When the World Turns Against You: Tales of Freak Accidents and Workplace Ageism

The unpredictable dangers that surround us take center stage as I explore how quickly life can change when we least expect it. A Google software engineer's life was tragically cut short by a falling sequoia branch at Yosemite National Park, highlighting the random perils that exist even in nature's most beautiful settings. This sobering reminder of our vulnerability extends to supposed "controlled environments" too, as evidenced by the disturbing incident where an octopus latched onto a six-year-old boy at a Texas aquarium's interactive exhibit, requiring three staff members five minutes to free him.

Beyond physical dangers, we're navigating social threats as well. The viral story of a 58-year-old professional who believes his age has rendered him unemployable resonates with many Gen-Xers and Boomers facing similar challenges. With studies showing 90% of workers over 40 experiencing ageism, it's clear that expertise and experience aren't always valued in today's job market. It's particularly frustrating when considering the superior work ethic many older workers bring to the table - something I've witnessed firsthand in my workplace, where punctuality and preparation vary dramatically between generations.

My frustration reaches its peak when sharing how my workplace essentially penalized early arrivals by changing policies to accommodate chronically late employees. What kind of system discourages dedication while enabling tardiness? As I wrap up today's episode, I'm on the hunt for new television recommendations - preferably crime fiction without excessive elements, similar to Broadchurch or Landscapers. What are you watching right now that might fit my tastes? I'd love to hear your suggestions for solid, entertaining shows that don't sacrifice quality storytelling for agenda-pushing content.

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Thanks for listening! 

Liberty Line each week on Sunday, look for topics on my X file @americanistblog and submit your 1-3 audio opinions to anamericanistblog@gmail.com and you'll be featured on the podcast. 

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Chapters

• 0:00 Bible in a Year Progress Update
• 1:28 Tragic Yosemite Tree Branch Accident
• 3:33 Octopus Attack at Texas Aquarium
• 5:56 Gen X Job Struggles and Ageism
• 10:31 Workplace Punctuality Rant
• 13:48 TV Show Recommendations Request

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:15

Hello, good morning, happy Friday. Okay, you guys know that I'm listening to Father Mike in the Bible in a year. Well, I listen to it every morning on my way into work. That's the only time I listen to it, though Sometimes I skip a day. Obviously, I don't listen to it on the weekends. So it's more than a year for me.

Speaker 1: 0:32

I started this April of last year, so we're on day 29090 and he is still only in the Old Testament he's and he's reading the Catholic books that are not in the regular other Bible he's read. Right now he's on Sirach, maccabees and Proverbs. We're on day 290. He's got, if my Keith math is correct, we only have 75 days left, right? 290? 365 days? We're on day 290? I don't think he's gonna make it All right. We need to move on. Look, look. I hate saying look, I'm sorry, I apologize. Um, if, if the criminals and degenerates and awful people out there don't get you in nature will I hate to report this. Well, I'm not reporting it, I'm reading it.

Speaker 1: 1:31

A 29 year old google engineer dies in freak accident on popular yosemite trail. She's just out on a hike, walking along, minding her own business, when a huge tree branch falls on her and kills her. My goodness, I'm not an outdoorsy girl. This is part of the reason why Not for tree branches falling. But there's other things. There are other things out there that are just bears and snakes and no thanks. Oh, and then you got that guy killing those two the parents out there in den devil dens or something like that, out in Arkansas. They caught the guy. They're not providing a motive yet, which is weird. He was out there after he went and murdered these two people, the parents of these two girls that they had their girls with them too. Luckily, the mom was able to usher the girls away from the incident. I guess while the guy was killing the dad, she comes back to try to help the dad and then she gets murdered, oh my gosh. And this guy goes out and gets his hair cut right afterwards. And they caught him while he was in the barber seat, in the barber chair. It's insane. I've got to know why, why this happened. Okay, I'm sorry. Back to the original story. A 29-year-old Google software engineer was killed in a freak accident at Yosemite National Park this month when a branch from a giant sequoia tree fell and struck her on the head. I guess you don't need to hear any more about that. That is insane. That's why I don't. It's just I don't why. Why do these things happen?

