NewsTaco

By Oscar Barajas, NewsTaco

Independence was a running theme in my household when I was younger. There was no such as privacy when I was growing up. Telephone calls were measured because they somehow affected the electric bill. At that point, we lived in a two bedroom house. My uncle slept in one room and my parents and sister slept in the other room. I felt the need for independence, so I slept in the living room on a mattress I brought out every night from underneath my parents’ bed. I did not mind except that my dad would wake me up to show me how early he had to be up.

My father’s biggest pet peeve was summers and the ten weeks I had off compared to his forced intervals of manual labor. He absolutely hated coming home and finding me on the Sega Genesis hitting virtual fly balls over a virtual fence in a virtual stadium. The amount of hate would be compacted if he came home and found me on the same mattress. I remember one morning when it all got rolled up into one conversation.

One morning my father woke me up and pulled up a chair for me at the breakfast table. My mom set up his breakfast, as my father and I made uneasy conversation. He asked about the Dodgers and their place in the standings even though he did not really care. He took a long sip of coffee and a longer drag of his cigarette so that he could get to the point. He wanted me to get a job.

I did not even know where to get started. All the jobs I had before that paid under the table and there was no need to file paperwork to receive a W-2. In the past I had been that kid that charges you spare charge in exchange for taking your groceries to your car, a reader for hire who would read for the blind and the illiterate. However, my most glorified position was my time as a participant at car washes that served as funeral fundraisers.

My mother ended helping me out by taking me to an office of the Archdiocese. They absolutely loved me during the interview. Essentially all I had done was give my best Dan Quayle impression. My hair was combed to the side with a gravy stain on my clip-on tie. I remember impressing the man on the other side of the table by claiming that I was there looking for an opportunity rather than a paycheck. I figured all they wanted to hear was something that sounded like an honest answer rather than the truth.

I passed the audition and was placed at the YMCA as a babysitter for the parents who were busy working out. The job was simple enough. All I had to do was play “The Little Mermaid” or “Aladdin” and walk away for a couple of hours. It got so bad, that I was able to memorize the dialogue like some sick Rocky Horror Picture Show sideshow. Furthermore, since I was the lowest man on the totem pole, I had to wash the windows and set up snack for the kids. The weird thing was when I was left in charge of someone who was my age, if not older. I only lasted a couple of weeks at that place because I could not handle going to school and working there.

My father was disappointed because he felt I had found my true calling. Why return to school when I could spend all day finger painting with toddlers for a cool five dollars an hour? My mom was disappointed because she was secretly taxing me for a third of my earnings. Most of all I was disappointed, because I would be forced to miss the latest edition of that virtual baseball game.

[Photo by  aarongilson]

By Eres Nerd

I work using my mind, instead of my hands. I am paid to think about problems and find solutions. The ability to think and use my intelligence classified me as a nerd during elementary school, allowing me to expand my world through academic success. It also allowed me to achieve professional success.

My parents’ dream of having their hijo work in an air conditioned office was achieved, justifying their decision to move to another country to provide a better future for their children. Achievement of this goal of American success has a drawback, though: the problem in working with my mind is that turning off the mind is problematic. Neurosis of the Latino Nerd is a new and growing condition.

The work day doesn’t end at 5 p.m., but remains with me subconsciously working out the issues and obstacles. While watching a sitcom, a brilliant idea might reveal itself; or my mind will work itself into a panic at 3.30 a.m., when it awakes me with fear of doom and that somehow I missed the final exam or an important deadline. The stress is imposed, and self-imposed. As you attempt to advance in your chosen profession, you are competing against equally intelligent people for the promotion, the sale, the jury verdict, and the inclusion in an academic journal. This pushes you to work harder at the sake of your sanity.

Since we think, we over-analyze the situation to exhaustion — whether it was studying for one more hour for finals in college despite not sleeping and changing your ropa for days, or worrying whether one more edit on the presentation will make it better, despite already having done one more edit for the past four hours. También, stress and anxiety intertwine, because one is usually the only Latino representative of in the field. You feel, and in many cases, must work extra hard to carry the burden of your ethnic group.

The stress is complicated because it is hard to discuss it. I feel very uneasy about complaining about the stresses of my job, revealing it only to a trusted few. Mostly it is because of the issue of comparison. I am not doing the back-breaking work of my parents and most of La Raza. I wear a suit and tie and make a good living. Do I have the right to complain about the stress and anxiety in closing the million dollar deal, or whether my story submission will make a literary journal, when Dream Act students are worried about deportation?

Además, I feel uneasy discussing the stress of my job because I am a symbol — the symbol of “making it.” I am the role model to friends and family aspiring to go to college, aspiring to be a professional, aspiring to the American Dream. When I’m invited to speak at schools, I don’t have the luxury to tell a class of Raza kids that many times my job keeps me up at night. I do tell them that books will always be better than the movie.

