Should women get paid menstrual leave

 Spain recently passed legislation allowing paid menstrual leave, up to three days a month. New Jersey is also considering menstrual legislation. Many Americans are now considering whether monthly leave for "that time of the month" is a good idea.

I personally would favor such legislation. However, to be fair to men, there would also be what I call baseball leave. This would be one day a month when a man could go to the ballpark or racetrack.  Perhaps car shows could be scheduled for weekday afternoons. This would be fair to both men and women. What's good for the goose ......

Going back to the office

 For millions of Americans, the past month or so has meant the return to the office. After working from home for over a year, many companies and government agencies (i.e. New Jersey government) have been requiring a return to the office. While this is great news for restaurants that depend on the office workers for business, it has not been the best news for workers.

I recently was listening to the lament of a back to the office employee. "Now I have to rush in the morning and do my hair          everyday!" Before nobody cared what she looked like. "Now I have to deal with morning traffic!" Not like commuting from the bedroom to the living room. "And I'm still making coffee because the lazy people in my group wait for me to do it!" Well, she was making coffee before. "All the people I liked are gone and all the people I can't stand are here!" That always happens.  "Nosy Marilyn didn't know I was divorced and she insisted I give her all the gory details!" Every office has nosy people. 

Another development seems to be that in many cases, higher ranking people are still allowed to work from home while the peons are forced back into the office. So if you have a question you still have to email somebody. 

Having the boss away has its advantages. I remember I liked when my boss wasn't there. I could work without being interrupted or asked to go to surprise meetings. Sometimes you can work more efficiently when bosses and even co-workers are miles away.  

Shopping bag day

 

And now the second step in the Californication of New Jersey. The end of free plastic bags at the supermarket. Just watching the tv news and learned that some stores are giving out free re-usable shopping bags. Unfortunately the store I went to was not doing so. At any rate I have been collecting plastic shopping bags for months and have a few re usable bags I have collected over the years.

Things went pretty smoothly. I tempted fate by trying one of the  self check out stands. I could fit my plastic bag in the metal poles where the free bags used to be. I placed my large re-usable bag on top of the scale. I filled out the bags like I usually do.

At the very end the screen asked me how many bags I used. I was going to punch in 2 then I remembered those were the bags I brought and they may want to charge me for using their bags. Instead I  pushed the zero button. I got my change and my receipt and headed for home. 

I now need to remember to bring the re-usable bag back to the passenger seat to the car so I don't forget next time.  In a few years New Jersey will have a Republican governor and people will blame it on the shopping bags.