Midweek Mishmash
Politicians as parents + why is work weird right now?
Welcome to Mess & Noise. Last week, I wrote about about the economic fuckery of being a middle-class parent in New York City. You can get my non-expert, non-medical guide to Perimenopause here, and I’m dropping a new book about disagreeing at work later this month.
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Sleepless in September
It’s back-to-school season which means lots of insomnia in our household, plus the annual stress and busy-ness that goes along with it.
No matter how much planning we do every summer, we’re never quite on top of things in September. I always forget the start of the school year causes our kids wake up at 12, 3, and 5am every day for some reason.
We started taking the subway to my son’s school in the morning instead of driving, hoping the exercise and “fresh air” of central Brooklyn will perk him up for class at 8:30. (It’s a 24-minute walk plus 4 minutes on the train.) But honestly, it feels like I’m teaching him to be a stressed out commuter because I’m peppering him with directions like, watch out, step aside, hold on, don’t touch that! and go go go.
Between this and a Big Fat Rat That Ran (sight words!) across our building’s backyard yesterday while the kids were playing, I’m having a major “Is this it?” moment.
The answer is “Yes, this is it. So what am I going to do about it, besides complain?”
TBD for now! In the meantime I can recommend the work of Kendra Hurley, who reports on child care, infrastructure, and policy for working families. She wrote (and gift-linked us!) the school drop-off article above.
What’s Going On With Work?
I know the beneficent Biden Economy™ looks great compared to other countries right now — UK and China included — but the macro doesn’t feel like it’s translating to a certain micro: Middle-class, mid-career/middle-managers (it’s all mid right now) who are getting laid off from private equity & venture-backed startups in droves.
Multiple neighbors of mine have been cut from Director/VP-level roles in recent months and the trend continues to echo in my network on LinkedIn. Middle-managers I’ve spoken to at public companies (including one with stock that’s trading three times higher than Disney) are “hanging on” during layoff rounds as well.
And yet, the coffee places in my neighborhood regularly post “help wanted” signs for experienced baristas. The indie bookstores need new sales associates every two months. My best guess is laid-off folks who normally pop into these businesses are now spending entire days and whatever money they have on little treats (instead of eggs) between Zoom interviews.
For knowledge workers/people with email jobs, it feels like 2008 again only this time no one is talking about a crisis. Cue the “This is fine” meme.
I’m hoping it’s just a temporary dip we’re supposed to see after the Fed rate hikes of the last few years. I brought this up to Stacey Vanek Smith on LinkedIn a few weeks ago and she pointed to investors being “risk averse” right now.
That’s certain. But for people who’ve built their careers in early and growth-stage startups, I’m worried the shaky ground that venture capitalism is built on might give out for good. I’ve always referred to it as “Monopoly money” but this explainer said it much better.
She is not your Mamala, Tim Walz is not your dad
You should still vote for them.
I wrote about the Obama-esque excitement around Kamala last month, but crushes fade, and that’s fine. She’s doing the hard work required to build something long term, and as the saying goes: voting is not a love letter to a politician, it’s a chess move.
Branding is as important for politicians as it is for laundry detergent, and relating to politicians on a familial level (sometimes desperately) makes sense. You want to imbue them with parental qualities the same way banks position themselves protectors and insurance plans say they’ll “watch over” us. (Now with the help of 3rd-party data brokers, they really do!)
The downside is we are guaranteed to be disappointed by politicians, banks, and insurance plans, just like parents. You can’t expect perfection, even if you’re a paying customer. And wanting your parents to be perfect will keep you in therapy in forever.
For folks who are fed up and sitting out the election because a perfect candidate doesn’t exist, this Hamilton Nolan piece was the perfect (sorry) reconciliation. You can be annoyed/exhausted and still move toward your ideal with a less-than-enthusiastic vote:
And on the subject of lost enthusiasm, I loved this essay about cultural “numbing out” and how difficult (not impossible!) it is to resist the impulse to detach with irony and/or live in apathy:
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I’ll leave you with a story about AI because I heard the world needs more of those:
I’ve been meaning to get a new professional headshot because my current one is from 2017, has a shadow that makes it look like I have a goatee, and my “smile” is giving…constipation.
I don’t have time to get a new one, so when I saw an ad for an app that generates a professional profile pic for you, I gave it a spin. Here’s what it spat back:
Then I got curious what else it could do:
This one is my favorite. It didn’t replace the model’s face with mine, but made my face float among the animals on Noah’s Ark instead.
That’s it for this one! May the rest of your week be AI-free.
As always, an engaging and quirky commentary on the vagaries of parenting, working, and other timely matters.
slightly off topic (BUT IS IT)...downloading your perimenopause pamphlet RIGHTNOW.