Things That Tick Me Off

OK, So you know when you fill out an employment application online, every single one that I've seen assumes that you were educated and previously employed in America.  You fill out the part where you're supplsed to list your previous education, and then you get to a pull-down menu that requires you to a enter a state (which, of course has to be an American state).  My wife was born, lived most of her life, was educated in, and worked in Russia before she came to America.  She can't ACCURATELY fill out one of these online applications, because the way they are set up doesn't allow her to answer the questions truthfully.  Then, at the bottom the ask you to electronically sign in order to verify that the information you entered is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge.  Right off the bat, you've lied because the prospective employer doesn't give you the option to be truthful.  My solution was to use Alaska as the state for my wife, because at least Alaska USED to part of Russia and it was part of Russia when my wife was young, so it really isn't a lie, its just a derivative of the truth.

And, of course there is the other issue.  Every online employment application I see is available in English and Spanish.  Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Spanish speaking people.  I have many Spanish speaking friends, not mention many other nationalities.  The problem with this, the way I see it, is that it is giving preferential treatment to one ethnic group.  There's a little thing called the "Equal Opportunity Employment Act," which clearly states that an employer can't discriminate in either the hiring OR the application process.  So, if this isn't discrimination, I don't know what is?  If they don't offer the application in every language that is spoken in America, then they shouldn't offer it any language other than English.  Otherwise, they should make available to potential applicants an interpreter that help them in understand the application in their native language.

Then, there's always the psychological profile test at the end of the application, which is also offered in English and Spanish.  I tried translating the questions into Russian for my wife with Google translate tools, but of course, there are always some words that don't translate correctly.  It doesn't help anything that they ask the same question four different ways to make sure that the applicant answers each variation of the question with the equivalent answer.  Some of them aren't even easy for a native English speaker.  Bon-Ton Department Stores has a test at the end of their application that is something like 125 questions.  I thought Wal-Mart was bad with a 65 question test. 

Of course, not only do employers discriminate, even our wonderful Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, also offers the driving permit test in both English and Spanish, but as far as I know, not in any other language.  California offers it in Russian, so I don't know why pennsylvania can't.  I did manage to find a general USA Driver's Manual written in Russian; however, since laws vary from state-to-state, we don't really know how useful it is yet.

My wife has got a job now.  Since she doesn't drive, I thought it would be no problem for her to get back and forth from work using public transportation...............WRONG!!!!  Her work is in Quakertown, PA which lies inbetween the Lehigh Valley and Delaware Valley in Pennsylvania.  More specifically, between Allentown and Philadelphia.  There IS a Bieber Bus that goes from Bethlehem, Allentown,  and Hellertown and through Quakertown on its way to Philadelphia.  I have followed the bus on several mornings, and they always take a shortcut through Trainer's Corner (a shopping center on Rte. 309) to get between Rte. 309 and Rte. 663 because the bus stops at the Quakertown Park & Ride (three miles from Trainer's Corner).  So, you probably wondering WHY this ticks me off.  Well, the reason it ticks me off is that if the bus STOPPED at Trainer's Corner, my wife could walk 5 minutes from there to where she works.  But, I guess that would be too convenient.  This is a very busy shopping center, and I can't imagine that there aren't many people who would love for the bus to stop there so they could go shopping, or to one of the many eateries.

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