October 19, 2009

It is Monday. The start of a new week and new events.

Discrimination.

Anybody who says that there is no discrimination in this country is living in la-la land. There is discrimination right at my doorsteps.

I came to this country from Eastern Europe a long time ago. I lived through the the Second World War and the Holocaust. I am Jewish. During the War we lived in an apartment building where Christians ans Jews lived together until we were taken to the ghetto. While we lived in our original apartment building I had to wear a yellow Star of David to let everybody know that I was the Jewish kid.

Well, I live in an apartment house in New York that turned coop years ago. At that time we had the common sense not buying into it. So, nowadays I meet people in the building who are not aware of our status and they always put forward the question "are you a renter?"

As renters we are obviously second class citizens in the building. We are not told what is happening, we have to beg for necessary repairs and the entity that owns our apartment can not wait for us to die so they could sell it for a good prize. Oh, we are also rent stabilized which means our rent is lower than market and the increases are controlled by the City of New York.

So, 65 years after Wold War II and in a New World I am again faced with discrimination. And there is nothing anyone can do about it.

Here is another one.

Age discrimination is rampant and nothing can be done to prevent it. People are losing their jobs left and right because of their age. Companies, mainly large ones are so tricky in doing this that people are not even aware of it when it is happening.

Example: some professional people lost their jobs after decades of service and received severance pays. However, before the severance pay was processed they were required to sign a "Separation Agreement" in which they promised not to sue the company for the termination. Only after signing this document did they receive their severance pays.

Naturally, companies want to free themselves from the burden of high priced senior employees and hire young ones for half the price. This is the two for one syndrome.

Companies are not supposed to reject any prospective employee because of age. Then why are we not listing our date of birth on our resumes? Because the minute an interviewer sees an older person the interview for all practical purposes is over. The resume will wind up in the waste paper basket. And there is nothing or anything anybody can do about it.

Nice world we live in.