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I've never understood the contract vs. permanent holy war,
which has been a sub-thread on the secretarial issue today.
We can have different, valid reasons for making different (or
even the same) choices. Salary, type of work, environment,
location, flexibility, custody arrangements, medical
conditions--the reasons vary dramatically. Arguing this issue
seems analogous to convincing everyone they should wear the
same size shoes.
Saturday night another mother bragged about her daughter's role
in a musical. It WAS wonderful and she's a nice lady, but I
struggled to be gracious. My daughter had a good role that was
challenging musically, although her speaking part was smaller.
Some specific comments unintentionally hurt me, though this
mother was only showing pride in her own child. The
contract/permanent discussion seems to have a similar effect on
people regardless which group people are in.