In thinking about the situation, I believe that Latino Nerds have no blueprint to follow. As sons and daughter of the working class, we understand the stress of that life. We can anticipate it and attempt to reach remedies. As the first to graduate from college or the first to enter a specific field, we had limited or no models within our social circle which we could learn from. A hard day’s work on your feet meant some ointment, and possibly a cold beer. What’s the appropriate remedy or relaxation technique for the over-active and neurotic mind?

Sometimes, quiet music is the best treatment for estrés. When things to go wrong, I tend to be hard on myself. As an intelligent Latino nerd, I should have anticipated the outcome and done things to change the outcome. Failure is hard to deal with, when academic success made one feel invincible; getting an “A” in life is much harder. The stress of the professional job is a fact that may be hidden from our family and non-professional friends. We are the ones that made it. We work in air-conditioned offices and wear suit and ties. We aren’t doing the back-breaking jobs of our parents.

In analyzing and over-analyzing this predicament, I realized as Latinos advance in American society, we will be blessed and cursed with its problems. We will achieve monetary and professional success, but we will be more susceptible to stress, neurosis, depression, and anxiety. A solution is talking to friends and friends about it engaging in Seinfield-type dialogues. If you feel weird discussing your stress and neurosis with them, I would suggest seeking a therapist or counselor. You must realize that stress is stress and it has the same impact on your physical and mental well-being regardless if you are working in the field or working in an air-conditioned office.

Eres Nerd lives a nerdy life in the borderlands of Estados Unidos and Mexico. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter @ElEresNerd.

[Photo By bottled_void]

A report released by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), this week found some gains in the number of minorities being hired to federal positions. The report, “Annual Report on the Federal Work Force Part II: Work Force Statistics, Fiscal Year (FY) 2010,” took into account employment numbers at 64 federal agencies.

When it came to Latinos in the report, of 2.8 million people in the employ of the federal government, 7.9% were Latino. Specifically, this means that there are about 133,100 Latinos and about 92,000 Latinas working for the federal government.

The report noted that Latinos were among the groups that made the most gains in the last 10 years, in as far as securing senior-level positions, about 52%, while the overall increase of Latino federal employees was about 50%. Breaking this down into numbers, this means there are 389 Latinos and 130 Latinas who qualify as “senior pay level” employees for the federal government.

Latinos still remain underrepresented in the federal employment system, as compared to their population in the country as a whole, about 16% as of the 2010 Census. Other groups that were underrepresented included women, multiracial men and white women.

In a statement, EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien said these numbers showed that there is room for improvement in the federal hiring system. She noted that, “The EEOC will continue to work with federal government leaders to identify and remove barriers to equal employment opportunity and promote diversity and inclusion in the federal workplace.”

Some more figures on the 2.8 million people employed by the federal government by race include:

• 65.4% were White,
• 17.9% were Black or African American,
• 7.9% were Hispanic or Latino,
• 5.9% were Asian,
• 1.6% were American Indian or Alaska Native,
• .08% were persons of two or more races, and
• .04% were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

[Photo By shokunin]

Despite being hard hit by the recent recession, a recent poll reported that 65 percent of Latinos believe the next generation will be better off than they are.

When it comes to median household wealth, the Fox News Latino poll showed that Latinos have seen the largest drop by any other group in the nation from 2005 through 2009. Additionally, Latinos have seen the largest increase in the poverty rate from 20.6% to 26.6%.

“Generally we always think that if your pocket book is hurt, you are going to punish the incumbent party,” said Todd Shields, Director of the Blair Center and Dean of the University of Arkansas Graduate School.

According to the same poll, which surveyed likely Latino voters, 58% of Latinos approve of the way Obama is handling the economy. They also favor President Barack Obama six-to-one over any of the Republican presidential candidates.

“It’s surprising to see this kind of optimism. These people are worse off, but they are still more positive about where the country is going,” Shields said. “It’s tough to turn that into a vote against the incumbent party.”

References:

• Fox News Latino

[Photo By o5com]

In the fall of 2005, I started working weekend nights as a doorman at a neighborhood bar called The Boulevard. In many ways, The Boulevard was ahead of its time in the sense that it rode a wave that catered to a burgeoning class of the generation of gentrification — in love with the name and reputation of living in East Los Angeles, but not the community. For a precedent, please see Harlem.

In 50 years, there will be a statue erected in Edward James Olmos’ honor, but it will not be for his roles in “Stand and Deliver” or “Zoot Suit,” instead, the hipsters will rise and recognize him for his science fiction triumph as Admiral William Adama on “Battlestar Galactica.” The spot created an outlet for local bands to define their talents, but most of the time the successful bands were the ones who commuted from other areas of Southern California in order to play in East Los Angeles. I always had a feeling they did better because their ill-knitted legions of fans (which consisted of the band’s friends, their significant others and their friends) came out to see them play, so they can say they were witness to a show in East Los Angeles.

I took $5 dollars from each person at the door; $2 went to management and $2 went back to the band; the remaining $1 went to me. I wish I could tell you that Jim Morrison rose from the grave and The Doors reunited for the night, but that never happened.  I wish I could tell you that Kurt Cobain strapped on a guitar with news that he had faked his death. The truth is, there really weren’t any bands of note that played The Boulevard.

