To all human resources managers, veterans' benefits administrators, unemployment benefit specialists, etc., etc.: please stop telling people that they "just" need to fill out an online form to apply for a job or register for benefits. That "just" implies that this is a simple procedure, and for someone who is not computer literate, it is anything but.
Obstacle one: they do not have a home computer, and have to find a public access computer. Thank you for telling them to come and use the computers at the library, but please remember that not all libraries are open all day every day. If someone has to make repeated trips just to get themselves in front of the machine, their anxiety level rises.
Obstacle two: if they do not have a home computer, then they will probably not be comfortable using a computer. If they sit in front of the machine and have to ask for help just to reach your website, the anxiety goes up again.
Obstacle three: they probably do not have an email. Now they have to leave your website and go to another one and fill out THAT form to create an email account before they can complete YOUR form. Do you see where this is going?
Obstacle four: a resume? Really? Today I helped someone fill out an application that asked all the questions that would be covered in a resume--education, work history, references. Unfortunately, he could not submit the application without also uploading a resume. For a manual labor job.
I wish you would understand that there are a great many people out there--many of whom are seeking your help--who feel the bar has been placed at an insurmountable height. Please, the next time you direct someone to an online form, refrain from using the word "just".
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
May Book Club Meeting Notes
Betty hosted May's meeting to discuss Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette. This light-hearted spoof of Seattle's keeping-up-with-the-Gateses-mentality was entertaining and fun, but fair warning: not a whole lot of dynamic discussion was fostered by this book!
Brilliant, reclusive Bernadette Fox was an award-winning architect before moving to Seattle and becoming a stay-at-home mom. Through a series of emails, memos, letters, etc., we witness Bernadette's increasingly erratic behavior before her disappearance--right after discovering her husband's affair with his assistant at Microsoft, and right before a family vacation to Antarctica. We had some discussion about the format of the book, which everyone thought contributed greatly to the zany, tongue-in-cheek nature of the novel. Even though we are reading things like Bernadette's email to her assistant in India (don't ask), we don't really feel we are hearing her voice through much of the book, and this in turn contributes to the sense of mystery surrounding her.
Seattle itself plays an important role in the book. Semple skewers the Microsoft culture and paints a picture of a society engaged in constant one-upmanship; somehow, this works to make the complicated, high-strung Bernadette seem not only plausible but actually normal and likable--after all, wouldn't we react this way to the excesses we are reading about?
The book wasn't all satire; the mother/daughter relationship between Bernadette and her daughter Bee tenderly showed them both to be loving, understanding, and protective of one another. This further serves Semple's aim of making Bernadette sympathetic: how could anyone stay sane in such an environment? As Carole commented, "Would I ever live in Seattle after reading it? No!"
Book Club will be taking a break for a few months, and we'll be back in the fall!
Brilliant, reclusive Bernadette Fox was an award-winning architect before moving to Seattle and becoming a stay-at-home mom. Through a series of emails, memos, letters, etc., we witness Bernadette's increasingly erratic behavior before her disappearance--right after discovering her husband's affair with his assistant at Microsoft, and right before a family vacation to Antarctica. We had some discussion about the format of the book, which everyone thought contributed greatly to the zany, tongue-in-cheek nature of the novel. Even though we are reading things like Bernadette's email to her assistant in India (don't ask), we don't really feel we are hearing her voice through much of the book, and this in turn contributes to the sense of mystery surrounding her.
Seattle itself plays an important role in the book. Semple skewers the Microsoft culture and paints a picture of a society engaged in constant one-upmanship; somehow, this works to make the complicated, high-strung Bernadette seem not only plausible but actually normal and likable--after all, wouldn't we react this way to the excesses we are reading about?
The book wasn't all satire; the mother/daughter relationship between Bernadette and her daughter Bee tenderly showed them both to be loving, understanding, and protective of one another. This further serves Semple's aim of making Bernadette sympathetic: how could anyone stay sane in such an environment? As Carole commented, "Would I ever live in Seattle after reading it? No!"
Book Club will be taking a break for a few months, and we'll be back in the fall!
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