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On Money and Leisure
One of the biggest differences between Australia and America (and New York in particular) is in the two place's attitude to sex and age in the workplace. Australia is said to be "a man's country" and I entirely agree. I'd only qualify it by adding in "young". Even immigration requirements favour the very young. I think you start losing "points" in the rating system, once you hit the ripe old age of 28. People in Australia are amazed when I tell them that in New York, employers don't really care about your age and sex. All they really care about is whether or not you can do the job. It is about money. Nothing else. Money is the equalizer. It is because the main societal is to make money, that most educated people at least, can have a go. "A fair go for all" as they say in Australia. This is not to say that anyone can make money - many cannot. But at least if you can do your job, and don't care too much about recreation and relaxation, you're in there with the rest of them. Not so in Australia. In Australia there's a mish-mash of government policies that together attempt to balance individual enterprise and socioeconomic equality. It is meant to be a "caring" society, where no one (theoretically) should fall too far below the poverty level. Whether it is or not, is debatable. What is important though is the people's concept of it, and most Australians believe in a fair go for all. So what is the great equalizer in Australia? I've decided that it is leisure. Everyone in Australia has the right to their leisure time. This can mean taking "sickies" (sick days), RDO's (Rostered Days Off) and four-week annual holidays. Workers are entitled to five day's sickness leave - and they make sure they take them even if they are not ill. They are so commonly taken for leisure purposes that they even have a pet-name - "sickie". An "RDO" is a day you get off work in lieu of overtime. In many places, if you can rack up enough "working" lunch hours, and can leave the office six minutes late often enough, you can add up all these extra minutes until they come to 7.5 hours. You are then entitled to a day off. Life is all about leisure. After all, you can't tell what sort of income level someone is on when they're lying around at the beach. But when it comes to equality in work opportunities it's a different story. If you're young and male, you are ahead before you even begin the job interview. It may be because of the sexism and ageism in Australian society, that many Australians choose to work in America. No RDO's in New York. In fact you are lucky if you ever get a "day off" - it is quite common for people to put in a 60 to 80 hour week. People ask me if I'd consider returning to Australia to work. Considering the attitude to women in the workforce and to those over thirty, and after seeing advertisements for well qualified analyst programmers in the Melbourne press, offering around the equivalent of $US30,000 p.a. My answer is, "I don't THINK so. Synergy and the Art of WritingI would be interested in meeting you again either in our office or for lunch to discuss some ideas and how we could develop some synergy.Email from an American IT Businessman - August 2000 You've got to hand it Americans - they have developed the skill of writing letters that say absolutely nothing. The same email also says, "Our design goal is to have the site capable of handling all necessary functions such as contact management, inquiry handling, visitor posting, consultant tracking, etc. We feel that a hybrid approach, one which combines personal service with the ubiquitous technology of the Internet will be the winning long term model." Sounds good, but what does it all mean? Sounds like a run of the mill webpage to me. But at least they say it well; and if you are communicating face to face, with a perfect-teeth smile. Melbourne August 11 2000  Your Questions and CommentsDamian, an Australian living in America, emailed:Great to see your "Letter from New York" again. As an Aussie residing near NYC, I enjoy reading your views on the "Big Apple" and comparing them with my own. As for expat Aussies having "selective memories" when thinking about 'back home', I have to admit that I have been as guilty of this as anyone in the past. In 1996 I returned to live in Australia with my American born wife after some four years living in Britain. After telling everyone how much better life in Australia is, how the weather is so much better, how much easier it is to get by there and how the people are much more friendlier, what I in fact found upon returning was not quite the picture I had painted. My wife and I found it difficult to find work, we struggled to 'get by', it rained non-stop the first six weeks we were there and my fellow Aussies weren't running up and throwing their arms around me, giving me a big kiss and a hug and saying...."G'day cobber, just thought I'd be friendly"!! No, what I soon realised was that just as was the case in Britain and just as is the case here in The U.S, there are friendly people and not so friendly people. There are good times to be had and along the way, unfortunately, there will be hard times to contend with. And the sun will shine brightly some days and it will rain others. For as you said, any place is what you make of it. We moved back to New York two years ago for family reasons and I love it here. Yeah, there are things that piss me off here (e.g. traffic lights that are too high up in the air requiring a chiropractic appointment after a simple drive to the shop, barbies without bangers and steak, Americans who think I'm a Pom ;)...etc, etc) but I always remind myself that there are also some things that pissed me off in Australia and that the only way to enjoy a place is to get out there and enjoy it, which in New York City isn't a very daunting task! As for Clive James, Germaine Greer and the rest of that lot, their impressions of Australia are definitely outdated. Australia today is a vastly different country to what it was even 15-20 years ago, yet alone what it was back in the fifties and sixties, but then again, what country isn't? TOO ROO! Julia emailed: Is it true that there is no Australian art in any of the New York museums? How can they claim to be a "world art" centre? I did see a Nolan exhibition once, but I think you are generally right. As to New York claiming to be a "world art centre", you have to realise that New Yorkers think New York IS the world. |