DB> -> I agree we are all interdependant. Unfortunately life IS very
DB> cruel.
DB> No Don, Life is not cruel in the process...it is the participants
DB> who make it so.
Obviously you don't watch any of the nature programs on the Learning 
Channel or Discovery.  I believe it is called "Natural Selection!"  :)
DB> Character is not a given, Don, it is gradually developed.  And NO
DB> ONE makes positive progress, builds good character without the
DB> help and consistent encouragement of others. Life IS
DB> inter-relating; you cannot at ANY TIME go it alone and succeed.
Ok... I'll expound on this later...
DB> When I say "employers", I do not refer [necessarily] to
DB> business-owners but to those in Human Resources whose
DB> responsibility IS to hire. Unfortunately it is more the norm for
DB> these to hire EXPEDIENTLY rather than ethically.  Even in the
DB> temporary agency industry, expedience is the rule.  When weeks,
DB> sometimes months passed before I could get work, I thought it
DB> might have been some deficiency in my performance.  But a
DB> coordinator took me aside and explained that clients prefer
DB> workers who are "more in keeping with the demographics of the
DB> workplace".  My skills and work quality were sound, but clients
DB> were not comfortable or used to the idea of a tall black man as an
DB> admin assistant.  To please the client [and ensure $$$] the agency
DB> indulged this clear bit of discrimination in the name of
DB> expedience.  This is not right, Don.  If a person has the skills
DB> and there is a need for his services, he is entitled to fair
DB> opportunity to work.
I understand this... I am also in the temp field. I preferred to 
operate as a lease driver because I knew my skills were in demand and 
I preferred to be insulated from direct employer relations. Our 
clients luvvved me. I didn't milk the time-clock and did the best 
self routing and delivery ops I could. They'd make work for me, even 
if they didn't really have enough for a full shift because they didn't 
want someone else snatching me. Also, I've worked for black people, 
Mexicans, and just about any demographic environment you can think of. 
There were even times when it was very very slow... so slow I even 
called dispatch to ask why they were ticked-off at me. Their answer 
was "Don, you're working 1 or 2 days a week when other driver's have 
been sitting for two or three weeks." My qualifications and employer 
requests kept my rent paid when others were hurting.
When I was on the flipside, and covering dispatch... NONE of our 
clients cared whether the employee was from anywhere!!!! They needed 
someone_right_now! (Or "starting Monday") Our regulars would only take 
a new driver if their usual drivers were not available. We had one 
driver who had a regular 3 to 4 day a week job which he could 
generally complete in four or five hours.... THEN, either by request 
or by my desperate need to fill a slot, he'd take a second job the 
same day. Ok, he made money... our deal is a guaranteed 8 hours and 
our clients paid out the nose for this... but funny thing was, this 
BLACK PERSON would be working regular for Beverly Hills clients, South 
Central clients; as well as the Getty Museum and LA Arts... and he's 
not the only one.
Look! It sounds to me like you're being subjected to the standard 
corporate BS syndrome. If your agency will actually go so far as to 
kissy kissy up to the clients in that manner its probably time to find 
another agency... (I've been through enough of them...) also, keep in 
mind the middle management level is being cut back from nearly every 
company who can do without mid-level administrators. It's purely 
economics. Administrative Assistants have a difficult time finding 
regular employment as it stands. Do you really think there's a 
consistent need for an assistant from outsourcing when there's an 
extensive learning process just to get someone broken in and up to 
speed with the corporation's needs. Fer crying out loud, market your 
skills where they are needed or attain new ones. If heritage is 
supposedly the problem, market your skills at a different business 
level. You are not the only black person struggling... AAMOF fact you 
are not the ONLY person struggling. I've been turned away many times 
from jobs I felt I deserved. Also, my present company turned me down 
twice. Once 14 years ago and again about 8 years ago. I still give the 
dispatcher/HR man a hard time over this as it turned out I was one of 
the highest requested drivers as well as the person who is his relief 
when he goes on vacation. This is the same person who turned me down 
twice.... now, I save the company lots and lots of money by being a 
techo-grunt for the network administration.
Course, I could just shuffle off and hang my head and feel like less 
of a person 'cause I got rejected?

Continued in the next message...
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