Dear Mother

 I am writing this letter to you at the tender age of 36 weeks. Yes  I am still inside your belly and sometimes I feel a little uncomfortable, curled up inside the little watery sack, so I kick my tiny feet to change position. This seems to make you happy so I do it a few more times. I especially like when you rub your tummy that holds me. I don’t know if you are aware that this tickles me to the point that I start laughing so hard that I have to put my hands over my mouth to keep the shrieks of joy from becoming so loud that it would disturb your tender heart that reside near and dear to me.

I am pretty sure that you know when you are tickling me something awful because you seem to always have someone standing by, ready to lay a hand on your belly just to feel me carrying on. I know when it isn’t your hand touching me so I may pause when foreign fingers trace across your tummy. As soon as I feel your loving touch I press my fingers against the walls that protect me, that hold me lovingly till the moment I am ready to emerge.

Mommie I want to thank you for eating all of those nutritious fruits and vegetables that have made me so strong over these past few weeks, and I especially like those sour pickles and ice cream that I convinced you to get (eat) at the most odd hours. I am looking forward to looking in your eyes and seeing the love that at this point I can only feel. It will be a great day indeed. It will be your day. As a matter of fact I am going to give this day a name I am going to call it Mothers Day!

THE WALL DWARF

THE WALL DWARF
 

Everything happened so fast the explosion was  helly fire and vicious thundering. I doubt that there could be any survives beside us. 

Derek Lee Johnson

Career management

Research Paper: Equity Theory

Equity is defined as the quality of being fair or impartial, fairness: impartiality.  The antonyms: bias, discrimination, inequity, injustice, partiality, partisanship, prejudice, unfairness, unreasonableness: injustice. (Dictionary). In this paper I will discuss in detail how equity and equity theory in the context of work motivation operates.

The definition for equity implies fairness and impartiality. Inequity or bias describes the exact opposite. Organizations impose discriminatory practices on employees in a wide variety of ways. Whether implicitly or explicitly research and historical data confirms this notion.

Access discrimination prevents certain groups from possibly being hired or even promoted. Treatment discrimination denies certain groups and individual the ability for upward mobility or entry into organizations. The harsh reality is that minorities face hourly, daily, and year after year work place discrimination. Covert exclusion masked by a plethora of mechanism.

Stereotyping is one element underlining organizational inequities. Systemic racism is the root lingering beneath the surface of this reality. According to Greenhaus, “Negative stereotyping can produce biased assessment of members of targeted groups and can play a role in decisions regarding promotion, salary increase, and job assignments.” (Greenhaus). Unfortunately, the level at which stereotypes reside in the human psyche has inconsequential relevance to the victims of this social program. “Cultural similarity produces feelings of psychological closeness between people in a relationship, whereas dissimilarity in cultural background and experience may produce a feeling of psychological distance.” (Greenhaus).

This cognitive revelation fails to invigorate the diminished opportunities of equally capable and competent minority employees. “Psychological distance and even fear because of the belief that people who are different from us are more difficult to understand and therefore more difficult to predict.” (Greenhaus).

It is important to note how psychological distance can easily translate into self- fulfilling prophecy. This lack of understanding gives birth to misinterpretation of a person’s reaction to bias.

“Equity theory is based in the idea that individuals are motivated by fairness, and if they identify inequities in the input or output ratios of themselves and their referent group, they will seek to adjust their input to reach their perceived equity.” (Study).

Equity theory is manifested via comparison ratios, with salary being the most used comparison. Those compared to are referred to as referent groups in which there are four groups: “Self-inside; your own experience within your current organization. Self-outside; your own experience within another organization. Other-inside; other people within your current organization. Others-outside; other people outside your current organization.” (Study).

Fairness acts as a modifying condition as does the lack of fairness initiate a sense of inequity. Input and output are important terms used in equity theory that should be understood. “Typically inputs include time, effort, loyalty, hard work, commitment, ability, adaptability, flexibility, tolerance, determination, enthusiasm, personal sacrifice, trust in superiors, support from co-workers and colleagues.” (Your).

These are attributes that a person may display and create a portrait of positivity. “Outputs in equity theory are defined as the positive and negative consequences that an individual perceives a participate has incurred as a consequence of his/her relationship with another. Outputs are job security, esteem, salary, employee benefits, expenses, recognition, reputation, responsibility, sense of achievement, praise…” (Your).

Payment is the principle equity discrepancy. Economic dissatisfaction propelled by perceived bias in pay distribution is very common.

 Equity theory refers to referents as those who are being compared too. Demographically the wealth and power distribution makes the referent group most often white males.

