• 𝕸𝖔𝖘𝖘
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    4 months ago

    One time, one of my coworkers showed up to work with his kid, because the babysitter called in sick. My manager, without skipping a beat, told him to go home and be the best dad he possibly could, then, not only did she not use his sick time for this day, she made it a department policy to allow unlimited* “parent days”. One of the best managers I’ve ever had.

    ’ * Fine print was basically, don’t abuse it, but use it when you need it.

      • 𝕸𝖔𝖘𝖘
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        474 months ago

        Lol!! Parents day actually extended to pets, too, and later (about a year or so before I left) also extended to (what is now known as) mental health day.

      • @CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de
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        184 months ago

        If you don’t have young kids, you don’t get sick nearly as often. It’s not like having a sick kid at home is a vacation. I don’t begrudge my coworkers their time off for illness or supporting family members with illness.

          • @Dozzi92@lemmy.world
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            24 months ago

            The breeders, crotch goblin, “hobby” position is among the stupidest reddit positions out there, and there’s a lot of really dumb ones. Children of Men is a solid flick that goes into the societal collapse associated with “lack of breeding.” It’s also just so obvious that society needs to kinda build on itself in order to continue.

            And yeah, humans are a disease! Okay. I just can’t get my head around being so anti one’s own existence. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

            And nobody’s being a martyr. People have different lives situationally, and in an ideal world perhaps it wouldn’t have an affect on your workday, but it does, and sometimes accommodations need to be made, and sometimes it just isn’t fair, que sera.

          • @ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.world
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            34 months ago

            Here’s the thing then: nut up and demand it. The reason that employers cave to parents on these things is because they know the child will take priority and the parent will take that time regardless. As they should. Trying to tell half of the workforce that they need to prioritize the job over their children is not a battle you can win.

            If you have a problem with that then you need to find an ultimatum that you’re willing to stand your ground on. Otherwise just quit bitching because someone else received a benefit that you didn’t.

      • @iAvicenna@lemmy.world
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        54 months ago

        I mean not really if you want someone to operate on your heart you are old or someone to bring your groceries or drive you around etc

      • 𝕸𝖔𝖘𝖘
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        34 months ago

        Thanks! It has gotten me up many a time that I have had a bit of a tumble lol

  • @DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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    844 months ago

    We live in the wealthiest nation on the planet in a technologically advanced civilization.

    Everyone needs to understand things are only still this absurd because we allow a small percentage of people to live better than any kings from the past ever lived off the backs of the rest of us. Hording the vast majority of our wealth.

    We absolutely have the means to prevent people from having to take their kids to fucking work with them but we choose to let billionaires do things like dismantle our government and destroy our international relations instead.

    • @octopus_ink@slrpnk.netOP
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      84 months ago

      Everyone needs to understand things are only still this absurd because we allow a small percentage of people to live better than any kings from the past ever lived off the backs of the rest of us. Hording the vast majority of our wealth.

      We absolutely have the means to prevent people from having to take their kids to fucking work with them but we choose to let billionaires do things like dismantle our government and destroy our international relations instead.

    • Like the wind...
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      34 months ago

      This is literally what “black excellence” is, but calling it out makes you (internally) racist, a pick me for the nazis, or a black person who is white on the inside.

      This post is inspirational and any problem you have with it is racially motivated.

        • Like the wind...
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          24 months ago

          Anything labeled as “black excellence” often has the person in an unhealthily overworked and vulnerable state, with the message being if this person can work at McDonald’s with a baby then all of your problems are non issues and you have no excuse to be suffering.

          The black community defends this abusive shit because they take pride in being “strong”. They’d overwork their children to near death for a high school diploma, and when the children have zero energy for anything else in their lives they’re so lazy. They are power hungry dictators as parents because they believe the trauma will make the children “strong”.

          If any other race did that it’s abusive, but when black people do it it’s “empowerment”. The mother takes pride in being a Strong Black Woman and the baby will 100% use this upbringing to flex on their peers for Having A Hard Childhood.

          Oh, right, I’m white on the inside. I should go back in my lane playing animal crossing and listening to Taylor Swift. There is no toxicity in the black community.

          • WIZARD POPE💫
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            14 months ago

            I see. Thanks for explaining. I am not familiar with this concept as there really are not many black people where I live and also the whole work culture is quite different.

      • Lovable Sidekick
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        4 months ago

        Interesting point, but I think meme culture is also programming people to stop thinking the moment their outrage is triggered. There’s a group consensus that acknowledging any other factors besides the evil in a situation is a defense of that evil.

    • Lovable Sidekick
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      4 months ago

      The crowd clearly agrees with you on that, but many people are able to continue thinking even after they feel outrage.

        • Lovable Sidekick
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          4 months ago

          Uhhh, your comment wasn’t about yourself, you said, “People are so brainwashed…” and I as well was commenting about people thinking beyond outrage, which is an observation just like observing that people are brainwashed.

