Equal Opportunity

I recently paid a visit to a California State Prison, as I do from time to time (not as a convict). The place was in a general state of disrepair because California is bankrupt. At one point in my visit I used the prison guard's washroom. They advised that there are no paper towels to dry your hands after washing because the state decided to cut back. The one thing that appeared new, prepared where cost was not the object, was an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) poster, featured at every guard station. They were printed in color, mounted on foam core board and framed. The size - 2' x 3'. There were eight or nine large photographs of people of color on the poster, advertising that if there was a problem, they were the people to go to. They would listen to your tale of discrimination and would set things right. I don't work in the prison system, however it appeared to me that the lunatics were running the asylum. Perhaps a penologist or a state worker could set me right, but I simply find it odd that the only new and shiny things in the prison are the EEO posters that DOMINATE the guard's shacks - every guard's post has one.

When I worked for the government there were EEO awards that were handed out to minorities and women from time to time. I never attended the luncheons where they were bestowed because (a) I didn't find that sort of thing interesting, (b) the food at those suarees is universally bad, (c) there was always something better to do during lunch even if meant watching paint dry.

Back when I was in the US Navy, officers were compelled to attend EEO update training. Keep in mind that there were no minorities in the SEAL Teams. Everyone was "an operator" irrespective of race, national origin, etc. and there were no women at all. The EEO training, I opined, was in the event that they opened up the ranks to the unqualified - who felt the need to participate and were granted leave to do so based upon the demands of "equality".

The EEO people I've encountered in my life have been universally the sort of people who were unqualified to do ANYTHING but be an EEO representative. If you owned a company, you'd never hire them because they'd be dead overhead expense with no compensating productivity.  They're the drones of the workplace - the people with no potential in life, no added value to the whole, and for some reason they are now exalted within the California prison system. Go figure.