Hat tip Avalon
Guest Post by Charlotte Allen
I was able to get a summer internship at a company that does work in the industry I want to work in after I graduate. Even though the division I was hired to work in doesn’t deal with clients or customers, there still was a very strict dress code. I felt the dress code was overly strict but I wasn’t going to say anything, until I noticed one of the workers always wore flat shoes that were made from a fabric other than leather, or running shoes, even though both of these things were contrary to the dress code….
I soon found out that many of the other interns felt the same way, and the ones who asked their managers about it were told the same thing as me. We decided to write a proposal stating why we should be allowed someone leeway under the dress code. We accompanied the proposal with a petition, signed by all of the interns (except for one who declined to sign it) and gave it to our managers to consider. Our proposal requested that we also be allowed to wear running shoes and non leather flats, as well as sandals (not flip-flops though) and other non-dress shoes that would fit under a more business casual dress code. It was mostly about the footwear, but we also incorporated a request that we not have to wear suits and/or blazers in favor of a more casual, but still professional dress code.
Well, that’s what students did at Oberlin, right?
Students at Oberlin College are asking the school to put academics on the back burner so they can better turn their attention to activism. More than 1,300 students at the Midwestern liberal arts college have now signed a petition asking that the college get rid of any grade below a C for the semester, and some students are requesting alternatives to the standard written midterm examination, such as a conversation with a professor in lieu of an essay.
The students say that between their activism work and their heavy course load, finding success within the usual grading parameters is increasingly difficult. “A lot of us worked alongside community members in Cleveland who were protesting,” Megan Bautista, a co-liaison in Oberlin’s student government, said, referring to the protests surrounding the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by a police officer in 2014. “But we needed to organize on campus as well — it wasn’t sustainable to keep driving 40 minutes away. A lot of us started suffering academically.”
And, although Oberlin president Marvin Krislov did turn down the petition, he did express his hope for continued “dialogue” with the students who signed it. According to the New Yorker:
Krislov tells me that he doesn’t believe nonnegotiable demands are useful. He favors friendly conversation: “I reached out to students I knew in leadership positions and said, ‘I mean what I say! We’re ready to engage. I want to have dialogue.’
But it turns out that life doesn’t imitate higher education:
The next day, all of us who signed the petition were called into a meeting where we thought our proposal would be discussed. Instead, we were informed that due to our “unprofessional” behavior, we were being let go from our internships. We were told to hand in our ID badges and to gather our things and leave the property ASAP.
What, no “dialogue”?
We were shocked. The proposal was written professionally like examples I have learned about in school, and our arguments were thought out and well-reasoned. We weren’t even given a chance to discuss it.
And here’s my favorite part of the “shocked” ex-intern’s appraisal of the situation:
The worst part is that just before the meeting ended, one of the managers told us that the worker who was allowed to disobey the dress code was a former soldier who lost her leg and was therefore given permission to wear whatever kind of shoes she could walk in. You can’t even tell, and if we had known about this we would have factored it into our argument.
“You can’t even tell”!
I’d love to have been a fly on this ex-intern’s blank wall of a mind as she “factored” that disabled veteran into the petitition.(I’m assuming she’s a she because guys don’t refer to their shoes as “flats”)
And no, this isn’t from The Onion. It’s an actual request for advice from job-blogger “Ask a Manager” Alison Green.
I feel my dismissal was unfair and would like to ask them to reconsider but I’m not sure the best way to go about it.
Green wisely told this snowflake to forget it:
A petition is … well, it’s not something you typically see at work. It signals that you think that if you get enough signatures, your company will feel pressured to act, and that’s just not how this stuff works. A company is not going to change its dress code because its interns sign a petition….
But it would be smart to write a letter to your manager explaining that you’ve learned from the situation and that you appreciate the opportunity they gave you and are sorry that you squandered it. They’re not likely to invite you back, but a note like that will probably soften them up a little and will mean that they don’t think so witheringly of you in the future.
Too bad colleges don’t imitate real life.
Back when I was in business I was doing an interview. The first thing the young woman did when she came in was to give me a list of demands- “I’ll need 50K a year, a company car, I leave early so I can pick up my daughter from day care, etc, etc.”
Not one word did I utter before being issued her requirements for employment.
I wished her the best of luck in her job search.
Obviously her daughter is all grown up.
Once again, snowflakes feel like they don’t have to respect property rights and are shocked, shocked I say when they have to do the bidding of those who actually build a company that employees them.
