I was reminded about this when someone on facebook asked me to give a good example of UNintellegent design. So of course I immediately thought of childbirth. Firstly humans are born like 9 months premature because "someone" couldn't design our hips to be big enough to fit our massive brains out before they are really done cooking. But I've heard that this might be the very reason that fathers are involved in caring for children and might be the whole basis for the reason we humans tend to partner up and be social creatures in general, so maybe it has it's advantages.
I think the worst design flaw of my body I have come across so far is the fact that the cervix hurts like hell and takes a long time (usually, especially the first time) to fully dilate for birth. Come on, flying spaghetti monster or whoever you are, what gives?
When I imagined birth long before I had much knowledge of birth, I imagined that the part that hurt the most was pushing the baby out of a little 10 cm in diameter orifice. I was so wrong. Pushing doesn't hurt. Or I should say that pushing hurts SO much less than the dilation of the cervix, that you barely notice the hurt that pushing produces (at least on average, I've heard stories of women hating pushing; I loved it).
It's not the baby coming out that hurts, it's everything that must happen in order for you to be able to get the baby out that hurts. This is important to remember when you are in actual labor, that pain has a purpose, it's growing a hole big enough for a baby to come through.
I feel that this process could have been designed a little better. Why so much pain? Why does the cervix require such powerful contractions to open? And why for so long? It's takes about a day for those first time moms. A whole day where you basically have to be reminded every few minutes that your cervix is opening... slowly...
It's this pain that causes mothers to need several people there supporting them, usually. It's rare that a women goes off by herself to the woods to labor in solitude. And it is pain you cannot really understand until you've done it and you know it is the most you will ever probably feel. But it doesn't even get the baby out, it just opens up the cervix. After it is done you've still got an average of 2.5 hours of work to do pushing the baby out (but it feels like way less because you are so exhausted you fall asleep in between contractions).
So if you are pregnant and worried about pushing the baby out, don't be. Chances are pushing the baby out will be amazing. Be worried about the dilation of the cervix, because that hurts, especially those last few centimeters, luckily the more it hurts the faster it seems to go. And I have run across no intelligent reason for why yet. Perhaps an evolutionary scientist has studied this phenomenon.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
An Injury to One Is an Injury to Yourself
My husband has been working on the ramp at the airport for 8 1/2 years, he's been in many different positions and recently got a decent promotion. He was also part of several union drives at his work place, the last one which started in early 2010. They really thought this last time was going to be it, it was very demoralizing when it failed.
First let me explain how the ramp works at airports now, at least those served by Delta. Delta basically outsources its ramp work to smaller companies, most of these companies are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Delta. The crew who handles your baggage, cleans your cabin, ensures safety when the plane is parked, and even sometimes the gate agents who get your your ticket and help you board the plane on a Delta flight, aren't technically Delta employees.
This has major advantages for Delta. Most of these subsidiaries aren't unionized, so Delta doesn't have any pesky contracts to deal with. This keeps wages low. But there is another advantage. Let's say a subsidiary has been in place for a while and some of their employees have been there for a while because the economy is bad and they can't find anything better. This subsidiary also happens to have somewhat decent health coverage for their employees and some of them get 4 or 5 weeks of PTO a year because they've earned this seniority privilege.
Suddenly more money is going to the workers of this company instead of into profits. And remember, this is a wholly-owned subsidiary, so Delta is the company who profits. Well it's time to kick that subsidiary out and put in a different one that doesn't spend so much money on labor.
Last time this happened it was more of a take over with the NWA and Delta merger and the employees kept their seniority and wages for the most part.
This time it's working essentially as if these employees are quitting their jobs at one company and starting new at another company. This means seniority will be wiped out and everyone will be starting at the bottom of the wage scale, which for a general ramp worker is $8.25 an hour. And everyone might have to reapply for their job.
They could have done this with a little less douchbaggery, but there is talk that they want to end seniority, but still keep everyone's disciplinary record on hand. The severance is also a crappy $750. Normally severance is 1 weeks pay per year, which would have meant 8 weeks of pay for my husband, instead he'll get a whole $750, which is just barely over one week of pay. ONE week of pay for his 8.5+ years of service, which included two pay cuts.
There are also rumors that the new company has worse health coverage. Health coverage at his current company was one reason my husband stayed at this job so long, it's very cheap for us to cover our whole family on his insurance, dental too. Chances are out of pocket costs will increase.