Speaker 1: 3:13

Moving on to the next story a octopus attacks a six-year-old boy at Texas Aquarium. Mom claims we start yelling for help. Well, look, it's supposed to be an interactive aquarium. I've been to some of these things like this. I am not interacting with that, with that crap. I'm not putting no, no, I am. I have I think I have a healthy fear of nature. I'm not touching an octopus. I'm not touching a stingray. I'm not touching a fish. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.

Speaker 1: 3:48

An octopus attacked a six-year-old boy at an interactive exhibit at the San Antonio Aquarium. According to his mother, who also claimed, workers brushed off the incident involving what they called the super playful creature. Yeah, it's an octopus, it's not playful. No, it's an octopus that does not need to be interacting with humans. Nope, probably doesn't need to be in an aquarium either. Needs to be out in its natural habitat in the ocean. Mom Brittany Tarrin went viral on TikTok, of course TikTok with claims that an octopus at a petting section of the aquarium Okay, you have these interaction. The insurance must be astronomical so lashed onto her son's arm, leaving him severely bruised with suction hickeys.

Speaker 1: 4:37

After a nightmare July 14th visit and they have pictures of it and everything the octopus started to come out up and over the glass. My friend and I were not sure what to do. There's no employees around, so we start yelling for help. The employee came up and just said oh, she's super playful today. And then he could not get the octopus off. The mother recounted. The worker ended up having to call two other San Antonio Aquarium employees to help pry the grippy tentacles off the boy's arms. It took three workers and a total of five minutes to wrestle the boy free from the mini kraken. According to Taryn, leo suffered deep purple suction cup bruises up and down his arm that spanned from his wrist to his armpit. During their many previous visits to the touch tank, an aquarium employee is generally by the octopus tank to guide interactions. Look, no, no, that lawsuit probably for sure. All right, next story up, all right.

Speaker 1: 5:42

Apparently this Gen X fella, 58 years old, says he can't find a job. Let me go find the story. I'm sorry, I clicked off of X. All right, here we go from the New York Post. Gen Xer is qualified but can't land a job. He thinks this is the bizarre reason why I may never get hired again. He thinks it's because of his age he's 58. I can see his point, but to me there's more to the story. He's too old for this is what the it's how this article starts off.

Speaker 1: 6:17

A Gen Xer sparked a fiery conversation about ageism in the workplace, and many agreed with his sentiment. I may never get hired again. Bradley Richardson, a 58-year-old who now peddles adulting courses online, said in an Instagram video Lord, this tells me something. Already he's trying to peddle this kind of life coaching crap online, of adulting courses online. You're already, you're already a step behind, guy. This is not the way to go. You can't. No, no, you're not going to make it. You're not going to make it. He claimed that, despite having skills and experience, he believes his age now disqualifies him from traditional employment. Bullshit. I will make money, but I may never be an employee or get a job ever again because of my age, he said. His post quickly gained traction, with nearly 30,000 likes and over 4,000 comments.

Speaker 1: 7:16

Richardson's concern resonated with many Gen Xers and boomers who echoed his sentiment that ageism is a real barrier in today's jobs marketplace. I can see this a little bit. I mean, I'm out in the workforce. I don't think I would ever get a job now, with my age, in any kind of tech industry, just because, number one, I'm not qualified. Hello, I don't have a college degree, in that I don't have a college degree at all. Now I have military time and experience, but I don't think that counts for anything these days anywhere, especially in this town that I'm in right now in Huntsville, alabama. They are big and strong on college degrees, especially in engineering. Now I do have a good job, I have a fantastic job that I love, but you know, and it obviously doesn't require a college degree, and I think they did take into consideration my military experience because of what the job is about.

Speaker 1: 8:18

Okay, so moving on, some pointed to the added challenges faced by older workers from marginalized communities, where their race, gender and sexuality further worsen the discrimination. Sexuality should not even be in the topic. Okay, because you're not going to be having sex at work. So let's just. Well, normal people like me are not going to be having sex. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe that's why this Gen Xer can't find work. All right, hold on a minute, I don't know what is going on with my throat. All right Back to the story.

Speaker 1: 8:56

A survey conducted by resume building site, resume Now, proved all their worries to be true. It pointed out that, sadly, 90% of workers over the age of 40 have experienced ageism in the workplace and almost half of the respondents witnessed their employer hiring predominantly young workers. I don't think this is anything new either. I think this has been around forever. I think this has been around for a long time, so it's not something new. It's not something that's trending. It's not something new.

