Photographic Discrimination

Due to the Wayside Tavern being in an extremely remote location, Mine Host requests all job applicants include in their application a photograph of their "hospitality face".

 

In evidence that a goodly portion of the population is incredibly stupid, this request is more often than not assumed to mean that Mine Host is hiring based upon looks, rather than upon merit.

 

A near daily event is a snarky no-correspondence-will-be-entered-in-to email from yet another job site, closing Mine Host's job ad.

These your-advertisement-is-deleted emails all say the same thing:

"Your advertisement breached our guidelines for posting ads,"

"Your ad asked job seekers for a photograph, this is illegal/inappropriate/whatever."

 

No it isn't.  There is no law preventing an employer asking for a photograph through a job ad.  (A couple of the stupider Human Rights Commissions in some states publish "guidelines" saying that employers "should not" ask for a photograph)

 

However, there is no law against it.

Nor is asking for a photograph prohibited by the terms and conditions of most job websites. (Mine Host has become adept at reading those "terms & conditions")

 

This does not prevent moronic 22-year old web administrators with no-life-experience from closing down Mine Host's advertisements, regardless of how carefully worded the request is.

 

Words have meanings.  The phrase "hospitality face" means just that.  It is not another way of saying "only beautiful people need apply"

An extremely handsome or attractive person may have the most inhospitable of faces.

 

Some examples below of people who could be considered attractive, but whose resume, on the basis of their sour look, would be binned by Mine Host:



 
 
 
 
 Below this are some photos of people who may not be considered the most attractive, but who all are showing a fantastic "hospitality face"


 









 
 

Anyone notice the difference?

If you do, you're ahead of most people Mine Host speaks with.  The concept seems to be too difficult for some to grasp.

So continues life as a misunderstood employer in a land full of dimwits who, incredibly, are allowed to vote.

Password Protected

The careful observer will have noticed this blog has not been updated for a few months.

Was this due to the blog host being indisposed?  Or suffering from writer's block?  Or just plain lost interest?

None of the above!

Mine Host's computer had one of those Windows auto updates, which caused the "remembered" passwords to no longer be remembered by the system.

... the blog was locked....

For reasons too numerous to go into here, password recovery was not an easy option.  Instead every day or two yet another password and user name would be tried.

Cracked it just now!

Normal posting to resume forthwith!

Magic Document!

In this mighty land Australia there are enough unproductive, unnecessary and pointless administrative tasks that are mandatory, thus Mine Host has little appetite for electively embarking upon pointless stuff.

Then was discovered the power of the "Organisation Chart"
At first this phrase had no more meaning than the: "Yabba Dabba Doo Chart"

Mine Host had to enquire of his Accountant what is an "organisation chart"?

"Sort of like a family tree mate, but of the staff in the business.  It is like those charts you draw in the army, showing which rank commands which platoon, etc etc."

Thus Mine Host finally grasped what is an "organisation chart".

Unable to see the point of wasting the time to draw one, Mine Host paid little attention.

Then came the era of sponsored overseas staff.  The really switched on and alert (cough) Australian Immigration Department insisted upon every application being accompanied by an "organisation chart".

For, y'see, the existence of an "organisation chart" is proof that a business is actually operating.

Once Mine Host grasped the significance of this document, and that the vampire of 90% of irritating and pointless questions from the Immigration dept could be stymied by the garlic of a brief 15 minutes spent generating a chart in Microsoft Excel ....  he commenced churning out "organisational charts" faster than T-models coming off the Ford Motor Company production line.

The effect has to be seen to be believed.

The Immigration Dept has a most unhealthy both-hands-inside-the-pocket-of-their-overalls fascination with an "org chart".

And not just them, it'll shut up no end of pesky authorities, including supposedly savvy corporations (eg, banks).

You couldn't make up stuff like this.

The chart above was whipped up by Mine Host in response to a demand by the Immigration Dept.

Y'all ain't gonna believe this, but the chart above was accepted as proof the Restaurant Manager is actually working as a ..... restaurant manager, & not as say, a chambermaid or bartender.

Election Gaffe #2

Era:  Current, during the recent Queensland state election campaign.
Scene:  Driveway of the Wayside Tavern.
Cast: Driveway staff, driveway customers.

Action:
Couple of cars in the driveway, occupants being served by driveway staff.  Few people & miscellaneous off duty staff lounging about.

Unknown member of the public walks up, dressed in over the top Squattocracy themed clobber (the sort of ridiculous stuff that only TV soap operas could possibly imagine Australian graziers actually dress in)

The enigmatically dressed stranger speaks;
"Hi" (not a good word, gay overtones, could lead to a beating)
"I'm Rupert Poonceton, the LNP candidate for the electorate of Dilligaf  "

(This doesn't mean much, except to Mine Host, as due to the inspired Australian naming system, most electorates have a name that has little or no geographic or historical connection to the electorate - The seat may as well be called "Robert Redford", as the name has no local recognition)

Just then a young bloke drives up in a Toyota (meaning a landcruiser 4wd with a flat tray back)
The vehicle reeks a little, but this is nothing to remark upon, work vehicles occasionally have somewhat of a pungent tang to them.

As the cheerful young driver alights, the prospective member for Dilligaf introduces himself in his signature metrosexual fashion, then wrinkles his nose and speaks:
"I say fellow, yonder conveyance is giving off a most pungent odour, what is it that assaults so my olfactory senses in such a malign fashion?"  (perhaps not quite his wording, but very much how he sounded)

Not the actual vehicle or driver referred to in this post.

"Pig's blood mate!  Shot a coupla porkers yestaddy 'n' 'avven got around to hosin' 'er orf yet.  She's been in the sun all day, bittuva stench, but I'll give 'er a good slosh with the hose when I get 'ome 'n' she'll be apples!"

"Er... are you certain that vehicle is entirely sanitary?  Should you be allowed to drive around in it with unwashed blood on the back?"  Spoke the candidate, exhibiting clueless political judgement.

That last sentence cost him probably Twenty votes.  You could feel the votes hitting the ground.

With this the hopeful candidate flounced off, probably to locate a health inspector or somesuch to demand that an infringement notice be issued to the young feller driving the unwashed and stenching Toyota.

The really peculiar part?
The hopeful candidate was raised in the district, yet has spent so many years away as a political advisor to the National Party, with the result that he is now totally disconnected from his root culture.

A deeper message is contained in this post.  It is a real life parable on the advisability of allowing political staffers to be preselected for seats in parliament.

Election Gaffe #1

A snap election has been called in the state of mighty Queensland.

 

The current state government has a thumpingly large majority.  The election is pretty much about how much the opposition will eat into this majority.

 

Sideshow:  Will the Premier, who has been in parliament only one term, retain his seat?  The marginal electorate he represents is likely to have everything thrown at it by the opposition and unions, in an effort to remove the hardcase conservative (in their eyes) and replace him with one of their own.

 

Not helpful to the ALP attempt to remove the sitting premier:  The ALP candidate put up against the Premier is a bland under-achiever.  The same under-achiever who lost the seat to him.

 

Back to the point:  The Premier has today announced that he will "create" 200,000 jobs in Qld if re-elected.

There may be some difficulty with this.

1)  The Premier's increased red tape makes doing business more difficult.

2)  For any real improvement in employment the Fair Work Act has to be abolished.  Unfortunately for the Premier, the job-killing Fair Work Act is federal legislation, which he has no control over.