Hell Yea...We Want ROWE *raises pickett sign*

As of late, I have been reading articles about "Generation Y" and the workplace. Of course I am interested-- I mean I am a part of Generation Y and I am employed. While browsing the Internet, I learned about a new policy that companies are implementing to retain their young employees known as ROWE.  This acronym stands for Results Only Work Environment.  With ROWE, you get all these crazy wonderful incentives/benefits such as, my personal favorite, UNLIMITED PAID VACATION. Its the best idea since slice bread, or roll over minutes (before minutes became unlimited of course).  ROWE stops the petty hour clocking and instead, evaluates your work based on the results you put out.  What I can't understand, is why companies have waited this long to do this. It makes perfect sense to me to only be concerned with the quality and turn-over of one's work.  But, you know we work in America and here they are more concerned with running an adult day care ( I digress). 

ROWE is exactly what I need, I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel confident in saying that most of the people I know need and want ROWE too.  Think about all the time you can spend living your life---which is what we should be doing--- while getting work done at the same time.  ROWE is a clear illustration of how great life can be. I am proud of our generation for making it clear that we don't just want sub par work conditions and since companies need us, they most learn to work WITH us.  I like the sound of with instead of " I work FOR".  ROWE has proven that employees even work better knowing that they have the opportunity to take vacation with out feeling guilt and have the option to work from home.  Employees come back to work all happy and shit 'still smelling like vacation" and they are motivated to get projects done. Not only does ROWE allow you to kick your feet up, but you can leave work early ( something else I NEED in my life).  Don't you just hate finishing all your work in like an hour and then sitting around for 7 more dying? You know what I'm talking about. You can usually tell when this happens according to your Twitter timeline -- its that period of the day when everyone is tweeting more than usual and those tweets sound like suicide notes or read something like " its only 10:30...AM * insert blue faced emoji with the home alone expression*". Well comrades, be depressed no more, ROWE is here to save us all. With a ROWE policy, you can leave work as long as you have your work done.  All of this sounds too good to be true, so good that I spent some time browsing the web for proof that such a thing exist.  Behold, I present you with links about the policy so you can read for yourself AND a wonderful little list of the companies who have implemented ROWE thus far.

There are downfalls ---sad I know--- ROWE is relatively new so there are a number of places who are not hip to the game yet. But, I feel pretty hopeful that given a few more years everyone will be able to ROWE out...hahaha get it?? Ok, I'm corny. SO WHAT!

Be love, peace and light ya'll.

List of companies who are using ROWE: http://www.rowecall.com/rowe-companies

ROWE explained: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/more-firms-bow-to-generation-y-s-demands.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-51237128/what-is-a-results-only-work-environment/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-those-spoiled-millennials-will-make-the-workplace-better-for-everyone/2012/08/16/814af692-d5d8-11e1-a0cc-8954acd5f90c_story_2.html 

Pop life/Everybody needs a thrill/Pop life/We all got a space 2 fill/Pop life/Everybody can’t be on top/But life it aint real funky Unless it’s got that pop/Dig it

YOU CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH!!

Receiving a jail sentence is no laughing matter, yet, Tony Farmer made it hilarious. While receiving his sentencing from a judge in the case of kidnapping his ex girlfriend, amongst other charges,  the "top recruit"collapses in shock to his punishment.

I would just like to point out that 1) Lawyers should give you a heads-up prior to being sentenced so you can maintain some sort of composure. Judging by my man's reaction, he was NOT ready. 2) The ex-girlfriend who Tony kidnapped was in court.....she would be the one leaving the court room in tears.  *insert baffled face*

To read the full story and watch the entire video, check out this link: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/top-recruit-collapses-court-receiving-three-prison-sentence-141153269--ncaab.html

Boomerang Generation

Class of Howard University, 2009.

Class of Syracuse University, 2011.

Class of Hard Knocks, 2012-Present

Now is the time that all college graduates should be celebrating. We should be bragging to our friends and family about our new found social, professional and economic freedom... new jobs, new cars, new apartments. Instead, most of us are up to our eyeballs in ever-looming debt, and even sleeping in the same bedrooms where we found puberty.  The struggle is very much real and alive. Our frustration is growing from an ant hill to a mountain and the only solution to all our problems seems to lie in conformity.

From the age of gaining motor and cognitive skills  we have been told that we can be what ever we want to be. We can “follow our dreams” and the possibilities are endless. We were instructed to go off to school in order to "make it better" for ourselves and amass all the material possessions we could ever want or need with our high paying jobs of choice.  Yet, we crossed that stage, ready to leap for the stars and looked down only to find that we were falling into the arms of student loan debt, a diseased economy, and most of all, the scrutiny of our parents.

There are many problems here that I wish to address... in large part just because I need to vent.  However, my venting is not necessarily an untruth.  Everything I have said and will say is REAL.