I think that most people came expecting to experience something. They wanted an escape from death they could bring home with them. In a way, I felt they wanted to take a picture in a huge sombrero with a cholo punching a donkey. Cholos showed up from time to time pretending to run the place. They would puff up their chests and expect some sort of compensation. Sometimes they would win, but most times they would end up talking to themselves. I always felt sorriest for them; because when it comes to gentrification they always lose the most. Their identities were usually compromised to the point where even Jimmy Smiths can be a cholo on the big screen.

I never broke up a fight, and deep down the boss must have known that I would not. My job was to take the money once people came in through the door. I am not the type to risk my neck to protect something that someone else owns – especially when it is ground zero for sanitized gentrification.

I was a little bit disappointed in myself, because I did not put up a fight when the hipsters came in. Instead I guarded the gates watching who came in and out, a dollar a time.

[Screenshot By ComeGatos]

Dear Martha:

I’m a successful professional but my partner is always in and out of different jobs. His lack of ambition is extremely frustrating to me. What should I do?

-Reluctant Breadwinner

Dear Reluctant Breadwinner:

You really need to reflect on your relationship. Why did you choose to be with someone under such circumstances? Are there other areas of your life he complements?

And if he were to remain the same way, would you continue the relationship?  Or are you really waiting for him to commit to something and solve the problem?

If you’re waiting for him to make a change on his part, it may never happen. If, on the other hand, you think that you could handle the responsibility of taking care of both of you, go ahead, you must truly be in love.

Above all, consider whether or not you could continue this way for the rest of your life. The only person that you can change is yourself.

[Photo By  slworking2]

By Patrick Keefe, Vice President of Communications for the Credit Union National Association

 Should I transfer my personal financial business from a bank to a credit union?

Patrick Keefe is the Vice President of Communications for the Credit Union National Association.

Despite the whole $1 trillion buying power, despite being 1 in 6 Americans, Latinos are largely absent from roles of corporate leadership. Several studies and a report from Poder360 found that Latinos are neither present in any significant numbers in corporate leadership roles in Fortune 500 and Fortune 1,000 companies. Poder360 reported:

New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez found similar results in a survey filled out last year by 219 of the Fortune 500 companies. The study found 3.2 percent of all directors and only 2.9 percent of executive team members were Hispanic.

Arias, a senior partner at Korn/Ferry International in Dallas, notes that even if the focus is widened to include the top 1,000 companies and the nearly 10,500 directors who serve on their boards, U.S.-born Hispanics only make up about 1.5 percent of the total. Put another way, about 130 of those companies have at least one Hispanic board member, or 13 percent. That’s down from 19 percent in 2007. So called C (as in corporate) suite diversity numbers are much smaller. Zweigenhaft, whose book was written with University of California, Santa Cruz research professor G. William Domhoff, says there have been only 15 Hispanic CEOs at Fortune 500 companies since 1981 – the year Roberto Goizueta rose to the top of Coca-Cola. Currently, there are six, the same as a decade ago.

And what does that mean in absolute numbers? Well, according to the piece, in 2008 that meant that 11 Latinos headed corporations. So, we’re talking teeny weeny numbers here. Why is this important? There are lots of reasons, but I would venture to say that better products, business practices and hiring practices would probably be affected. How can this be changed? Same old, same old: education and opportunity.

[Photo By jonomueller]

So, now that I’m about to round out my first week as a full-time blogger, let me tell you something I know we’ve all wondered: no, working from home is not all bliss. It’s not that there aren’t great parts about being able to stay home and get paid, but rather, I feel like the pros do not outweigh the cons.

What I mean to say is that, as a very social individual, I find that being at home all day with only the plants to talk to (perhaps what I really need is a pet… or plants that talk back?) can make one feel a little weary. I remember when I used to be employed by corporate America, I always could take a break by chatting with a co-worker — or two. Indeed, especially once the recession picked up speed and we were all scared we were going to be the next to be laid off, these conversations were sometimes the best part of my day.

But working from home isn’t all bad, I’ll grant that. It’s nice to be able to wear my own clothes (as opposed to fancy office clothes plus makeup). It’s nice to be able to listen to music or do errands or eat my own food or wash my dishes or do any of the kind of stuff you do when you’re at home between breaks. It’s nice to have that much control over your day, albeit when you do sometimes your work day bleeds into your night, and so that’s where you have to start drawing lines.

And I guess that’s where I am now, in a place where work and life are so blurred together that there is rarely any separation anymore. Perhaps if I weren’t doing something that I loved, that might be a huge problem, but I find that at this intersection between personal and professional there’s a lot of potential for mutual fulfillment. On Sundays I can leisurely scroll through my emails or Facebook profile or on Tuesday morning I can be available for the apartment maintenance to fix my leaky faucet.

Do you have a similar experience with working at home?

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD