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  • Post-Valentine’s Day: The 36 questions that are reported to spark intimacy

     Valentine's Day flowers

    Around the time of the ‘Summer of Love’ in 1967, Arthur Aron, then a University of California Berkeley graduate student in psychology, kissed fellow student Elaine Spaulding. What they felt at that moment was so profound that they soon married and teamed up to investigate the mysteries of attraction and intimacy.

    Photo from Wikimedia Commons

    UC Berkeley video by Roxanne Makasdjian and Phil Ebiner

    “I fell in love very intensely,” said Aron, now a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley and research professor at Stony Brook University in New York. “Given that I was studying social psychology, just for fun I looked for the research on love, but there was almost none.”

    So he took it on. In the nearly 50 years that Arthur and Elaine Aron have studied love, they have developed three dozen questions to create closeness in a lab setting. The result is not unlike the accelerated intimacy that can happen between strangers on an airplane or other close quarters.

    Those 36 questions were recently popularized in a Modern Love column in The  New York Times, and have broken down emotional barriers between thousands of strangers, resulting in friendships, romance and even some marriages. Examples of the questions include [see page 2 for all 36 questions]:

    Would you like to be famous? In what way?

    Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?

    If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet?

    UC Berkeley video by Roxanne Makasdjian and Phil Ebiner

    The latest adaptation of the 36-question method brings together two couples who don’t know one another. Each of the four participants must answer the questions out loud. 

  • Cold Comfort: Evaluating My Thermal Clothing for Inside the House

    By Joan L. CannonCold Comfort Farm

    Even ten years ago if anyone had told me that  I’d be seriously evaluating thermal underwear for use daily inside my house, I’d doubtless have replied, “Not likely!”

    A friend recently said that old age is full of surprises; planning is for the young. He got that right!

    For what seemed at the time, and still seems, a perfectly logical reason I decided to grit my teeth (both literally and figuratively) and move. Not just down the block, or even just to another street — but to another state. More accurately, to move back to a state where I’d spent most of my adult life. Unfortunately, this meant leaving “the Deep South” and returning to southern New England. Right about now it feels like the southern Arctic.

    Penguin Press Book cover

    Not since the seventies have I seen so much snow. Here in my retirement community, I’m allowed to keep my dog. Unfortunately, clearing space for him in nineteen inches of snow is not one of the services provided. I’m good for about half an hour of tossing snow by the shovel-full over the banks created by previous attempts to uncover some ground for my fairly small terrier to use for necessary purposes. The alternative is to shovel my way out of the kitchen and hope there’s enough plowed road to walk him on. He was literally up to his belly yesterday till I shoveled space, and couldn’t even lift his leg above the white stuff.

    In the meantime, the local utility company has changed its name (What does that have to do with anything? You ask) and simultaneously raised the basic rate for everyone it serves. Just imagine all the new letterhead, billheads, uniforms, vehicle painting involved. How else would they pay for it? I haven’t a clue what the lawyers get out of such a maneuver. I’m probably just silly because I don’t know why this change was made, unless it might have been to get permission from the state utility overseers for higher rates.

    They even have the gall to send out wrist-slapping notices accusing me of using X% more electricity than my neighbors and suggesting we contact them for information on how to conserve. Two rooms in my house are completely shut off with no heat called for on the weird controls, of which there is one in every room. When I’m not in a room (like the bedroom from the time I finish dressing until the next morning at the same time), I keep those controls set to 60 degrees F. I reset each thermostat in the rooms I go in and out of during the day at 68 maximum. The heat is provided by electricity.

    I wonder about the “neighbors.” Every cottage in the community is heated by electricity. I doubt many are cooler than mine.  So here I sit in thermal underwear — top and bottom — heavy sweat pants, fleece-lined booties, and two sweaters (one hand-knit of heavy yarn), with my hands barely warm enough to type. Even colder temps are due overnight, if that’s possible. 

    It was zero degrees this morning and  more low temps are expected.  A check of the outdoor temperature in the place I left a year and a half ago shows it to be 54. I’m beginning to think there’s something wrong with this picture …

    ©2015 Joan L. Cannon for SeniorWomen.com

  • Ending Modern Slavery: A Senate Committee’s Hearing; Bills Introduced On Abortion, Breast Density & Enhancing Adoptive Services

    On February 4, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing, Ending Modern Slavery: What is the Best Way Forward? The hearing focused on maximizing and developing better efforts to combat modern day slavery.Amy Klobuchar

    Chair Bob Corker (R-TN) stated, “Under US law, [modern slavery is] defined as the most severe forms of trafficking in persons, including forced sexual servitude of minors and adults and bonded and other forced labor conditions. Women, children, and men alike are subjected to involuntary labor or sexual exploitation. According to a leading nongovernmental organization, forced labor accounts for 74 percent of victims and forced sexual servitude accounts for 26 percent of victims. Women and girls are especially vulnerable, accounting for 54 percent of victims. Children under the age of 18 account for 26 percent of victims.”

    Amy Klobuchar, Senior Senator, Minn, introduced a bill A bill to enhance pre- and post-adoptive support services

    Gary Haugen, president, International Justice Mission (IJM), stated, “One characteristic that modern day slavery does not share with historic slavery is its legal status. Today, in contrast, slavery is legal virtually nowhere in the world. Yet there are more human beings in slavery today than at any previous time in history.” He added, “[T]he overwhelming failure of effective law enforcement against trafficking and slavery has persuaded many policy makers that it is simply impossible for police to change.”

    He concluded, “IJM’s experience working with local law enforcement has shown us that police can improve quite dramatically and are equal to the task of changing the calculations of those profiting from the sale of others … But even with the substantial diplomatic and financial resources the United States has offered over the past fifteen years, the global scourge of slavery requires a global response.”

    Shawna Bader-Blau, executive director, Solidarity Center stated, “Understanding this link between worker rights violations and human trafficking is key to eradicating this horrific human rights abuse globally … I will focus my testimony on the aspect of modern slavery that is the most prevalent — and that is forced labor. Most modern slavery today is, in fact, forced labor. That includes government-compelled labor in Uzbekistan during the annual cotton harvest; women enslaved as domestic workers in countries as diverse as Lebanon and Singapore; low-wage migrant construction workers trapped in a cycle of debt bondage in Saudi Arabia; and garment workers locked in factories forced to work for hours on end in Cambodia.” She continued, “In other words, end worker exploitation to end human trafficking.”

    YouTube for Shawna Bader-Blau: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp9wAvFJAsk

    The following witnesses also testified:

    David Abramowitz, vice president, Policy and Government Relations, Humanity United:

    “And we know that human trafficking and modern slavery has many faces. Exploited through force, fraud or coercion, these are adults and children who are forced to work on fishing vessels, in mines, plantations, sweatshops and brothels. Two thirds of the profits from modern slavery come from sex trafficking, while two-thirds of the victims are in labor trafficking.2 We must work urgently to combat human trafficking in all its forms.”

    James Kofi Annan, founder, Challenging Heights; and

    Shandra Woworuntu, trafficking survivor. YouTube testimony for Ms. Woworuntu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgVODjYL4X0

    Bills Introduced

    Abortion

    S. 404—Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)/Judiciary (2/5/15)—A bill to prohibit taking minors across state lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions.

    H.R. 803—Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)/Judiciary (2/5/15)—A bill to prohibit taking minors across state lines in circumvention of laws requiring the involvement of parents in abortion decisions.

    Adoption

    S. 369—Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)/Finance (2/4/15)—A bill to enhance pre- and post-adoptive support services.

  • Employed White Southerners Most Likely to Lose Coverage in Supreme Court Case

    By Michael Ollove, Stateline

    Pew image of aca map

     

    If the US Supreme Court strikes down tax credits for people buying health insurance on the federal exchange, about 8.2 million Americans in 34 states could lose their coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Most of the people likely to be affected are white, employed, and low- to middle-class. They also are concentrated in a single region of the country: the South.

    Health insurance rates in those states are expected to rise by as much as 35 percent, which may make coverage unaffordable even for those who don’t qualify for tax credits. Some believe that if the tax credits are disallowed by the Supreme Court, the underpinnings of President Barack Obama’s signature health care law would collapse.

    “It will be a horror movie if (the credits are struck down),” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, which supported passage of the ACA.

    At issue in King v. Burwell, scheduled for oral arguments next month, is whether people in states that use the federal government’s exchange (Healthcare.gov) to buy insurance are eligible for federal subsidies in the form of tax credits to help them pay their premiums.

    The case hinges on the fact that the ACA provision governing tax credits refers to people enrolled “through an Exchange established by the State,” without mentioning the federal exchange. The ACA anticipated that all states would create their own state exchanges, but it allowed states that did not want to set up their own exchanges to use the federal one instead.

    The lawsuit originated at a 2010 meeting of conservative lawyers convened by the American Enterprise Institute to explore “legal vulnerabilities” in the ACA. After the lawyers identified the tax credit as a promising point of attack, a related right-leaning group, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), found four Virginia plaintiffs to launch the lawsuits (King v. Burwell consolidated them). According to its website, CEI is coordinating and financing the legal effort.

    Opponents — including the drafters of the original law, 21 states and the District of Columbia — say that whatever the exact language of the statute, Congress did not intend to make any distinction between federal and state exchanges when it came to tax credits. When questions were raised about the language, the IRS announced in 2011 it would issue the credits in states with federal exchanges, too.

    In the 34 states where people use the federal exchange, an estimated 9.3 million people are expected to receive $36.1 billion in tax subsidies in 2016. A recent analysis by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute estimated that if the Supreme Court blocked these subsidies, 8.2 million of these residents would not be able to find affordable health insurance in 2016.

    “(A King win) disenfranchises millions of Americans from affordable health coverage, most of them working people,” said Trish Riley, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy.

  • Many Universities Undercount Sexual Assaults on Campus: Fines against schools haven’t deterred violations

    A  B  C  D  E   F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

    To find local resources click on your state, then click on the name of your state coalition. You will be directed to the coalition website or a listing of local resources in your state, if available. US Department of Justice; website url: http://www.justice.gov/ovw/local-resources 

    Editor’s Note: See additional resources on page 2

    New research shows a pattern of underreporting of on-campus sexual assaults by universities and colleges across the nation, and some schools have continued to underreport even after being fined for violations of federal law, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.

    “When it comes to sexual assault and rape, the norm for universities and colleges is to downplay the situation and the numbers,” said researcher Corey Rayburn Yung, JD, a law professor at the University of Kansas. “The result is students at many universities continue to be attacked and victimized, and punishment isn’t meted out to the rapists and sexual assaulters.”

    Yung analyzed the numbers of on-campus sexual assaults reported by 31 large universities and colleges during audits by the U.S. Department of Education for compliance with federal crime reporting requirements. During the audits, the reported numbers of sexual assaults increased by approximately 44 percent on average from previously reported levels. After the audits ended, the reported number of sexual assaults in following years dropped to pre-audit levels, evidence that some schools provided a more accurate picture of sexual assaults on campus only when they were under federal scrutiny, the study concluded. 

    The research, which was published in the APA journal Psychology, Public Policy, and Law®, included all large schools with on-campus housing and more than 10,000 students that were audited from 2001 to 2012. The study didn’t provide individual statistics for each school, and some of the 31 schools didn’t show a spike in reported sexual assaults during audits, Yung said.

    The study used federal government data and scientific methods to confirm the opinions of many sexual-assault victims’ organizations and others who believe that many universities and colleges ignore or downplay problems relating to sexual assaults on campus, Yung said.

    “Colleges and universities still aren’t taking the safety of their students from sexual assault seriously,” he said. “The study shows that many universities continue to view rape and sexual assault as a public relations issue rather than a safety issue. They don’t want to be seen as a school with really high sexual assault numbers, and they don’t want to go out of their way to report that information to students or the media.”

    The 31 colleges and universities that were audited included some prominent public and private schools. Most of the federal audits were triggered by local complaints about the handling of sexual assaults or other violent crimes on campus. Other audits were conducted in conjunction with FBI investigations of local police jurisdictions, and a few universities were randomly selected for audits by the US Department of Education.