1) LIES of promise: We all have been hoodwinked...  tricked into believing that we could give our all and be rewarded for it. The truth is, unless you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth or with parents who belong to a class similar to that of Jay-Z and Beyonce, you won't be receiving many rewards.  Instead, you will be given the gift of stress! Stressed, because you cannot find a job that you genuinely enjoy.  Stressed and depressed that you will spend 40 hours a week {A little math for you: 40 hrs/week x 1 month (4 weeks) = 160 hrs. 160 hrs x 12 months = 1,920 hrs/year} doing nothing that contributes to society in a positive way, discovering that you must give up all aspects of your social life if you wish to repay Sallie and the Gang and move out of your parent’s house. You might even find that for a period of time you will drown your sorrows in alcohol just to feel a little bit normal. By the time the drunken haze fades -- sometimes not until the middle of the next day -- you look up and are sitting right in same the place, doing the same things that drove you to the comfort of your favorite bar in the first place. The "chase your dream" speech you were once unable to escape has turned into the " stop dreaming... welcome to the real world" challenge.  Questions emerge. What is this real world you speak of?  Is it being complacent?  Is it working every day of your life to buy things that in the end will not provide moral or spiritual value?  Is it coming home to sit on a couch and watch reality TV shows that display grown ass people exploiting themselves? Or better yet, is it watching the world crumble before your eyes knowing that one day you will die (we all saw Lion King), and not being able to comfortably enjoy our lives before we become shit for the earth to thrive off of? While it may seem like my message is one of anger (and to an extent it is), I am really trying to amp everyone up, including myself, to say FUCK THAT SHIT! We have earned and therefore deserve the right to dream and be dream-chasers. We are in the prime of our lives, the age where we should be exploring and making demands so that we can establish the tone for the rest of our lives. The way I see it, I have plenty of time to sit around on my ass -- its called being married with children.  During that time, we will have completely switched our focus and will no longer be able to do all the cool things we are suppose to be doing now.  A familiar line rings loudly in my head: "Why so serious?" There is nothing wrong with being focused or driven, but save that shit for things that actually matter.  It doesn't make sense to harp over endless and meaningless jobs that most of us don't want, and in my case, took to pay bills and soothe my parent’s concerns. I know they are really just worried about me and where my life is headed. They want me to be "successful." Hell, I worry about the same things. Speaking of parents... please understand that shit is not like it use to be. In some ways, it's a good thing and in others, a bad thing. Life is hard and we are all trying to figure out the best way for us to get through it. It does not help when you are on our backs. We get enough of that when we walk out the door each day and head to work, or when we check our bank accounts or dodge calls from the loan sharks (I mean student loan officers). We are not trying to fulfill the hope of YOLO, but we would like to cozy up with it every now and again because we worked for it. As a person of much valor and a possessor of two degrees, I can honestly say I have been looking for a job since my body left Syracuse, NY, without a moment to breathe and regroup and it has landed me nothing but a perpetual headache. After many months of searching, I still haven't turned up with anything and it is because the truth of the matter is this: The job postings we are bookmarking and applying to are a formality. That's right!! A FORMALITY. That means that these positions are already filled.  The employers knew who they wanted before the position opened up. Most were just required to put a posting out there just because. All this emailing and writing cover letters is for the birds. So, we must take things into our own hands. We need to stick together and network with one another and return to our dreaming. If you can't find a job, make one! I said it, MAKE ONE! What can it hurt to take all of your knowledge and skills and build something of your own? Get together with some like-minded people and have discussions. Create a road map and put together a plan.  All throughout school we were forced to do this with people we didn't even like -- it was called a group project. Ah yes, that is a skill too. The ability to work with others. I know we forget about that because society tells us to be individualistic. Truism.., you won't make it alone, no one does.

2) Student Loan Debt: FUCK YOU. That's really all I have to say on that.

3) Dear Economy - You are like an abusive partner in a fucked up relationship. You whoop my ass and then present me with a gift such as the failing idea of home ownership ( I mean ownership…not a mortgage).  You beat me and then say I’m the blame for your Ike Tuner assault. Then you go get drunk (corporations with their power hungry, thieving, greed infested drive), gamble everything away, come back home, and ask "now how can YOU fix this?" It's rather unfair and complete fuckery, if you ask me.  I don't know how to get around this -- my ideas would be considered radical -- so I should leave them for another day.  Just know this my fellow strugglers, we cannot do anything if we are not at least AWARE of what is happening... and what is happening is not good in any shape, form or fashion. The economy is a like the mom on "What's Eating Gilbert Grape;" unable to move and just growing more and more depressed. So, take your knowledge, talent and skills and try to make things better for you AND the community you belong to. Understand that we are going to need each other more than ever. Reach out to people, build relationships and help one another. Be supportive! B-E- supportive. Support those new budding businesses, art shows, clothing ventures, music, stores, books, and articles. Just support till you can't no more. HAVE faith....its all we got y'all. Faith in ourselves and in the little bit of humanity left. Stop thinking the economy is going to help you. It won't... it doesn't care. Think of the economy as a prostitute. Yeah -- a prostitute -- and capitalism is its pimp. The "hoe" will do what the "pimp" says and right now the pimp is saying what it always says "bitch, you better give me my money" and that is exactly what is happening. The economy is stretched so thin that our government doesn't even know how to fix it, so they just keep making it worse at our expense. Needless to say, don’t wait around for things to “get better”. We have to save ourselves.

4) In the words of Lil Wayne, "Bitch, I'm ME." YUP! That is how I feel at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday. The truth of the matter is, we should never feel doubt in ourselves. Remember all of the things that you CAN do and stop trippin off the shit you CAN'T do. The latter will get you nowhere. Be confident in yourself and your future, even if you don't quite know where you are heading. No one ever really does, if they are doing life right, because life is um... IDK? UNPREDICATABLE. All I know is, we have to be open to the world and its possibilities and when opportunity strikes, be bold and self-assured enough to jump on it. Failure... we look at it in such a negative light. But failure is necessary in order to succeed. I hope that makes sense... because it does in my head. You see, we have to fall sometimes in order to get it right. When a child first starts walking, they fall and fall and fall until they get it right. No matter how many times they fall, the end result is always that child walking. So, don't be scurred. Put one foot out in front of the other and see what happens. As long as you believe in yourself and follow your ideas through with passion, things will work out. Just look at 2 Chainz and my personal favorite old-as-hell rapper (but he is getting money)... Flo-rida.

Be love, peace and light y'all.