Tuesday 4 December 2007

Home Alone & Sexism Down Under

My sexy husband is away for work on and off for about three weeks. So far I have accidentally turned off my alarm clock and ended up over an hour late for work, discovered that steak pies taste cook spread on salt and vinegar potato chips...and been totally bored off my friekin arse. Perhaps it would be different if I wasn't living in a hostel, but I think I've forgotten how to live on my own;)

The Christmas season is gearing up here, and while someone mentioned to me yesterday that the day is in fact about three weeks away, I'm not feelin it. It's getting warmer here and the days are longer so I'm home well before dark and don't even notice any Christmas lights. Then again, I've had no sense of what time of year it is for about 9 months now. My workplace does now how to celebrate, and we had our Christmas party on a yacht last week! And...we can call it a Christmas party and put up trees in the office (I forgot about how everything changed from 'Christmas' to 'Holiday' in the US a few years ago). The one thing which the workplace is doing for the season I don't agree with. We all got an email last week with the subject "Ladies Christmas Shopping" saying something to the effect of:

"We're again giving all the ladies in the office half a day off to do their Christmas shopping. Please advise your manager when you will be taking your half day."

WTF?! I was told this is due to the fact that most of the 'ladies' are in lower level positions and the men get taken out for golf etc by their clients. Hmmm, how about re-working the hiring processes instead of a 'throw the dog a bone' half day off. And why do they think I need half a day to do my Christmas shopping, as opposed to something a bit more worthwhile??

3 comments:

outoutout said...

Are you getting paid for that half day?

Suzer said...

Yep, it is paid time off.

Unknown said...

Hey I found your blog on yanksdownunder. Pretty funny story here. I totally agree with you- but I guess I wouldn't complain. This country seems to get time off for everything! And I too miss Christmas lights and the Christmas season. I never know what day it is here since we are a day ahead of the states (and I work for a CA company) and I'm very confused on seasons- especially since it's supposed to be summer and it's been pouring rain for over a week.