I have a little advice to give you whiny shits. I’ll give it to you as it was given to me by my father.
“Dance with the one who brung ya”. If a company has gone out on a limb to train you and maybe even hire you, do as they ask or find a company who fits your pathetic psychology.
Lord knows you won’t be able to build your own business by yourselves. Just ask the Marxist mullato.
Irony: unpaid intern, i.e. free/slave labor, bitches about the conditions of her servitude.
This stuff started long ago. As a professional recruiter in the late 90s, I can tell you people were already hopeless. Oh the stories of morons I have.
Are there no adults left in this world to explain life to their offspring? Or, as I suspect, are they the clueless ones that raised apples off the old tree.
This is potentially a lot worse for this little snowflake than just losing her internship. This is a company that does business in the industry she wants to work in after graduating. There is a high probability that she will run into people who work at this company again, perhaps next year when she’s looking for a “real” job, perhaps further down the road. She’s done an excellent job of making sure she will never be taken seriously in that industry. One of the first rules of making it in the real world – don’t burn your bridges.
For the people who think that firing her and all the other people who signed the petition was too harsh: In addition to the fact that the proposal and petition were inappropriate we don’t know the wording of the proposal and petition, only that SHE thinks that the proposal was written “professionally” and that her arguments were “well-reasoned”. The same could be said of a note that a bank robber hands to the teller. Doesn’t mean that the bank robber shouldn’t be prosecuted.
The moral of the story is; Don’t start a mudfight with the motherfucker that owns the mudhole.
Snowflake shoulda maybe wondered about that.
I didn’t quite ‘get’ the ‘university’ bit, though.
They’re most likely privileged fucks, too.
Create your very own mudhole, Snowflake- or be subjugated by the owner of the one you were interested in.
Your choice.
Being a slave of a slave of a slave doesn’t seem appealing to me.
But that’s just me.
That’s fucking awesome! Goes under the heading- too bad, so sad.
If that was me I’d hang myself by the labias.
I don’ t much care about these special snowflakes…..we just always called them dumbasses.
If you don’t like the rules get an internship somewhere else. The reality is those that pay the bills make the rules. This liberal lass didn’t understand the way it works.
What she should have done is sign a petition and send it to her liberal congress person who would have contacted the Department of Labor, who would have notified OSHA, who would have sent in their guns and badges and threatened pressure on the company, which would, then, have liberalized their dress code.
The snowflake would have felt empowered. The liberal congress person would have felt empowered. The Department of Labor would have felt empowered. OSHA would have felt empowered. And the Flatfeet would have felt empowered.
Then, there wouldn’t be any more internships. Guess what? The snowflake would wonder why there aren’t any more internships and never, never, ever make the connection.
Organizing employees against the company they’re employed by (especially as tenuous a position as “intern”) is a guaranteed way to meet the wrong side of the front door. Had I been the boss it would have produced the same result.
I hope this snowflake learned her lesson, but i would wager not.
When you think that you’re important, you’re importance is over rated. When you perform a service that’s needed, your importance grows. It all rests in Service, not in what you think of yourself.
If this little liberal snowflake wanted to change the world for the better, relishing the idea that she’s doing God’s work, she should become a politician. They’re good at it and the pay, benefits, and retirement are great.
There’s no fix for stupid. Those interns got a two-fer:
a 2×4 upside their heads and a swift kick to their keisters and in the process they lost a job opportunity in a brutal job market once they matriculate. Although at least the employer benefited by seeing the cut of their jibs before burning money on their sorry bums. Idiots!
Considering Nick’s comment that interns get dumb-ed down assignments, I’d say they got the most valuable lesson they were going to get their entire internship in the real world of business.
It’s the dumbass that refused to sign that is probably still there kissing ass and schlepping coffee for the heavies who love to have a free servant around. Who knows if they will use the threat of firing her like the others to get ‘special favors’.
If admin hadn’t promised me a positive recommendation leading to a brilliant future in blogging, I would not be participating in this internship.
She wrote:
“I noticed one of the workers always wore flat shoes that were made from a fabric other than leather”
From a FABRIC other than leather? I can only imagine how “professionally worded” their petition was. Sheesh.
Ed, jamesthedubyu got mad at me for deriding his unprofessionally worded story.
He won’t even do me the courtesy of a reply on another post.
I’m just going to chalk up future errors to ‘creative license’.
Huh?
” jamesthedubyu got mad at me for deriding his unprofessionally worded story.”
