SubscribeGuide to Hiring Women!
I received an email from a friend with this “Guide to Hiring Women” supposedly published in the July 1943 issue of Transportation Magazine. Apparently, it was written for male supervisors of women in the work force during World War II. I couldn’t quite believe it and decided to dig a little further. Looks like it is not just spam or a hoax after all! Snopes.com claims to have verified the legitimacy of the article and has images of the original print version on their site! All I have to say is, Thank God, I wasn’t looking for a job in the 40’s!
Eleven Tips on Getting More Efficiency Out of Women Employees
There's no longer any question whether transit companies should hire women for jobs formerly held by men. The draft and manpower shortage has settled that point. The important things now are to select the most efficient women available and how to use them to the best advantage. Here are eleven helpful tips on the subject from Western Properties:
- Pick young married women. They usually have more of a sense of responsibility than their unmarried sisters, they're less likely to be flirtatious, they need the work or they wouldn't be doing it, they still have the pep and interest to work hard and to deal with the public efficiently.
- When you have to use older women, try to get ones who have worked outside the home at some time in their lives. Older women who have never contacted the public have a hard time adapting themselves and are inclined to be cantankerous and fussy. It's always well to impress upon older women the importance of friendliness and courtesy.
- General experience indicates that "husky" girls - those who are just a little on the heavy side - are more even tempered and efficient than their underweight sisters.
- Retain a physician to give each woman you hire a special physical examination - one covering female conditions. This step not only protects the property against the possibilities of lawsuit, but reveals whether the employee-to-be has any female weaknesses which would make her mentally or physically unfit for the job.
- Stress at the outset the importance of time the fact that a minute or two lost here and there makes serious inroads on schedules. Until this point is gotten across, service is likely to be slowed up.
- Give the female employee a definite day-long schedule of duties so that they'll keep busy without bothering the management for instructions every few minutes. Numerous properties say that women make excellent workers when they have their jobs cut out for them, but that they lack initiative in finding work themselves.
- Whenever possible, let the inside employee change from one job to another at some time during the day. Women are inclined to be less nervous and happier with change.
- Give every girl an adequate number of rest periods during the day. You have to make some allowances for feminine psychology. A girl has more confidence and is more efficient if she can keep her hair tidied, apply fresh lipstick and wash her hands several times a day.
- Be tactful when issuing instructions or in making criticisms. Women are often sensitive; they can't shrug off harsh words the way men do. Never ridicule a woman - it breaks her spirit and cuts off her efficiency.
- Be reasonably considerate about using strong language around women. Even though a girl's husband or father may swear vociferously, she'll grow to dislike a place of business where she hears too much of this.
- Get enough size variety in operator's uniforms so that each girl can have a proper fit. This point can't be stressed too much in keeping women happy.
What the @$^% ?!!??!!!
In an earlier life, I would open every piece of mail I received in my mail box to look for coupons. And if I found a coupon that I liked I would be off shopping. I mean, what’s not to like about 20% discount at Bed, Bath & Beyond, right? Well, here’s what – I did not really need anything from Bed, Bath and Beyond! I was essentially being conned into spending for the purchase of an item that I didn't particularly care for. That is just one of the evil ways that junk mail can harm your wallet. And the evil it wreaks on the environment is so much worse!
This is not a political blog. And I am not trying to make a political statement. But the 
Well, the deadline for the monster $10K scholarship is almost here! All you student bloggers out there have a little over 3 weeks to put the final shine on your blogs. The submission deadline for nominations is October 6th. Public voting will begin on October 8th and the winner will be declared on October 28th. For more information about the scholarship, check out the 
In general, they are very nice people and a lot of fun to hang out with. They are witty, charming and full of life, and I really like hanging out with them. But the moment the time comes to part with a few benjamins and they start slithering and sliming away. A slip of hand, a slight change in conversation and before you know it you find yourself picking up the tab. Heck, sometimes you may not even notice that you were suckered until much later when bam, it hits you - “Not again!” There are few things I would like to tell these friends, but can never really bring myself to say it out loud, because (a) I don’t want to be mean or rude and (b) like I said before, these are nice people that I like to have as friends, but for their free-loading tendencies. So, here is an open letter to my free-loader friends…
Finally, the iPhones are available in stores! Across the country in Apple and AT&T stores, people waited in line for days to be the first ones to own the must-have gadget of the year. The sleek sexy look, the enticing ads, the cool new touch pad technology, the 4 to 8 gigabytes of memory, the built in iPod -- just writing about it makes me drool! Fortunately, before my desire to own the device turned into an all consuming obsession, I came across 
For instance, the couple that hosted the get together has a lovely home in the suburbs with tall trees in the back yard and upgrades all over the interior. The home costs almost twice as much as our own. Another set of friends drive a Lexus SUV, while I drive a 14+ year old car with 150K+ miles on it. Another set of friends has been investing heavily in real estate back in the home country, something that we have only recently dipped our toes in. I could go on, but that is not the point. The point is that, for the first time in my life, instead of feeling envious and resentful and wanting to catch up, I could calmly look inside me to confront my internal Joneses. I could weed out my disappointments and replace them with more positive feelings.