Ramp workers are important! It might not require a college degree but these people inspect planes to make sure nothing goes in the airplane that might cause the plane to crash, they insure that your luggage gets on the plane and that the plane isn't overloaded, which can also make planes crash. They make sure the plane isn't damaged when it is entering and exiting the ramp. They are also the people who clean the vomit of the guy who was on the plane before you so you don't have to sit in it.
Pay is not well related to work performance, but it is important when you are talking about huge wage and benefit cuts because good workers are going to leave, some have left already. They are making this job not worth it in the long haul, which means good employees, the ones like my husband, who have been around for a while and know what they are doing, are probably going to leave when they can find something better. And they haven't set the bar that high.
For you, the airline consumer, who has to travel by Delta, this means more lost bags, more late departures, less clean planes, and possibly less inspected ramp areas. Basically a worse airplane ride, and all of this while air fares are climbing. You are now paying more and getting less.
This is how capitalism works. This is why unions are so important. This is my concrete example of people hurt by corporate greed. And it is not just us, it is everyone who flies on Delta an probably any other airline. Because they are all competing against each other to out-profit the others, this is what will be happening throughout the industry.
Happy Flying!
First let me explain how the ramp works at airports now, at least those served by Delta. Delta basically outsources its ramp work to smaller companies, most of these companies are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Delta. The crew who handles your baggage, cleans your cabin, ensures safety when the plane is parked, and even sometimes the gate agents who get your your ticket and help you board the plane on a Delta flight, aren't technically Delta employees.
This has major advantages for Delta. Most of these subsidiaries aren't unionized, so Delta doesn't have any pesky contracts to deal with. This keeps wages low. But there is another advantage. Let's say a subsidiary has been in place for a while and some of their employees have been there for a while because the economy is bad and they can't find anything better. This subsidiary also happens to have somewhat decent health coverage for their employees and some of them get 4 or 5 weeks of PTO a year because they've earned this seniority privilege.
Suddenly more money is going to the workers of this company instead of into profits. And remember, this is a wholly-owned subsidiary, so Delta is the company who profits. Well it's time to kick that subsidiary out and put in a different one that doesn't spend so much money on labor.
Last time this happened it was more of a take over with the NWA and Delta merger and the employees kept their seniority and wages for the most part.
This time it's working essentially as if these employees are quitting their jobs at one company and starting new at another company. This means seniority will be wiped out and everyone will be starting at the bottom of the wage scale, which for a general ramp worker is $8.25 an hour. And everyone might have to reapply for their job.
They could have done this with a little less douchbaggery, but there is talk that they want to end seniority, but still keep everyone's disciplinary record on hand. The severance is also a crappy $750. Normally severance is 1 weeks pay per year, which would have meant 8 weeks of pay for my husband, instead he'll get a whole $750, which is just barely over one week of pay. ONE week of pay for his 8.5+ years of service, which included two pay cuts.
There are also rumors that the new company has worse health coverage. Health coverage at his current company was one reason my husband stayed at this job so long, it's very cheap for us to cover our whole family on his insurance, dental too. Chances are out of pocket costs will increase.
Ramp workers are important! It might not require a college degree but these people inspect planes to make sure nothing goes in the airplane that might cause the plane to crash, they insure that your luggage gets on the plane and that the plane isn't overloaded, which can also make planes crash. They make sure the plane isn't damaged when it is entering and exiting the ramp. They are also the people who clean the vomit of the guy who was on the plane before you so you don't have to sit in it.
Pay is not well related to work performance, but it is important when you are talking about huge wage and benefit cuts because good workers are going to leave, some have left already. They are making this job not worth it in the long haul, which means good employees, the ones like my husband, who have been around for a while and know what they are doing, are probably going to leave when they can find something better. And they haven't set the bar that high.
For you, the airline consumer, who has to travel by Delta, this means more lost bags, more late departures, less clean planes, and possibly less inspected ramp areas. Basically a worse airplane ride, and all of this while air fares are climbing. You are now paying more and getting less.
This is how capitalism works. This is why unions are so important. This is my concrete example of people hurt by corporate greed. And it is not just us, it is everyone who flies on Delta an probably any other airline. Because they are all competing against each other to out-profit the others, this is what will be happening throughout the industry.
Happy Flying!
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