Somehow I agree on all fronts of this conversation:
I agree:
-that my main objective with my career is to provide an enjoyable lifestyle for me and my family. I do not live to provide grading plans for land developers. It is in my job description to do this work, but I do not wake up every morning with the sole purpose of doing it.
-that everyone should be willing and able to help out others when it comes to menial tasks like copying, answering the phones, etc. But I also agree that if someone is on staff specifically to do those tasks, they should do them, especially if they too need to be billable and they bill at a lower rate. Why should I eat up project budget making copies at $100/hr if we have someone on staff hired to do it at $60/hr? I will make my own copies if it's just a quick few pages, but if there is an hour+ of copies, there are better people on staff to do it.
-that personal tasks need to be done by that person (on personal time). There is no place in the professional workplace to have ANYONE (receptionist, engineer, etc) pick up the boss' dry cleaning. That is unless the boss has hired someone specifically to do that task (in which case I would question the overall office environment I work in).
-that a comfortable workplace is essential to achieve such things as productivity, advancement, good client relationships, and ultimately personal satisfaction.
The above specifically does not address gender, because everything I discuss does not rely upon what's between someones legs. Yes I'm an idealist in thinking that an equal day's work should be met with an equal paycheck.
I feel utilizing your position and/or your gender (yes it goes both ways) to gain an advantage is just wrong. I've seen men use their secretaries as their own personal maid, and conversely, I've seen women use their sexuality to influence the men around them. Neither is appropriate.
