employer that they are hirable thereby living day to day unemployed.  For some reason, these crooks think this is a target enriched environment from which to operate but what they may not have counted on is veterans are much similar to a bunch of snakes, you mess with us and we bite back. Image coming home after serving your country in uniform and after being promised so much not being able to get any of those promises answered because while you were busy defending their freedom, some were changing the rules and policies which now deny you those promises.  But befor...

As defined by Stop Bulling dot Gov, bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.  Wikipedia says it is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively dominate others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception, by the bully or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power. Behaviors used to assert such domination can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or coercion, and such acts may be directed repeatedly towards particular targets. Rationalizations for such behavior sometimes include differences of social class, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, appearance, behavior, b...

It was reported that “last week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Peggy Young v. UPS case to determine whether employers have to make accommodations for a worker who needs them because of pregnancy.”  It further reports that “Peggy, a UPS delivery driver, became pregnant and her doctor recommended she take a hiatus from lifting heavy boxes until after giving birth. However, Peggy was denied temporary light duty and forced to take unpaid leave by the company.   Under this bill, pregnant women will be able to request reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions without the fear of being fired—a privilege that isn't included under current law.” We all should know by now how this court has made wide-ranging and volatile rulings especially when it comes to civil rights but a few of us are still holding out hope that those whose task is to interpret the law will not be guilty of over-reach again.  Not for something tha...

One must wonder about several things that has grown out of the article from Crown Point, Indiana regarding Darren Deon Vann “a suspect in the killings of seven women in Indiana.  The first was the lack of reporting those missing, if true, after what many states declare as “waiting time”, the second would be as the desire or lack of desire that law enforcement put forth because of the occupation that many of the women had and finally the withholding of that information from civilian authorities if Vann attempted these acts while serving in the Marines.  Was this not placed in a priority position because of their occupation and or because it did not get reported.  Neither of these questions may ever be known but they are worth exploring. It was reported that “Vann, 43, so far has been charged with strangling a 19-year-old woman in a Hammond motel Friday night and officials say murder charges in the deaths of three of six other women found in vacant buildings in Gary ar...

We often hear some businesses talk about bringing in some new blood because the ideas which might have launched and kept the company going are now drying up.  It is believed by many that this concept is best described when it is said to be  “thinking outside of the box”, but what they do not know is the very same blood that they attempt to infuse is the very same blood that has been there all this time. I speak of sons and daughters who step in to take the place of another who happens to be the parent or family of the one that they replace.  Back in the day, recruiters used to travel around and talk to different people of different backgrounds to compose the company of diverse individuals who can coordinate and compromise on fresh ideas.   That appears to only be the actions of scouts who search for athletes and not what real business recruiters do.  Business owners have been lulled into a false sense of believing that if the father or mother was an ex...

You truly had to wonder when Major Corporation like Comcast and others would finally grow too big for their britches, well this maybe just the straw which breaks the camel’s back. In an article titled “ Unhappy Customer: Comcast Told My Employer about Complaint Got Me Fired ” written by Chris Morran for Consumerist.com, it speaks about “Conal began subscribing to Comcast service in early 2013 after he says he was sold a 9-month promotional pricing offer. But from the start, there were issues with his service, as he was being charged for set-top boxes that had yet to be activated. Additionally, someone at Comcast billing had misspelled Conal’s last name, meaning some of his bills were not being delivered.  He says he met with a Comcast rep in May 2013 about the billing issues and promised they would all be sorted out, but things only got worse.  He attempted to cancel his service in Oct. 2013 but says a Comcast rep convinced him that the billing issues would be resolved an...

For some time now, I have been a very vocal critic of the Veteran’s Administration, not because what they refused to do but for the things that they have not done.  With the news today, I may have to re-think my stiff opposition to their procedures and step back enough to see that in many places where I feel they have failed, there are those that they appear to have either taken the lead. Where they appear to have taken the lead is found in this article from the VA Office of Economic Opportunity in which they report that “the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry (UA), who launched the Veterans in Piping (VIP) accelerated welding training program in 2008.  This program, which began in Washington State, trains and certifies Veterans to meet union standards for welding.  The VIP program is truly a grassroots effort comprised of local educational institutions, equipment suppliers, partner contractors, and support from ...

For someone who really grows as a person when they help another, no other job could be better than customer service.  It is more than a procedure, it’s a calling and not many possess the skills to be even a decent customer service rep.  So how do you find them and why do they burn out so quickly. Let’s deal with the first question.  It’s easy to find someone who has that potential gold mine of a skill at customer service, watch their body language and the sparkle in their eyes when they speak about helping people.  If you do not see that, then chances are you are hiring by resume and not by benefit of company.  Having a person answer the phone does not a customer services representative make.  It goes much further than that.  A real customer service person will take as long with that one client or customer as necessary to ease their concerns.  They will stay with them until they are completely satisfied and not just appeased.  They will ...

Contrary to what some would have people believe, the economy has returned and jobs are popping up all over America.  The issue is people are still feeling less than confident because the unemployment numbers are still high but if one was to take a few minutes and compare the unemployment rate now to what is was before the crash of the economy, they may find themselves surprised by the numbers. Take for example, the job that is being done in Rockford, Illinois by those in the government.  Some time ago, we spoke about how FedEx was about to begin construction for its new facility in this area, then we talked about the construction of two new stores (Aldi’s and Sav-A-Lot) which will soon also start construction here.  Now our local TV station WREX is reporting that “Global aircraft service leader AAR Corporation is opening a new maintenance and repair hangar in Rockford that will create up to 500 new jobs over five years. AAR chose Rockford based on its location, cost ...