It’s Teacher Appreciation Week and thanks to my office, I’m super on top of it this year. Since A is still little, there isn’t a room mother to organize a teacher appreciation week gift from all the students. So another mom and I got together and made these:
The Infant A Teachers can’t wear shoes in the classroom so we bought nine pairs of socks with the rubber on the bottom. Then we divided them by three and attached the note with a ribbon.
I just made the note in Word with some clip art.
We also attached a $5 Panera gift card.
In less than $10 minutes and for less than $25 total we had a useful gift for our wonderful teachers.
At best, this reinforces exclusion, only the coolest can wear the latest season A&F attire. Everyone else is in the homeless category.
You can go to any Goodwill or Salvation Army store and find A&F branded clothing. Lots of items. A&F is probably just as aware of this and they probably don’t care, because the items are “last season.”
The store employees are required to dress in this season’s line. The catalogue features the current season and the cool kids A&F is courting want to wear the latest and greatest.
At worst, isn’t this just Zoolander in real life?
Not that wikipedia is the most appropriate source, but it gives a good summary.
“‘Derelicte’ is the name given to the fashion line designed by Will Ferrell’s character Mugatu. It is described by Mugatu in the film as ‘a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique.’ The fashion line consists of clothing made from everyday objects that could be found on the streets of New York. Derelicte is a parody of a real fashion line created by John Galliano in 2000.”
Clothing donations already happen, a mass campaign to donate A&F clothes to the homeless won’t impact the retailer’s bottom line.
The internet seems to be in an uproar of Abercrombie & Fitch’s newest insult, large people (specifically women) shouldn’t wear their clothes. At least the company is honest about their brand and expectations.
“I think public protests outside their stores would make CEO Jeffries squeal with glee,” Miles wrote. “He welcomes this publicity as a siren song to his shallow end of the pool.”
Miles is 100 percent right.
A&F seems to have the spotlight every few years whether it’s with their hiring practices (or firing practices), the outlandish and teen-coveted, sexualized magazine or a $50 T-shirt with an explicit message (see the entire product criticism on the A&F wikipedia page).
The main point is that the general public and media are talking about A&F and all those conversations just make the cool kids want to buy the clothes and others to see what they’re missing.
Exclusion is nothing new for A&F and it isn’t hurting the business bottom line. It may not be ethical, kind or bettering the world in any way, but is selling clothes, albeit skimpy, overly expensive clothes.
Vote with consumer dollars, if you don’t like their business practices, you don’t have to shop there. Just be wary of forbidding your teenagers from shopping at A&F, it will probably lead to them buying the clothes and telling you they’re borrowing it from their bestie. (Not that I ever did that myself…)
Full disclosure: I interviewed for a job at A&F in college. I made the mistake of not wearing a full, current season A&F outfit to the interview (apparently an A&F t-shirt and A&F jeans weren’t enough, I was supposed to wear the jewelry, perfume and flip-flops too) and ultimately wasn’t hired.
After watching Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations for Vietnam, J and I have sought out Vietnamese dishes to prepare. And as we’ve mentioned before, we are always looking for more ways to eat fish . J found this recipe from the Ravenous Couple and it didn’t disappoint. Easy to prepare, delicious and fragrant, we’ve added this to our dinner rotation.
Vietnamese Turmeric Fish with Dill.
Ingredients:
1 lb of white fish fillets (We used tilapia fillets)
Fish Marinade
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder (this gives the fish the beautiful yellow color)
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder (The original recipe calls for galangal powder, but we’ve had a hard time finding it around us)
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tbs minced shallots
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon of fish sauce
Additions
1 large red onion, sliced (we only had a white onion on hand)
1 cup of green onion cut lengthwise into 1.5 inch segments
1 bunch of fresh dill coarsely chopped (thick stems removed)
1/4 cup of dry roasted peanuts, coarsely crushed (we didn’t use this because we didn’t have any)
12 oz. bag of vermicelli noodles (boiled and drained, we used white rice because we didn’t have vermicelli on hand)
Fresh mint
If you’re ever interested in making your own fish sauce, the original recipe has instructions on how to do that. We opted not to for time purposes, as we made this on a weeknight.
Directions:
Combine olive oil, turmeric, galangal, garlic, shallots, salt, sugar, and fish sauce in large bowl and mix well. Cut the fish into smaller fillets and gently mix, and allow to marinade in the fridge for at least an hour.
You’ll need two skillets for this, one large and one medium. In the large skillet, saute the red and green onions with a bit of oil under medium low heat. At the same time have the medium non-stick skillet heating on medium high.
While the onions are cooking, cook the fish fillets about 3 minutes on each side until you get a nice golden opaque color and a light brown crust. A minute or so before the fish is done, turn the large skillet with the onions to high and place the cooked fillets on top of the sauteed onions and scallions. Remove from heat and generously top with fresh dill and roasted peanuts (if desired). Serve immediately over vermicelli noodles, fresh lettuce and herbs.
My Opinion:
The dill, fish sauce and mint make te flavors really pop. If you’re skeptical like we initially were, try just a little of each on one bite. I promise, you won’t regret it. The only change we’ve made is to use a bit of a firmer fish. Tilapia was just what we had on hand the first time and worked fine, but cod, halibut, or the recommended catfish would be easier to sear. You won’t feel bogged down by this dish. It’s light and filling. We served it with rice, but that was almost unnecessary, the onions were enough.
Those unflattering middle school pictures on Facebook, teen shaming ecards and college Instagram party pics aren’t just ruining your potential romantic relationships, they’re harming your ability to get a job, even a part-time one.
Once upon a time (think 1990’s and early 2000’s) restauranteurs and the Limited didn’t care if you were a weekend partier or took awful photos, now they not only care, but you’ll get screened out before human eyes ever see your resume. The liability is too big. If you’re willing to live your life online, what’s to stop you from making a video like this Domino’s one, or exposing what really happens behind Target’s closed doors?
As this article and infographic from Undercover Recruiter points out, “You don’t have to be squeaky clean – it’s as important to be interesting and relevant – but an awful lot of damage can be done in a very brief period of time by behaving in an inappropriate manner. Before you know what’s happened, your reputation is in tatters and the fallout is irrecoverable.”
This infographic from KBSD, posted on Undercover Recruiter has good suggestions for managing your online reputation.
Image from: theundercoverrecruiter.com