I am a professional, therefore anything I write must be professionally worded. Got a problem with that? [VBG!]
“He won’t even do me the courtesy of a reply on another post.”
Indefinite reference. I gave your last post on THAT thread an up-arrow, for trying. Were you expecting a longer response? Or are you referring to another thread, that I may have commented on and not yet seen your comment? [mental note: look up all 50+ threads across five platforms I’ve commented on this week, and see if FR left me a reply somewhere that I haven’t noticed yet].
“I’m just going to chalk up future errors to ‘creative license’.”
Chalk? Won’t the teachers let you use pens and ink yet? STOP CHEWING THE ENDS OF PENS AND MAKING YOUR TONGUE BLUE, AND MAYBE THEY’LL LET YOU USE PENS AGAIN!
Jeez – I’m starting to feel like Admin, who’s always accused of censorship when he really doesn’t get around to posting things INSTANTANEOUSLY.
Next insinuation, please?
Thanks, jimbo, I can sleep better at night knowing your not still mad at me. I laughed at your – I’m a professional therefore…
All my respect to you, sir.
Somebody should have given this silly twit a huge dose of reality a long time ago.
My father conveyed that reality to me like this: “You can’t fight City Hall.”
In simple English, that means don’t start battles you cannot possibly win.
Had a young man miss 4 days in his first 4 weeks. I fired him. His father stormed into my office later that day demanding I rehire him.
I sad to him his son missed 4 days in 4 weeks.
His father replied “That’s right, only 4 days in 4 weeks, and you fired him!”
I have always wondered what the father considered too many days off in an employee’s first 4 weeks of work. I regret not asking, as I am sure it would have been enlightening.
I threw the stupid fuck off my premises.
The apples do not fall far from the tree.
BTW – he was not the first, nor last, parent, to charge into my office. And these are parents of grown men – all 18 to their mid-20s. Unbelievable. They get tossed off the premises each and every one. No wonder their kids are a waste of good oxygen.
Employ a lot of people, and you will see it all.
Reminds me of a special SF I know. Sometime back my brother was having issues with his lazy/entitled (step)son and the sons gf/baby mama. My brother and his wife were giving them a chance to save up for their own place by allowing them to live in their home. They benefited because they got to see their granddaughter everyday but the kids took advantage.
I happened to be visiting when I saw the baby mama looking through the rental ads for a domicile that “met her architectural needs”. As gently as I could I explained that the only “architectural needs” a college dropout (her) and a couple of lazy, chronically broke, no talent do nothings like themselves had was three walls, a roof, one door and some functioning plumbing. I added that birth control to prevent another “accident” and avoiding debt would pay enormous dividends going forward.
She doesn’t like me now and I’m all torn up about it.
Well, looky who’s the special snowflake, of course she was going to hate you after you interfere where your opinion is not wanted. It serves you right. Maybe you should write them a letter of apology and they might let you see the step-second grand-kid. Maybe they will even name their second mistake after you.
I was kidding you morans! You should have caught on as soon as I called I-S, who has no feelings at all, a special snowflake. At least we now know there are 3 idiots who’d like to blow I-S.
I was lucky enough to get an internship at an “A” level smaller (entertainment) production company in my early 30’s (not a small feat) – at one point I was asked to work the desk of the senior talent manager for two weeks (this p.o. Also did talent management- definitely dirty but that’s Hollywood) – I happily agreed- this was a big deal – at some point a junior manager at the production company (5 years my junior and hot) came in and made a fus about how I shouldn’t “be working for free” (knowing my place) I begged her not to make a scene- she insisted and went to the office manager AND the owners of the company – I kept my mouth shut about the whole thing ….. Moral of the story – she was fired a week later and I was still in my internship position – knowing my time there was limited I took the first job I could.
Greetings,
Everyone bitched and moaned so much about internships out here in California that you can ONLY get one now if you are in college. Given that the majority of the work here doesn’t require a college education, it has all turned into a giant Goat Rodeo.
Case in Point: my daughter wanted an internship at MTV because she wishes to work in entertainment. Now, interns at MTV do work that anyone with a 3rd grade education could do but because all the special snowflakes began demanding pay and benefits for their internships, California passed a law whereas only someone in an accredited school can do an internship.
Now, instead of just not getting paid for an internship, these guys have to pay to take classes they do not want so that they can fight the hundreds of other “deserving” students applying for the same position because, of course, with all the internship regulations in place, internships are now somewhat rare. For example, California will look at 11 different criteria when deciding whether or not someone is an intern and the rules are so broad that you’ve pretty much got to give an intern nothing dumb-dumb work or risk being sued to the moon.
The woman in this article was/is an idiot for screwing up the way she did. She was lucky to get an internship and she blew it for her and her classmates. These morons ruin everything they touch.
May I suggest two pre-interview test questions designed especially for the Millennial/ Snowflake generation. The first question would have the faces of several clocks having minute and hour hands indicating different times. You would be AMAZED at those who cannot tell time off an “old fashioned” clock.
The second question would involve a paragraph for which the snowflake would have to write it out word for word in cursive script after which they would have to sign their name. You would be AMAZED at the ones who can only print and most of that garbage looks like chicken scratching.
The colleges are actually admitting these kind of functional morons and the ones who don’t flunk out have majored in “careers” where they have to work as internships because their field of study is so damn worthless.
CoalClinker,
I really like that idea a lot. Can you tell time and write would be the perfect millennial job interview.
The problem, as I see it, is that these clowns have been told that they are trans-humanist super geniuses. They really believe that their smart phones have made them smarter but in actuality, they are as smart as a sack of hammers. I can give a monkey a laptop but it is still a monkey.
Since it is the 4th of July weekend, I’ve been around a bunch of people that have kids in school and I weep for the future. These kids have NO future but slavery.
Ever single piece uh donkey dookey that posted above can just lick the canker on mah cooter. Cuz yer the most judgmental assholes I ever come across. Indented Sphincter has no offspring, his pecker dribbles out the most infertile watery gook yer ever saw, and so he gets bitter about his nephew ever getting uh sibling. Indented Sphincter is by far the most vomitous didactician on this site, and shitballs uh mercy there are lots of them here, so heres my advice you pompous dickhead. Slick back yer combover, brace yerself fer another day of mindnumbing pointless existence, and then spend hours online telling people how to live, anonymously. Whoops, yer already doing that.
Not licking no canker anywhere on your person. I actually had to look up didactrician. I agreed with the curmudgeon but he didn’t realize I was ribbing him.
I had to come back and re-read your comment just to calm down. Where is that sweet meteor of death that everybody is talking about?
Vomitous didactician? Wasn’t that a rock band from the 70’s?
I don’t get it. I’ve worn close-toes leather shoes/boots to work since high school. They are usually more comfortable than tennis shoes/sneakers/sandals, and offer way more protection.
WTF minnies, THIS is the hill you choose to die on?
Good gawd how do you people keep up with the torrent of interweb postings and links that spews forth from the mighty keyboard of Jimmy Q. If his boss ever finds out about the volume of time he spends keepin this site goin (plus hatin on them poor monkey people all the time) his ass is seriously fired.
Anyways, Indented Sphincter just pisses me off ter no end. He’s like one uh them turds that yer just caint pinch off, so yer decide ter just hitch up yer mumu and make the best of it, but bottom line is you know that turd’s gonner give yer anus uh major rash.
Llpoh
Yer soundin’ aweful much like that cur ………. BILLAH’S WIFE !!!
The literary resemblance is uncanny. Seriously folks, I think we done met the culprit.
Stuck – I stopped reading that shit long ago. How or why that asshole used my name I do not know, but I assure you it is not me.
It was BW doppleganging llpoh
Really? Huh! Damn!!!
Llpoh … please accept my apology.
BW, how ’bout you go fuck a duck?
Oh mah gawd I blew my gawd dammed cover.
I eliminated LLPOH and T4C long ago. LLPOH would have to have a split personality disorder to comment about the death of a kid he or his son knew and then turn around and comment as BW in the same thread. NFW.
Don’t make me go through the same gyrations all over again.
I can list 50 people who ain’t BW. I got it down to one perp and it ain’t me.
Beaner I swear ter gawd if you unmask me, like one uh them luchadores, yer gonner go down uh path yer not ready for. Im talking like one uh them drug cartel videos with gettin yer pecker lopped off mailed ter yer tia Lupe kind uh shit. Dont do it. Ill sign yer email up fer ever kind uh homo aberrant website, Ill feed yer dog antifreeze, Ill smush poop inter yer keyboard. I thought we was friends.
BW, it would take me a week to expose you.
Your the one selling used panties from famous stars on Ebay. Funny how Madonna’s cootch smells a lot like Mariah’s and Beyonce’s.
That crusty lock of Biebers hair scam with the convenient cover story that he was passed out in his own vomit was brilliant marketing.