    • @Pronell@lemmy.world
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      324 months ago

      Let’s be realistic, her manager didn’t have the authority to pay her if she couldn’t make it in and she needed the money.

      As fucked as it is, they may have actually been helping to the best of their ability. The ‘manager’ may make $1.50 more per hour.

    • @TheFriar@lemm.ee
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      194 months ago

      The thing is, this is a situation where there was no village. She’s her own village, working and taking care of her kid simultaneously. “It takes a village” would mean someone else watched her kid without question because she needed someone. So this is dumb on a lot of levels.

      • Random Dent
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        34 months ago

        Yeah that’s what I was thinking too. A village would involve someone helping this woman in some way, not just making her do everything and then taking a picture of it for (presumably) social media clout.

    • Snot Flickerman
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      4 months ago

      Hahaha, no, dumbfucks all over think this is a feel good story because the job didn’t fire her ass right away like they would have 15 years ago in the “you’re lucky to have a job” era. Now they’re so short on workers who actually want to work such bullshit-ass jobs that they’re willing to “make exceptions.”

      • Jo Miran
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        314 months ago

        Plus in a few years the girl can start working there too since child labor laws would be extinct and she already knows how to run the register.

        • Fluffy Kitty Cat
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          14 months ago

          I’m of the opinion that anyone under 18 who works a job should be allowed to vote.

    • @M0oP0o@mander.xyz
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      44 months ago

      Good chance you will see it re posted to upliftingnews@lemmy.world

      I would cross post it myself, but I am banned from there for cross posting things from here…

    • @Polderviking@feddit.nl
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      4 months ago

      This gives me the same vibe as all those “feelgood” stories about communities coming together to pay for some valued member’s back surgery or cancer treatment or something.

      It’s nice people do that, but what about people that are less liked, and how is it that we have so much wealth going around, and yet extremely basic things like healthcare are still factors people need to concern themselves with being able to afford?

    • @missandry351@lemmings.world
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      244 months ago

      The village would be birth control, abortions and sterilizations being available to anyone who needs them so that 17 year old children aren’t having children in the first place

    • @Chip_Rat@lemmy.world
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      174 months ago

      The village would provide for the mother while she stayed home raising her child…

      I’m happily child free but there’s a lot of folks out there who don’t understand why someone like me would choose not to have kids.

      It’s because it’s a fucking huge responsibility that apparently falls completely to the mother. Fuck that.

      • ivanafterall ☑️
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        34 months ago

        I agree with everything except:

        that apparently falls completely to the mother. Fuck that.

        I understand why you might say that, but as a single dad who has done 90% of the work while working crazy hectic jobs (and has maybe lost a chunk of sanity to it all), fuck that view. It’s part of the reason I’ve been on an island (metaphorically, I WISH literally) for more than a decade. Everyone telling me I’m doing the right thing, but still treating me as a pariah. Where are the scholarships for single fathers or the programs targeted at us? Do we not count? It’s seen as almost “creepy and weird,” it seems. Fuck. That.

        “Oh, let’s do a playdate! Oh, your husband is jealous, too? Okay. Well, fuck me, I guess.”

        • @Chip_Rat@lemmy.world
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          44 months ago

          I’m not sure I understand. Sounds like you are suffering BECAUSE society wants this responsibility to fall completely on the mother. We don’t even have a functional way for you to do that job without confusion and hostility.

            • @Chip_Rat@lemmy.world
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              54 months ago

              I feel your frustration. My dad raised my sister and I while mom worked (she made more money) and he was the best dad ever, but people would get so confused when a man dropped off 2 little girls to daycare or took them grocery shopping. Then when we were getting into our teens he tried to rejoin the workforce. He went to interviews with a guy who straight out told him not to lie about staying home with his kids, that they don’t care if he was in jail or had a rough go, but they can’t stand liars…

              He ended up having to start his own business because no one would hire a man who was 45 and had been out of the work force for 11 years, despite him self-training most of that time on computers and passing the Microsoft exams at the time.

              Whatever bullshit the world has put on you, it sounds like you are doing right by your kid. And that means a lot. I hope you start to see the changes you need in this world, even if they are too late for you.

    • professionalspooner
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      64 months ago

      Honestly, the village is everything that was listed here. Including the workplace finding a way to be child friendly. Even a restaurant.

      It is currently too hard to have kids, and you can see that less people are doing it because everyone is so insensitive to it.

  • @milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
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    414 months ago

    Amidst all the outrage, I’d like to say I’m really in favour of having workplaces child friendly where possible. More time of letting the children spend time with mum or dad, rather than going to corporate childcare.

    If any of you are planning an office layout today, make a playroom!

    • @Dasus@lemmy.world
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      344 months ago

      Yeah but not busy restaurant with hot liquids and surfaces and people rushing around and angry customers yelling.

    • @damdy@lemm.ee
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      154 months ago

      I really don’t want to have to play nice to my colleagues children more than I have to. No offence, but I don’t work to hang around with kids.

