If you want job security in today’s increasingly automated world, be a mom. A machine may assemble a car and one day drive it safely, but no machine will ever replace a mom’s main task – providing the “emotional labor” that runs a happy home.
https://muddling.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Rosie-the-Robot-1.jpg496650Karen Galatzhttps://muddling.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/new-logo3.jpgKaren Galatz2018-05-09 08:15:452018-10-05 11:41:35Robots May Displace Workers. Never Mom
Two decades ago, in a time way before emojis, my mother refused to get a CD player. After switching from 78-rpm to 33 1/3-rpm records; from cassette to 8-track tapes; from mono to stereophonic to quadrophonic sound, she was done. CDs were, in her words, “one change too much.”
I know how she feels. These days, as a middle-aged Luddite, I’m always one techno-trend behind, always late to the latest social media party.
I only signed on the Facebook last year, and now that I’m finally getting the hang of it, scandal has erupted and many of my friends are leaving it. I have a Twitter account, but I don’t give a tweet about it. Instagram’s a mystery and Pinterest just doesn’t hold my interest.
What can I say? All right, I’ll say it. I’m anti-emoji! Read more
In physics, the Latin term horror vacui, nature abhors a vacuum, comes to us from Aristotle, and no, it does not refer to a fear of vacuums or cleaning!
In people-speak, the term means there are no naturally-occurring empty spaces because denser surrounding material immediately fills the void.
I’m no scientist. So, who am I to argue with Aristotle? I would, however, add an important corollary; Women also abhor vacuums.
Vacuums = Worrywarts. Let Me Explain
Whenever there’s a “vacuum” of information, a woman’s mind, much like a washing machine, starts spinning and quickly reaches the agitation cycle, coming up with all sorts of negative, awful conclusions to fill the worrisome info-void. Read more
https://muddling.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/clouds-3311971_1280.jpg8531280Karen Galatzhttps://muddling.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/new-logo3.jpgKaren Galatz2018-04-25 08:05:362018-10-05 11:41:35Nature Abhors a Vacuum. Worrywart Women Do Too
So much information. So much misinformation. Politics! Parenting adult children! Aging! Where – and to whom – do you turn when you really need to know what’s what? Where are the users’ manuals I – and all middle-aged muddlers – could really use? Read more
https://muddling.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/almanacs.jpg1000943Karen Galatzhttps://muddling.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/new-logo3.jpgKaren Galatz2018-04-11 08:11:162018-10-18 12:01:51Users’ Manuals I Could Really Use
In Belgium, they just convicted a man of sexism. It’s true.
For the first time since a law was passed four years ago, a criminal court there convicted a man of “sexism in the public space.” The Belgians were a little slow on implementation, but still, the conviction is something.
The man was fined almost $4,000 for verbally abusing a female police officer who tried to question him after he was seen jaywalking.
Viewed through the lens of the #MeToo movement and through the soul of every woman who has suffered an unwelcome catcall and stare while walking down the street, this development is welcome indeed.
Yet, somehow this law makes me dream even bigger. I long to legislate boorish behavior across a wide spectrum of issues in all sorts of public spaces. Read more
https://muddling.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/justice-2071539_640.jpg480640Karen Galatzhttps://muddling.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/new-logo3.jpgKaren Galatz2018-04-04 06:45:382018-06-28 19:03:22In Belgium, They Just Convicted a Man for Sexism
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Karen Galatz
Like most adults, I've seen my share of joys and sadness, and I find the best response to it all is humor.
Robots May Displace Workers. Never Mom
Maternal Eternal Job Security
If you want job security in today’s increasingly automated world, be a mom. A machine may assemble a car and one day drive it safely, but no machine will ever replace a mom’s main task – providing the “emotional labor” that runs a happy home.
“What is emotional labor?” you ask. Read more
Emails. Evites. Emojis. Oh, My.
3 out of 4 Online Americans Emoji. Not Me
Two decades ago, in a time way before emojis, my mother refused to get a CD player. After switching from 78-rpm to 33 1/3-rpm records; from cassette to 8-track tapes; from mono to stereophonic to quadrophonic sound, she was done. CDs were, in her words, “one change too much.”
I know how she feels. These days, as a middle-aged Luddite, I’m always one techno-trend behind, always late to the latest social media party.
I only signed on the Facebook last year, and now that I’m finally getting the hang of it, scandal has erupted and many of my friends are leaving it. I have a Twitter account, but I don’t give a tweet about it. Instagram’s a mystery and Pinterest just doesn’t hold my interest.
What can I say? All right, I’ll say it. I’m anti-emoji! Read more
Nature Abhors a Vacuum. Worrywart Women Do Too
A Void of Information Creates Havoc
In physics, the Latin term horror vacui, nature abhors a vacuum, comes to us from Aristotle, and no, it does not refer to a fear of vacuums or cleaning!
In people-speak, the term means there are no naturally-occurring empty spaces because denser surrounding material immediately fills the void.
I’m no scientist. So, who am I to argue with Aristotle? I would, however, add an important corollary; Women also abhor vacuums.
Vacuums = Worrywarts. Let Me Explain
Whenever there’s a “vacuum” of information, a woman’s mind, much like a washing machine, starts spinning and quickly reaches the agitation cycle, coming up with all sorts of negative, awful conclusions to fill the worrisome info-void. Read more
The Kids Won’t Leave
So, I'm Running Away from Home
“More Americans 18-to-34 Now Live with Parents Than with Spouse.”
That’s the terrifying finding from a recent U.S. Census Bureau study. And for all you aspiring empty nesters, the bad news continues: Read more
Users’ Manuals I Could Really Use
Help Needed as I Muddle Through Middle Age
So much information. So much misinformation. Politics! Parenting adult children! Aging! Where – and to whom – do you turn when you really need to know what’s what? Where are the users’ manuals I – and all middle-aged muddlers – could really use? Read more
In Belgium, They Just Convicted a Man for Sexism
I Call That a Good Start
In Belgium, they just convicted a man of sexism. It’s true.
For the first time since a law was passed four years ago, a criminal court there convicted a man of “sexism in the public space.” The Belgians were a little slow on implementation, but still, the conviction is something.
The man was fined almost $4,000 for verbally abusing a female police officer who tried to question him after he was seen jaywalking.
Viewed through the lens of the #MeToo movement and through the soul of every woman who has suffered an unwelcome catcall and stare while walking down the street, this development is welcome indeed.
Yet, somehow this law makes me dream even bigger. I long to legislate boorish behavior across a wide spectrum of issues in all sorts of public spaces. Read more