  
|
|
|
Thursday, Nov. 6. is scheduled officially for “Bring In Your Parents Day.”
Children, you may be proud of your work, but why not share your
daily triumphs and tribulations with your “tateh” and “mameh.” They deserve it!
The goal is to have businesses open to employees’ parents and family members.
In 2012,Google’s Mountain View campus introduced its first ever, “Take Your Parents To Work Day.” They felt it was “Just the right thing to do.” They aimed to welcome the extended family for a day of seminars and tours. Andy Berndt said, “Sure we have bring your kids to work day. But it’s things like Bring Your Parents To Work that makes us proud to work at Google.
In 2013, Andy Berndt, the director of Google’s Creative Labs welcomed 300 Googlers and their parents to the company’s 8th Avenue headquarters. It marked the company’s first-ever East Coast Take Your Parents To Work Day.
Young Googlers pointed at computer monitors while moms and dads with varying degrees of tech-savvy looked on and began to smile (“shmeykhlen”). Ari Shamash, a middle-aged engineer (“inzhenir”) who led the hardware course, was accompanied by his own mother and father, septegenarians whose only exposure to technology has been through their son (“zun”). Mom recounted with pride (she’s “kveln”) how her son wrote his first program in middle school. She remembers the first check for $1,000 (“toyznt”). Ari is still teaching his mom Google products one at a time. He calls it “Google chat.” (Should we call it “Google shmues”?)
And 2013, Berndt looked around the room and saw beaming moms and dads. He said, “I’m here to thank you for your crazy genius parenting. You should take a mad victory lap for that. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Source: “Drinking The KoolAid At Google’s ‘Take Your Parents To Work Day’ by Meghan Casserly, Forbes, 2/22/13
BTW, It’s almost ten times harder to get a job at Google than it is to get into Harvard. They have more than 2 “milyon” applicants a year. They were crowned the “Happiest Company in America.” And there’s a Google perk that extends into the afterlife. Should a U. S. Googler pass away while working for Google, their surviving spouse or domestic partner will receive a check for 50% of their salary every year for the next decade.
Why do companies encourage people to participate in this holiday?
They hope that if parents support their children’s work choices, then
their children are more likely to stay with the company.
Others have ridiculed the holiday online and in the press. They question whether asking your parents will make you look like you need to grow up. Or, will it make your parents look like “helicopter parents.” There is a difference (“untersheyd”) between “helicopter parents” and involved parents.
Helicopter Parents are parents who closely watch over the lives of their children even into adulthood. (Note: The Yiddish word for “adult” is “dervaksn.”) The argument for Helicopter Parents is that with “di velt” (the world) as challenging as it is, it’s only right (“rikhtik”) for a parent to work towards the success of their child at all times.
Haydn Shaw, wrote, “I’m giving a speech in Cincinnati in two weeks and the round trip flight from Chicago was almost $1,000. Driving would save my client over half that, but it’s a 700-mile round trip, and I hate driving long distance alone (“aleyn” in Yiddish). So I called my 80-year-old dad and asked if he wanted to do a road trip. His first response was, “Will I get to hear your presentation?” My mother has heard my generational speech a couple times, but my dad has always been out of town when I’ve been working close by. I’m 50 and my dad wanted to know if it could be a Take Your Parents to Work day. Guess you never get too old to want to see your kid at work or hang out with your parents.” Source: Why You Should Go to “Take Your Parents to Work Day,” by Haydn Shaw, huffingtonpost.com
-------------------------------------------------------
MARJORIE WOLFE is the mother of three sons. She says that “Nakhes
fun kinder iz tayere fun gelt” (Joy from children is more precious than
money.) She would be delighted if she was asked to visit the workplace
of one of her sons. She would, of course, not go empty handed.
Anyone for some “rugelach” or “kikhlekh” (cookies)?
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z |
| Yiddish
Stuff Jewish Humor Schmooze News More Majorie Wolfe |
Principle Jewish Stories All Things Jewish Jewish Communities of the World |