Not sure how long it would take me to get bored of that!

Not long (IMO). I had a bunch of manual labor jobs before (finally) going into IT: Tree work, construction, furniture repair and delivery, etc. There are some of those romantic notions about those jobs, and some of them were a blast, but that stuff takes its toll on your body, you do NOT get paid well, and the benefits usually pale in comparison. I also got wore down by the treatment you receive from others ... the assumptions made about intellect, etc. It was nice being outside and in the sun for a bit, but the joy of that was fleeting. Of course, IT bennies can blow too, but as much as I get bored from time to time, and get annoyed by the political jockeying and the decisions that are made based on personal relationships and nepotism, I count myself fortunate to be in this position (higher ed IT).

the mailing lists full of flaming personal attacks leveled by closet bullies empowered by semi-anonymity

Says the anonymous coward amid a blast of insulting generalizations.

All snarking aside - this is a case of CSRs forgetting who they work for. They work for Verizon - NOT the customer. They have to keep "what is best for Verizon" in mind when dealing with customers.

100% agree. Anyone working in any "customer service" department of a business is not there to look out for the customer's best interest, they're there to look out for the business's best interest.

Looking out for the customer's best interest in terms of the services that the business offers is in the best interest of the business. Making a simple mention of valid service offerings an action that can lead to termination can NOT be reasonably defended or justified. If those CSR's were actually telling customers how to game the system, then and only then does your statement and the one above it apply.

Modded troll? Cowards.

I can say that reducing math further than it already is would dumb down school beyond the point of non-return. We already are using the lowest common denominator enough, if we keep on this way you won't learn anything.

As someone who was better than average? Perhaps you need some help with statistics and correlation.

I know someone whose child needs to get book from home during school because the teaching is so slow, boring and dumbed down that there's no point to listening when she grasped everything in the first five minutes.

Your experience is anecdotal. This article cites a longitudinal study. Perhaps we should restructure all education based on your second-hand observations of someone who has a child.

But hey, why bother with that when we can arrogantly assume that we know better?

Do you actually think before

I would say that the world does look different to middle class black people, and even middle class white women, at least in North America. To pretend otherwise to to assume that we've successfully removed all race and gender barriers from our society. But we haven't. You can pretend that everything is all sweetness and light if you like

Don't put words in my mouth on your way to build your straw man. I know that NOTHING is sweetness and light, and one reason for that is that we as a nation fail to strip away the bullshit, and continually presume and cite things that simply don't exist. Systemic injustices exist, and they are class-based. When this assumption (that all whites have easier paths to success) is not challenged, we do ALL humans an injustice. As we do ANY TIME we strengthen racist positions at all, and it is a racist position.

The point is that it's easier for someone to pull themselves up from the gutter if they're white males than it is for anyone else.

Based on what, exactly?

The fact that you came up from destitution isn't the point.

Oh, but it is, unfortunately. My perspective is one that is lost ... mine and that of people like me. I've watched loved ones die from drug addiction and systemic poverty, watched them bounce in and out of prison - with little to no social program to help them when they most needed it, and when they were at the age when it would have helped, they were in positions where they were the minority due to the racial makeup of those in poverty. The pressures, however, are applied regardless of race, a fact that is elusive for so many, unfortunately.

There was nothing contrived about it, so fuck off, sir.

That kind of uncritical asinine blather never ceases to tweak me. Middle class anyone, Gibson, you tool. It's amazing that people spout (and think) racist shit like this, and it is left bare, unchallenged, validated by silence thus tacit approval. Fuck that. The assumption is what? If you're middle class but not white that your perspective is different? GMAFB. If you're middle class and white, like me, you can't possibly know about destitution? (I came from it).

Idiocy.

And ... McD's patently refused to pay for her hospital bills, which is why the suit was initiated. I was thinking the exact same thing "it's basically the hallmark of people who refuse to fucking pay attention," so thank you for speaking.