Emily's Take

I asked my friend Emily to take a stab at writing a guest blog. I thought it might be fun because, well, she is fun! And I was curious as to what she would choose to write about.

I also thought it would be interesting to have Emily's take on a topic of her choice because although we grew up in very similar environments, with parents who are really good friends, in the same school system, and participating in the same activities, our daily lives have turned out differently (she is a preschool teacher while I sit at a desk all day 'communicating'). While we share many of the same values and long term life goals, our career paths have taken very different routes. Low and behold, the reason that I asked her to write a guest post was the exact topic she chose to write about. Freaky right? Well, we have known each other since we were 5!

(DISCLAIMER: Although our lives are different, we are both very happy, both with life and ourselves. Trust me, this is important once you start reading below.)

Without further ado, Emily's take:

"I think I will write about the difference in demographics in such a small area.  I work at a preschool in a wealthy suburb outside of Boston. Due to some funky scheduling, I am currently helping out at a different branch of my preschool 3 days a week. The second school is about 15 minutes away from my regular school. I work in daycare so naturally I work with all women, mostly between the ages of 20-30. Where I usually work, at least half of the girls are unhappy with themselves, very few have boyfriends, and none are married.  Most of them are grumpy at least half the time. 15 minutes up the road, there is nobody that is down on themselves, most of them are married, and they all seem to be very happy and well adjusted.

"Thus my question… How can the demographics be soooo different in the same work environment for the same company only 15 minutes apart? To add another twist, the majority of the women that I work with at my regular school live in the same desirable community where the school is located. I would think this would make them happier people, but it does not appear to. The women at the school where I am helping out have much longer commutes and live in more moderate towns, but are generally more happy than their counterparts. I find this fascinating.

I just wonder how 2 almost identical work environments can attract 2 very different groups of employees!"

Thanks Em.