Cruising for a bruisin'

I can't have a blog about life in Minnesota without mentioning the Minnesota Vikings. I am not surprised by the recent allegations about a cruise involving members of the team and their bad behavior. It seems to me that professional athletes seem to feel that they are entitled to everything. They are paid millions, and basically treated like children (ie taken care of by everyone). Wasn't it only a matter of time before their Sodom and Gomorrah became front page news? Can you say Wilt Chamberlin or Kobe Bryant? The good thing is that this has probably killed a special session of the legislature to decide if taxpayers should help foot the bill for a new "palace" for them to play in. I do not support using public money to finance either their game or their lifestyle. For those of you who do, well, feel free to contribute. I feel that there are much more important issues in this state that deserve the support of the taxpayers.

Bullying

Bullying aka mobbing is an interesting phenomenon occurring in our workplaces. Basically what this entails is managers and or peers ganging up on an employee or group of employee and harassing them psychologically and verbally. The main intent of this behavior is to force the person to quit or leave the job. I have seen this happen at my place of work. It has also happened to me at my last 3 jobs. I outlasted the bullies at the first job; they left and life got oh so much easier. All resources that would allow us to advance in our work have been removed for us. Training is not available, we cannot read books to learn about the subject and even free, outside training is not being allowed. It is unbelievable that such behavior occurs in the workplace! I thought this type of thing was over once you graduated to adulthood, but I guess not. It's time to fight back and make sure that these bullies are stopped.

Anxious and SAD

I have a lovely form of depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder. Every autumn around this time I start to feel anxious and depressed and I dread the onset of winter. It sucks even more because I live in Minnesota. Not that someone in California or New Zealand is immune from this disorder (SAD). I become a slug and no matter how hard I try I can't keep up with work and life. I just want to hibernate the winter away. Hey, maybe I have some genetic makeup similar to a bear! Anyway, it sucks, sucks, sucks. Especially since no one understands it, least of all the people at work. So I must medicate myself and hope that it keeps me on an even keel for the next 5 months. In case you have this, there are many great support groups and books on the subject; one of my favorites is Winter Blues by Norman Rosenthal, MD.