Employers Asking for Facebook Password from Potential Employees

What is happening in this country?  We went from adding employee rights, and increasing privacy laws, to now all of a sudden being faced with employers mingling not only in our sexual affairs by wanting to decide if our use of contraceptives are within their "moral standards", but potential employers also wanting full insight in our private lives by asking job seekers for their Facebook passwords?  Something is seriously wrong!

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Since when did employers gain the right to know everything about us?  Since when did becoming an employee mean that our employers gained full insight in our private lives, our opinions, sense of humor, and our activities during non-working hours and weekends?  Enough already!

What's next?  They'll want our bank account log in to see how we manage our money?  Or our house keys, so they can go through our night stand?

I understand that social media has been a useful tool for employers in the hiring process.  But as more and more of us are using the privacy tools available, to avoid "outsiders" seeing what we post on our pages, our personal information and pictures, it does not open the door for potential employers to invade our privacy by asking for the log in information.  According to Huffington Post, Orin Kerr, a George Washington University professor of law, calls it “an egregious privacy violation” and compared it to asking for someone’s house keys. I couldn't agree more. You hire me to do a job. When I am there, you can tell me what to do and how to do it; but outside of work, the employer has a very limited say in how I lead my life!

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One thought that entered my mind, was that anyone who is willing to give up this information to a potential employer, does not value their privacy at all.  I would see it as a big negative, and would expect that employee to bring any and all issues from home to work; not exactly the perfect employee.  Also, if he/she was so easily convinced to give up his/her own password, how secure would any company passwords be after he/she was hired? 

If ever faced with this situation, I think my answer would be: "Certainly.  I understand you would like more information about me as a person to see that I am a good fit for this company.  Then you obviously understand that I too want to ensure that the people I will be working for, are decent, professional people. So as soon as you provide me the usernames and passwords for your and the other managers' accounts, I will be happy to provide you mine."

Considering your Facebook account requires a birth date, private email address etc. etc., even if it is not visible to friends, and many of us volunteer other information such as our religious and political beliefs. If one is not hired after providing the log in information, there is a perfect discrimination lawsuit, based on age, nationality, sexual preference, religious or political belief, or whatever you might find the reason to be.... after all, this is the land of the lawsuits!  Let the fun begin!

Living Life Without Excuses

Friday evening I was hanging out at a local bar having drinks with friends, and listening to a pretty good local band.  I tried my best to stay involved in the conversation at the table, but spent a fair amount of time text flirting with someone who obviously was not there, and picking on the people around me. 

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One woman's feet were so funky, I wondered why on earth she was showing them off in open toe shoes when the weather was perfect for boots that would hide the fact her toes were going in every direction. Another one had on an outfit better fitted for a 22 year old, and I had a great deal of fun having my friends rate it on a scale from 1 to cougar. Lets not forget my comments about the fake boobs we bet on how many darts it would take to pop, or the poor man's sad choice of color combination....And so my night went on with my immature, not so nice, game. Picking on strangers didn't make me feel any better about myself, and I'm sure, if they had heard me, would probably hurt their feelings. So needless to say, not my proudest moment.  Neither was the text flirting, but it was all a great, well needed, little escape from reality, and (I hope) we didn't hurt anyone's feelings. 

Reality hit hard Saturday morning though,  as I sucked down three glasses of water, wondering what I was thinking staying out so late....some things apparently do change after 40.  My weekend to do list was long, and come Sunday, it still was.  We proved Saturday that you can successfully waste away a whole day doing absolutely nothing - and enjoy it!!  

Sunday morning, the house was still dusty; the laundry still in the hampers; the kitchen cabinets still had mismatched knobs, as I had only put on a couple of the new ones; I was nowhere closer to getting my taxes done; the reports I was working on were still as incomplete as they were Friday.  Oh well.  Armed with pizza, popcorn and soda, I thoroughly enjoyed my Saturday watching a Disney movie, then, after a nap, Bodyguard (in memory of Whitney of course!!), topped with a couple of hours of Friends reruns. Somewhere in there I read the first chapter of my new book, and made a couple of phone calls, but I don't think I left the sofa for anything other than getting more snacks in the kitchen and an occasional trip to the rest room.  It really was a beautiful day!  So then, why did I not feel any better when Sunday rolled around?

