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August 2008

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24-Hour Yogathon Set for Labor Day Weekend

   Yoga teachers and enthusiasts are hosting 24 hours of continuous yoga—called Yogathon 2008—as a fundraiser. Individual participants can raise funds for any organization of their choosing. The event is scheduled for Labor Day weekend. For more information or to make a contribution: http://yogathon08.com.

Mongolia Culture Day Aug. 9th

   Mongolia Cultural Day will be celebrated Sat., Aug. 9th from 11:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. at Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Boulevard.
On hand will be examples of Mongolian culture including art exhibits, music performances and wrestling demonstrations.
   The World Childhood Leukemia Council, which works to provide leukemia treatment medications to the children of Mongolia, will also be present. Admission is free.

Will Work For Clothes By Kristen Taylor Ledger Columnist

   My daughter just got her first job. Sure, paid work is mostly illegal for 12-year-olds. But working for free? That’s called an internship, and it’s completely legit.
   She’s doing general office work at a fashion showroom in the California Market Center a couple of days a week. She is compensated in clothing—which is actually worth more to her than cash. Forget the gold standard; Lola is on the style standard.
   The national trend is that fewer high school kids are in the workforce these days—down 11% since 1989, according to the United States Dept. of Labor—but I hope that won’t be the case at our house. Having grown up working, I’m happy for the lessons I learned and I would like to pass those along to my children. This summer Luke is washing windows, watering the plants, and generally doing anything that pays cash toward more Wii games.
   But being your kid’s boss is not ideal. There’s a reason that companies have nepotism clauses, and it’s not because people favor their relatives in the workplace. It’s because it’s really hard to get your relatives to do anything they don’t want to do. If there’s one person-of-authority your kids don’t mind letting down, it’s you. If your kids are feeling flush this week, you can forget about the garbage getting taken out without some major haranguing.
   More important than the responsibility that working outside of the house instills, jobs teach kids about the culture of the workplace. It takes a job to learn that sometimes hours can feel like years; that just because you don’t want to do something is no reason not to do it well; and that the trick is to find work that you love so much that you’d do it for free. Along the way there’s also the old lesson that money doesn’t grow on trees. And neither do cute dresses.

Kristen Taylor lives in Silver Lake with her husband, daughter and son. kristentaylor@sbcglobal.net.