Posted By: mt on 2008-10-27
In Reply to: AMEN, but - equineluvr

You hit the nail on the head!  Gutless.

There are many socially adept, mentally healthy at-home working MTs who choose to work from home for good reasons; avoiding daycare costs, caring for an elderly parent in the home, disabled and working from home is more desireable for them, etc.

But a great many at-home MTs I have dealt work from home due to of lack of healthy mental self-image, and because they lack good psychological health as well as the social skills that would allow them to interact on a daily basis with an outside group.  This type of person suffers from very low self-esteem, self-image issues (often obese), may not play well with others, and consider being bullied over the phone to be the lesser of two evils.  In these cases, working alone from home makes their lives a lot less stressful. 

Unfortunately for the rest of us, whether at home or in the workplace, this type of person is easily manipulated, belittled, often abused by family members and coworkers, incapable of defending themselves, and scared to death to demand that their right to be treated civilly be honored.  They are the first to cave in to intimidation, and when grilled for answers they give way like Jello. They are too frightened to step up and do the right thing, for themselves or others, and they silently refuse to face the confrontation that could result from demanding the legal rights of their profession.

The general attitude of this type of person is "don't rock the boat and I won't get yelled at", "go with the flow to avoid confrontation", and this attitude is fostered by the many managers that lead by fear and intimidation.

Unfortunately, unless a large group of confident, independent, strong and intelligent young women are recruited into this industry immediately, there will be no union, MTs will continue to cower from management like scared mice, wages will continue to lower (although corporate salaries do not), and as these frightened creatures die off, this industry will die with them, and because of them.

Go ahead and flame me; I'm fireproof.