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.

Elon Musk

Over the years, I have ignored certain public figures, even though they are constantly being discussed in the media. I could not recognize a record by Rihanna or Beyonce if you played it for me. I have not watched the Kardashians in at least a decade. And even though this is, nominally, an economics blog, I have never once mentioned Elon Musk. 

For some reason, I have never been that interested in him. I have no intention of buying a Tesla, although I'm intrigued by the electric pumps at the travel courts. I have no interest in going into space in one of his vehicles. I never read Twitter, although it is apparently the way most media savvy people get their news. 

Now he is talking about buying Twitter. Will he, won't he, can he, would he? is the big news that people are preoccupied with now. I don't know. I should care because one of my mutual funds is invested heavily in both Twitter and Tesla. Just to show I'm not a luddite, I am finally going to listen to the new record by Billie Elish. 

New Jersey is becoming California

 

The image I have always had of New Jersey is that it is a place where men work on their cars in the driveway while listening to old records of the sixties on a rather loud radio playing WCBS FM. Today, though, a number of developments are leading me to believe that New Jersey is becoming more like California. 

A few years ago I went to Los Angeles and at the Safeway in Santa Monica I went in to buy some food for my room. The clerk eyed me suspiciously when he saw I didn't bring a burlap bag with me to bring said groceries home. "I'm from New Jersey", I apologized, before he sold me a reusable hemp bag with a picture of Big Sur on the front. Now, New Jersey is not going to be offering free plastic shopping bags anymore. My kitchen is knee deep in plastic bags now as I hoard them until May. 

Of course the next way New Jersey is going to become California-ized is when ordinary people can legally buy pot in dispensaries. When I was in college you could buy "Colombian" or occasionally "Vietnamese" from your colleagues on the dorm floor. As a treat, he might sell "hash". Today you are supposed to choose among a wealth of varieties they never had at school. You can choose indica or sativa, tinctures or gummy bears, vaporizers or buds. I have no idea what I'll buy when that happy day comes next week. I know I'll have to bring my own bag, preferably a hemp one. 

Next year, people will be coming to New Jersey to use the slot machines, sports bet, buy pot and obtain an abortion. New Jersey will still have Democratic senators and most young women will be sporting tattoos. Just like California. Hope some of that new revenue goes to pay my pension. 

Jury duty, revisited

There it was in my mailbox. A small blue card, looking like it purposely wants to be ignored. I look at it. It's probably nothing. Then, yikes, I read it. Jury duty!👿👿

I can't believe it. They want me to do jury service. Jury duty when you are retired is completely different from when you are working. When you are working it's like a nice break from the toils of the workplace. Instead of having to deal with those pesky library patrons I would be away from it all. Ensconced in the courthouse away from computers that do not start, printers that need toner and complaints about best sellers not being on the shelves. 

When you are working, jury duty allows you to chisel. You get out at 3PM and instead of going back to work you can run by the store and perhaps grab a choice stool at your favorite bar before it gets busy. You get a long lunch and can see that sculpture at the park. But when you are retired it means giving up your own time. Your own time is so much more valuable than work time. People who are happy to gab on the phone when at work will cut off a caller when they are at home. At home they are busy because it's their own time. Retirement hours are my hours.  Jury duty interrupts the happy idle hours of retirement. 

No to permanent Daylight Saving Time

 I have written about Daylight Saving Time before. Now the Senate, perhaps by mistake, has voted to have permanent DST. As anyone who lives in the north, drives to work, and keeps their car outside, it is a bad idea. From December to February, when I was working, I had to dedicate an extra five minutes in the morning to scaping ice off of my windshield. If there was any snow the night before I also had to get rid of the snow on the car. Millions of car commuters go through this every winter.

If we had permanent DST the procedure would be worse. One hour less in the morning would mean it would still be dark for the commuter leaving home before eight. The sun would not have the time to at least ameliorate the process by a little bit at least. Kids would have to walk to school or wait for the bus in the dark in morning. Grouchy adults and kids would be grouchier. Ditto for grouchy cars.