It would be fair to surmise that African-American have disproportionately experienced more equity bias in the workplace than white males or white females. In African –American communities we understand this as being institutional/systemic racism, albeit normalcy in American society.

Equity theory in the context of work motivation contends that perception is the linchpin that activates a comparison with referents. However, long before entering the work place minorities specifically Black people have experienced generational discrimination in institution and organizations in America.

Organizations of employment use direct discrimination and indirect discrimination. Direct discrimination can be simply treating certain people less favorably. Indirect discrimination can simply be developing policies that places a certain group at a disadvantage.

“In common day-to-day interaction, being treated unfairly because of ones’ personal characteristics produces wide-ranging deleterious impact on mental and physical health such as anxiety, psychological distress, various cardiovascular effects, poor self-reported health status, and low birth weight in infants of mothers experiencing discrimination.” (Hammond).

This research points to a segment of our society who experience discrimination/inequities literally every day in and outside of the work environment.

 “Discrimination is a complex phenomenon with adverse consequences at personal and organizational levels. Past studies have demonstrated that workers who are victims of discrimination might show less job satisfaction, less organizational commitment and worse levels of health and productivity.” (Di Marco).

In conclusion, equity theory in the context of work motivation appears to concentrates on the responsive aspect of perceived equity (in the work place) and implies that the outcome will determine motivational factors. An alternative view is that experiencing inequities (outside and in the work place) from childhood to adulthood might influence certain individuals work motivation.

References

1.      www.dictionary.com

2.      Di Marco, D. Cabrera,RL. Arenas, A. Giorgi, G. Arcanegeli, G. and Mucci, M.  Approaching the Discriminating Work Environment as Stressor: The Protective Role of Job Satisfaction. Published online (2016).

3.      Greenhaus, J.H., Callanan, G.A. & Godshalk, V.M. 2010. Career Management 4^th Edition, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications.

4.      Study.com>academy>lesson>equity, Equity Theory of Motivation in Management Definition & Examples.

5.      www.yourcoach.be/en/employee-motivation-theories/stacey-adams-equity.

6.      Hammond, W.P., Gillen, G., & Yen, I.H. Workplace Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms: A Study of Multi-Ethnic Employees (2010).

    

Help after Hurricane Harvey

By Derek lee Johnson

This story is based on true events and real people. The place is Houston, Texas 2017, in one of the worst neighborhood in Houston. This story has all the ingredients of a soap opera, reality show and the wild wild west. There is: sex, lies, scandal, violence, drugs, bribery, thief and fraud. Let us start with the why? Hurricane Harvey hit Houston hard in 2017. The floods in Houston caused tens of millions of dollars in damage to personal and commercial properties. Thousands of people were displaced and left homeless. Relief efforts was swift and FEMA and other agencies stepped in throwing money all over the place.

A New York company was given a contract to perform remediation work on two huge housing complexes. The company will be called Pervco119 for obvious reasons (protection of my life). Pervco119 sub contracted a Houston based company to do the hiring of workers and the payroll. Hundreds of people showed up to work. People from Mississippi, Dallas, Tennessee and Louisiana. The hiring of hundreds of walk on workers in a small parking lot was chaotic. Identification and verification of these employees was the beginning of a big mess. People are people but some people had no identification and others just had their prison release papers.

The long line of Black people disparate to get hired was insane. The people from New York worked for the general contractors Pervco119, they numbered five in total. Italian Mike the owner and the PM would travel back and forth from New York to Texas every few weeks. First let me inform you of a few important factors. Guns and alcohol are plentiful in Houston. I think 99 percent of the people there including the Black people have firearms. The guns are either on their person in their cars or nearby for sure. Alcohol is sold everywhere too from Walmart, gas stations and the grocery store.

Once work groups were formed and the supplies brought in from New York was issued the work began. This writer was one of the original 5 who drove 40 foot trucks 1,690 miles to roll out the job. The journey was the scariest ride ever with over 1000 prayers sent to God over a 3 day span. The road was rough, wet and dark careening off the road into ditches was a real concern. 

We had an untrained workforce who was high on marijuana, lean, pills etc every day all day. Some people would work hard and others would slack off and a few would sign in and then disappear. Everything was working as well as could be expected for a ragtag crew of curbside workers many of whom had also suffered tremendous lost because of Hurricane Harvey.

The sub-contractors was headed by a woman name Ms Preda and her son (the relationship of mother and son was not known at the time.) They had promised all the laborers that their paychecks would be ready on Friday. Social media had spread the word that Houston Texas was hiring people to do the clean- up work. Word was that you could expect 20 to 25 dollars an hour and overtime pay. FB was buzzing with the prospect of employment in this otherwise low employment opportunity region.