Speaker 1: 9:27

Many people empathized with the Gen Xer in the comment section in his viral video. Many people empathized with the Gen Xer in the comment section in his viral video. I'm 46 and I'm already feeling it in my industry. Well, what industry is that? I'm 42 and I feel this hard. Others insisted their skills remain valuable and said they continue to find work with companies that prioritize experience, and I think it depends on what you're trying to do Now. If it's a specific field and you are qualified for it, you have a college degree, you have experience. I don't think that should be a problem with your age, and I think the older workers have a different work mentality, ethics than the younger people do.

Speaker 1: 10:10

I used to work with a girl. I have to tell you I'm getting off topic. No, not really getting off topic, but we're going to go over time. It's already 10 minutes, we're going to go over time. I used to work with a girl who was late every single day and one time I asked her. I said why are you always late? She said oh well, you know they'll wait for me, it's no big deal. She was a lot younger than me and listen where I work. Now you guys, you're not going to believe what I'm about to tell you. You are not going to believe what I'm about to tell you. I used to go into work 15, 20 minutes early. I'd get settled in, I'd log into my laptop, get my other computer up and running and I, you know there's a lot you have to do Log in, you have to log into all these different, all this different crap. I mean it takes like 10, 15 minutes to get up and running. So by the time six o'clock came around, I was already at my desk, I already had my first case pulled up and I was working. Meanwhile, the young people were still coming in at 6.05, still walking through the door.

Speaker 1: 11:08

Now we used to have our team leads would take turns. We have like five, six team leads. Okay, they do what we do. They just do a little bit extra responsibility and they used to have to sit at the front door and watch everybody come in and check them in as we came in. And in order to do that, they would get there 30 minutes early. They'd get there at 530. And then they'd have to, you know, get ready for people to come in. They'd take the alarm off the place and all this stuff. Well, and then doing so, by Friday, they had some. They had like what? Two, three hours, I forget one. They'd have like one. They'd have a couple hours saved up as comp time so they would leave. Whoever the team lead was that week, they would leave. Whoever the team lead was that week, they would leave Friday early at lunch. Nobody cared. It was comp time, nobody cared, nobody complained. It was great. We had a system going on. It worked Well.

Speaker 1: 12:03

I guess somebody didn't like that in management after, because one guy, our big program manager, he moved on to go to a different job. So we got a new program manager and, like the day after he got in his position, he stopped doing that. He said no, we're no longer going to have the team leads sit. Nobody can come in the building, at least until 5 till, 10 till, 5 till I forget what it was. Our team lead said 10 till, somebody else said 5 till. I'm like you are fucking kidding me. We can't come in early now, we have to wait. So I'm like, okay, by God, I'll come in like everybody else comes in.

Speaker 1: 12:43

So the first day this goes into to be enacted, I sit out in my car until six damned o'clock. I finally get out of my car at six and there are people still driving into the parking lot. I'm like how's this working out for you? It's like they are rewarding the people who are constantly late. The excuse was well, we were doing away with comp time and it's hard to hold people accountable. You know, if they're not at their desk, we don't, you know, because some people come in early, they'll go to the bathroom, they'll do this, they'll do that. It's hard to keep track of them all. I just call bullshit, it's just bullshit. But you know, whatever, okay, I'm done, I'm done.

Speaker 1: 13:25

Then we need a question of the day. All right, I know I've asked this question before, but what are you guys watching right now. I need something new to watch. I've watched um, I may just re-watch the Crown. I love Olivia Colman.

Speaker 1: 13:39

Uh, I just watched a recent I say it's recent, recent to me a show called Landscapers. It's weird, it's an artsy, I want to say it was tried to, they tried to direct it artsy-fartsy. It was weird, but it was a good story and I was just fascinated by it. There's only four episodes of it. It's about a true story too. Anyway, here's what I don't like. I don't like. I didn't like Breaking Bad. I know that's very popular, but I didn't care for it. I didn't like it at all. I like crime fiction. Um, I liked Broadchurch. What was the crime fiction I just recently watched? I forget now, but it was really good. I liked it. Um, so I like fiction. That's crime, but lighthearted kind of, uh, I don't know. I just I don't like a bunch of woke crap. I don't want a bunch of sex in there, I just want a regular, good, old-fashioned entertainment. Okay, I need something to watch though. Okay, I gotta go. Thanks for listening. I'm sorry I went over my time. Bye.