Many Thoughts

I got really pissed off with the place I work at the other day. I'm currently working as a temp and recently there was some recruitment for permanent positions. I put in an application, and got an interview. That part I kind of expected as this is the third time I've gone through the process. And again I went through the interview and again they said no. The bit that really got me peeved though is why they wouldn't give me a permanent job. Basically they said I sucked in the interview. There's no problem with the way I do the job, no doubts if I can do it or not, just I didn't answer their silly human resource type questions well, and that was so more important than actually being able to do the job.

On a different note I was talking with a few people I know and somehow the topic of abortion came up, and was rather abruptly stopped when one of the girls there came out with the idea that men had absolutely no say in the matter. She also put forth the proposition that if you eat meat, you can't be against abortion. I think each of these positions is wrong. The first because preventing a great number of people having a say just because the procedure won't be done on them is silly. I don't think anyone would try and claim no woman should have a say on issues relating to vasectomies. Any issue needs to be discussed by people, and even people not directly involved are able to contribute. And this doesn't just apply to general principles. If I were to be in the unlikely situation where my actions had put a woman in the position considering an abortion, I would like to be consulted, and would be offended if she went ahead and did it without discussing it with me.

The thing about eating meat and opposing abortion being morally inconsistent, well that's just taking two completely separate matters and trying to force them together in a way that does not gel. Abortion and the way animals raised for food are treated are both serious issues, but the killing of an animal for meat is a very different thing to an abortion. The claim that killing a cow is worse than terminating a fetus is not going to hold water with everyone, indeed I think most people would disagree with the idea.

At this point I'd like to mention that I'm not against abortion, but I'm not for it. It's a complicated issue. The main thing to try and work out is when does the fetus become a human. Find a way to get everyone to agree on that, and they'd probably agree on a position on abortion. But people don't. People who oppose abortion tend to be those who say once sperm meets egg you've got a human, whose life should be protected. On the other end there are people who consider that you don't get a human until you reach a certain point in the development process, and until that point is reached, it's just a thing inside a woman, and see no problem in preventing it's continued existence. I lean towards the latter position, but have yet to make a decision on the transition from thing to human. It's not conception, it's not birth. It's after cells start differentiating. Also, I don't really know enough about the process to make a fully informed call.

The main problem I had with both of my friends claims is that they were quite extreme, and she wasn't open to any discussion on the matter, let alone the underlying ideas that led her to those positions. And as I've mentioned before, it's that type of extremism and inconsideration of other people's perspectives that lead to problems.

In recent news New Zealand had an election last weekend, and the reasonable sounding labor party looks to have continued is position as a dominant player in a coalition government. In reading up on the events surrounding the election, I find I agree with most of what they aim to do (the nuclear free policy is the main one I disagree with), so I think that it's a good result, especially as they need to work with a few of the minor parties to get a majority. All in all, the kind of result I'd like to see over here.

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Writing Time: 2 hours

A pleasant meeting

The other day I saw Kylie on the bus. We had a little bit of a chat, and then went our separate ways. The unusual thing was I didn't go away afterwards feeling unhappy, bitter or in anyway messed up about the experience. Perhaps its a sign I'm actually moved on.

Speaking of moving on, Danielle doesn't seem to be able to do so. Since I turned her down, she's had two bad relationships, stopped going to uni, moved out of home, had a job, quit a job, moved in with some junkies, moved back into home, got another job, quit another job and so on and so forth. And often when we discuss her current situation the phrase "It's all because you turned me down" comes up. The first bad relationship was a rebound, and the second was a rebound because of the 1st, and so on and so forth.

Now I know the way I handled things back then wasn't the best way to do so, and have since apologized for it. But it annoys me to be blamed for the everything that goes wrong for her. A lot of the stuff since then has been due to either herself or others, and I hardly think it's fair to keep blaming me for it.

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Writing time: 48 minutes