      • @milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
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        14 months ago

        So, this is something I have - I think - an unpopular opinion on. I think children should be a part of life, and saying, “I don’t want to be around children” is a bit like saying you don’t want to be around old people, or immigrants, or men, or the homeless. With some balance I can accept it, but I think on the whole society should expect to be around all these people (with the exception that we should help the homeless people to not be homeless!).

        But kids can have their own area to play, especially if there’s a few of them. Making workplaces child-friendly shouldn’t mean you can’t have some child-free space, or need little Timmy running between your legs and screaming while you solve that intricate Lisp bug.

        • @damdy@lemm.ee
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          23 months ago

          I know this is an old post, which is why I chose to respond now. As a fully diagnosed ADHD sufferer, I have a huge sensitivity to unpleasant noises. I like your premise in theory, and I give my own young children all the care they need; but I can’t handle it being at work too unless it’s a specifically designated children day, and I can prep for it.

          • @milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
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            13 months ago

            That’s entirely fair. Being sensitive to ADHD sufferers, as well as children - as well as other particular requirements people might have.

    • @asdfasdfasdf@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I’m of the opposite opinion. Maxing out spending time with mom and dad means less healthy social interactions and growth for your child. I want them to have a separation where they have a teacher, a class and friends, and not feel they can run to me or are distracted by me.

      The children I’ve seen who were raised at home are miles behind our child in terms if development.

      Bringing a child to work seems worse - they can’t play with toys or engage in what they want at all anymore. They’d be subjected fk whatever the mom and dad have to do. They also have no friends or structured learning.

      The daycares we’ve used have been fantastic and care a lot about teaching our child in many ways they wouldn’t otherwise have.

      • @SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
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        104 months ago

        Exactly this. Teachers can basically spot the kids who didn’t go to pre-school or day care before kindergarten and spend most of their days with one of their parents. A good daycare will basically help give your kids a head start in their development.

        • @milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
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          24 months ago

          But how much, I wonder, are the kids really more developed - and how much are they more developed at classroom life. Also I wonder if there’s some other correlated factors involved - if the children who stayed home are also more commonly in unstable families, since only high-income families can afford kindergarten, and high-income families tend to have different sorts of issues, and and more (at least superficially) stability.

      • @masinko@lemmy.world
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        54 months ago

        My old workplace (rip, got a acquired and the new company ran it to shit) was down the street from a daycare. It had discount plans for the daycare. During lunch/breaks, some of my co-workers would spend time with their kids.

        I thought it was a good best of both worlds. Still have the separation, but still get to spend time with your kids.

      • @milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
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        24 months ago

        Hm. I think you need a balance. And not about getting less mum and dad time, but that you do get play time with other children. Already we have schools struggling because children aren’t developed enough at home. Deeper than that is whether children grow up with a strong bond to their parents, or, in a deep and often inexpressible way, feel abandoned. I’d rather a child be less classroom-developed in early years than feel unloved.

        Bringing a child to work seems worse - they can’t play with toys or engage in what they want at all anymore.

        Luckily, toys are portable. A good child-friendly workplace would have space for toy-playing I think!

        Thanks for sharing your perspective, though. I appreciate seeing different experiences of parents.

    • @Polderviking@feddit.nl
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      4 months ago

      Yeah. For single parents and such maybe. But mostly I want to get back to where you can just live off of one FT income so this whole problem doesn’t exist.

      • @milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
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        24 months ago

        Being able to live off one income would be good, though you have to fix the problem where people de-value childcare over paid employment, so the partner staying home doesn’t feel ‘lesser’ from it and dominated by the other. Especially in early months it’s better the mum stays with the baby (direct breast feeding is still healthier than expressing milk to feed later), and I think many women still feel that staying home to look after infants is demeaning compared to working a job. We still have some way to go on that!

    • @Soup@lemmy.world
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      14 months ago

      Human beings experience a steep drop-off in productivity after ~6hrs, and the worst effect found of switching to a four day work week has been no change but employees are happier, though more often it’s a large increase in productivity and quality.

      While yes, that would be something to consider after fixing everything else, your idea is just this post, please do better.

        • @Soup@lemmy.world
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          14 months ago

          I’m saying that low-balling just so we can get a lose-lose in order to not hurt some executives’ feelings is a waste of effort. Besides, workers’ rights are so far behind that we gotta catch up yesterday.

          Or another way: It’s literally the same issue, I’m just not going easy on the worst people just so we can perpetuate the idea that a 40hr work week makes any sense.

  • Dharma Curious (he/him)
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    384 months ago

    My mom lost her business when I was really little, and once we settled down somewhere new, she started working as a receptionist for an environmental company. She used to have to bring me to work with her sometimes. Everyone in the office was super chill about it, but if Ed, the owner/complete asshole was there, I had to hide under her desk until he left.

    We need a lot of changes, but honestly, a UBI with an extra stipend for parents is one of the big ones. people can’t afford to have kids, can’t afford to lose their jobs because of their kids. Who the fuck is gonna take care of assholes like Ed when they’re old if no one is having kids?