Week one 7am start and 4pm finish. Work was getting done but damage to the apartment and thief of property was too. The flood victims had left a lot of their belongings behind and sort shelter elsewhere. There was a lot of damage but valuables like television, appliances etc had been left behind. The thief of flood victims’ property was rampant. Around the clock security was hired to curtail the thievery. The damaged apartments was all on the ground floor about 250 apartments.  Mold was everywhere Hazmat protection was a must.

Hooking up with co-workers and supervisors happened on and off the job. In retrospect, I think temporary or convenient relationships was probably a necessity due to the scarcity of available money. The week ended and it was now Friday-pay day 4pm. Five o’clock no checks. “Where is Preda with the checks?”  She is nowhere to be found. The workforce was agitated and they were becoming very vocal. Nearly 300 southern pistol toting, hungry and heated men and women wanted their money. The supervisors from Houston informed the workforce that the payroll was not submitted on time. Which was a lie. They announced that on Monday everybody would be paid all the hours that they had worked.

Grumbling, threats and hard stares was directed at the New York crew, who was incorrectly blamed for the money mishap. BAM! Monday arrive a hot humid day, workers are doing their job expecting to be paid at the end of the day. Low and behold – no checks. Some people got word earlier that the check wouldn’t be ready until Friday so they left at 4pm.  A small cadre of workers lingered around fussing and cussing about their pay checks. They were promised some bonus pay in addition to their regular pay on Friday, a ploy that worked and eventually everybody left.

Workers continue removing debris, knocking out walls, smoking weed, drinking lean, popping pills, getting head and fucking until Friday.  Most of the workers stayed to get their paycheck - it was now three weeks without pay. Perhaps 350 people waited impatiently in the complex parking lot. Five o’clock no checks, 6:00pm no checks. Tennessee folks wasn’t having it and they set it off, everyone else followed suit. Tables turned over, scuffles ensued mops buckets flying in the air workers breaking into  trucks taking brand new 1,500$ generators. Workers transformed into thugs faces covered with t-shirts and taking whatever they thought had resale value.

The New Yorkers were easy targets, but running scared wasn’t an option not in our DNA. I did have a sheet rock knife on standby. I later realized that I had a knife at a gun fight. Thousands of dollars of equipment was stolen and some people got lumped up too.

 Two unlikely saviors stepped in to quell the upheaval.  The owner of the debris carting company and a local narcotics entrepreneur who put up 10,000 dollars in cash to pay the most disruptive workers.  A deal was made with the owner of Pervco119 and the two saviors. Before Preda was ousted she was attacked and spat on by the angry mob who circled her car and threaten her with bodily harm. Preda remained calm cool and collected as she removed her pistol from its holster. The angry mob calmed at the sight of Preda’s metallic equalizer.

A new system was employed by the garbage contractor. Pervco119 would wire the payroll funds to his company and he would cut the checks. A woman named May (not her real name) was in charge of maintaining the worker hours, signing in sheets and payroll. There was favoritism and butt kissing going on all day every day which created a tense atmosphere. Two rich guys owned the property and these guys had over 400 housing complexes in and outside of Texas. These guys had thousands of acres of land where wild animals could be hunted for sport. Their rental property exterior was decent but the interior construction was horrible and the upkeep was horrific. If this was their mode of operandi they are slum lords to the highest order.

The New York crew was invited to the drug dealer night club one Friday. Afterwards word spread that a plot was brewing to kidnap one of the New York guys. Rumor was that they wanted the guy who had the keys to the trucks. We was advised not to go back to that club, but we keep going back anyway. New Yorkers are not the scared type something they learned quickly.  

 Work progressed on schedule and the workforce had to be downsized. The payroll was plagued with problems. Some people got paid on time but not all their hours and some people didn’t get paid at all. The sub-contractor who took over the payroll was under constant pressure workers tried and succeeded in squeezing money out of him. He paid hotel accommodation for some people but others sleep in their cars. Hostilities and resentment mixed with a hot Texas heat made coming to work an adventure.

Some people paid a portion of their paycheck to keep working – in New York its known as a kickback. Sexual harassment allegation got people fired and framed. Fights broke out constantly, tools, equipment and supplies was stolen every single day. Doing something strange for some change was considered nothing more than a hustle. I was propositioned on several occasions and informed that 200$ would be the price for a taste of some sexual heaven. A few guys from Houston told me 50$ was actual the true price of some Texas tail.

The work eventually was completed. It took 3 months – 300 workers – pounds of weed- gallons of lean – hundreds of pills – mountains of condoms and 5 guys from New York City!