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Well, my little escape from reality didn't quite change my reality.  I guess that kind of sums it up. It might have been fun while it lasted, but it certainly did not get me anywhere closer to accomplishing what I needed, and I pretty much wasted the rest of the weekend as a result. By the end of the weekend, my little inner voice was screaming "grow up". I guess it was right.  I have no intentions of giving up the little I have of social life outside of kids' activities, but truly, when the intention is to escape my life, rather than enjoy it, it's time for some serious adjustments. 

So here we go. Off to a new, fresh start. You can only make excuses for so long, before you realize that the only thing stopping you from accomplishing what you want and reaching your goals, is .... yep, the excuses.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day

If you're Irish, you are certain to celebrate today. If you're not, pretending to be, or at least acting as if you like the Irish, is a great excuse to join in the festivities.  So put on some green, if you haven't already, eat some Irish food, drink some Guinness, have fun ... but if you see the leprechauns, it's time to go home!

 

May there always be work for your hands to do,
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine warm on your windowpane,
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Romeo, O Romeo...

OK, so being single gets a little old some times.  Another weekend is here, and I have absolutely no plans, no invites and nothing on the calendar other than relaxing and hoping for nice weather.  So maybe it's time to be a little more bold in my approaches:

I put this on my car, in hopes of some takers....

Posted this on a couple of Facebook walls,










and spiced up the wardrobe.  Hoping this weekend brings a bit of excitements :-)

Girl Power!

Happy International Women's Day!!

On this day, let's forget about morons like Rush Limbaugh and his likes who label women "sluts" if they wish to ensure birth control is available to every woman (then proceed to ask them to videotape themselves having sex for his own viewing pleasure...really?!?). 

On this day, let's laugh at Madhouse's label which stated "Give laundry to your woman, it's her job", and any other such attempts at "putting women back in their place".  Why sweat the small stuff?

But on this day, let's not forget that 70% of the world's poorest are women.  Let's not forget that they produce more than 50% of all food, do more than two thirds of the world's unpaid work, but only receive 10% of all income, and own less than 1% of all property.  That in several countries, women still lack the right to own property, or get a proper education. Source: www.womenfightpoverty.org

Celebrating International Women's Day is no more acknowledging that every other day is for men, than celebrating Mothers' Day is acknowledging that every other day is for fathers.  Celebrating International Women's Day allows us to put much needed focus on issues women are facing all over the world. Or as a friend said (much better than I could come up with myself!); 

Focusing on women's issues, is focusing on human issues, and is all about showing manners globally.

So embrace your feminism, your strength and uniqueness.  Alone you are great, together we are awesome!

Teen Is Well Paid for Cleaning His Room

Last week, I was laughing at this Facebook post where a mother posted a note stating she had hid $100,- in the room, and for the kids to clean the room to find it. Brilliant, I thought!  I will definitely try that one at my house.  However, for Ryan Kitchin of Scotland, the reward proved to be much greater.

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When the 19-year old finally listened to his mother and cleaned his room, he found not only dirty socks, but several lottery tickets. Luckily he did not throw the tickets out, but brought them to work to check the numbers. And what do you know? Young Kitchin had picked the right combination for the February 8 drawing, rendering him the winner of £52,981, or $83,781...  I really wish that would happen when I clean the house!!

So what is he planning on doing with the money?  According to msnbc.com,   Kitchin is paying off his car, and....aaawww, taking his mom on a much needed vacation!  Mr. Nice Guy for sure!!  I am making sure my son hears this story, so he knows what to do, should this ever happen to him too :-)