    Since the federal reporting requirements only cover on-campus crimes, the study wasn’t able to track sexual assaults that occurred off campus or that weren’t reported by victims, so the true number of students victimized by sexual assaults is probably much higher than the study results indicate, Yung said. The vast majority of universities that were included in the study reported no off-campus sexual assaults in any given year, even though federal regulations require a “good faith” effort to obtain that information from local police.

  • Friendship: Sally and I are great friends, though it’s hard to understand why. We have so little in common

    by Rose Madeline Mulawomen shopping

    Sally and I are great friends, though it’s hard to understand why. We have so little in common.

    Sally is happiest when she’s behind the wheel of her car. Her idea of a good time is a long ride, which is my idea of torture.

    “Let’s go to lunch,” she’ll say.

    Why not? Sounds good to me. Next thing I know we’re heading to a mountain-top inn 120 miles from home. I was thinking more in terms of that new sandwich shop on the next block.

    August Macke painting, Two Women at Milliner’s Shop; Museum Folkwang, Wikimedia Commons

    She loves to listen to music while driving — oldies, new age — whatever. Talk radio is my choice (except for commentators who don’t share my political views!).

    And guess who else disagrees with my politics? That’s right. Sally.

    I hate to shop. She loves it. She swears she doesn’t, but a “Sale” or “Outlets” sign draws her car like a magnet.

    I enjoy almost all movies and the theater indiscriminately. Sally doesn’t. I think I know why. She can’t abide sitting in one spot for a couple of hours — time that could be spent aimlessly driving somewhere.

    Having grown up with two brothers, Sally is a sports fan. She loves to watch baseball, football, hockey, basketball, track, NASCAR racing — anything but figure skating. Can you guess which is the only sport I (a sibling-deprived child) enjoy watching? Yep, I love those spins … jumps … axles … lutzes … salchows … I can’t tell one from the other, but I find them all mesmerizing.

    When Sally watches sports — or anything — on TV, she constantly surfs from channel to channel. Drives me crazy! Pick a show and keep it there, for heaven’s sake! I have to take a Dramamine before watching television at her house.

    We do both enjoy travel and have taken many trips together. I prefer a fixed itinerary. Not Sally, of course. She abhors being tied to a particular schedule. And while I much prefer to fly to a destination more than a few hundred miles away, Sally would rather drive — again, the schedule phobia, and also because her car has a huge trunk which she can pack with every article of clothing she has owned since college and still have room for all the treasures she’ll buy along the way. I’m happier with having to keep track of only what will fit in one small suitcase; and since there’s no room to spare (and since I’m basically a tightwad), I’m better able to resist any impulsive purchases that I know I’ll regret when I return home.

    Unlike most of our other friends, Sally and I do have a love of gadgets in common — especially electronic thing-a-ma-jigs. We’ve both had computers since floppy disks actually were floppy (remember those?) and can spend hours on the phone trying to help each other when we can’t figure out how to make our PCs do what we want them to.

  • Have You Heard About This Anthem Phishing Scam? Anthem Alerts Consumers to Protect Themselves from Scam Email Campaigns

    Editor’s Note:Anthem

    Although we have not received a ‘phishing’ email from some entity that purports to be Anthem, a family member who uses an Anthem service has found an email in their Spam folder. We are, however, subscribers to Anthem service as our second Medicare payer and expect to receive a ‘snail mail’ letter relating to the original cyber attack such as the one cited in this press release. We felt we should inform our readers to yet another dimension to the Anthem attack earlier this week.

    The following is a press release sent out by Anthem itself:                                                                

    Anthem Alerts Consumers to Protect Themselves from Scam Email Campaigns

    Feb. 6, 2015 — Individuals who may have been impacted by the cyber attack against Anthem, should be aware of scam email campaigns targeting current and former Anthem members. These scams, designed to capture personal information (known as ‘phishing’) are designed to appear as if they are from Anthem and the emails include a ‘click here’ link for credit monitoring. These emails are NOT from Anthem.

    • DO NOT click on any links in email.
    • DO NOT reply to the email or reach out to the senders in any way.
    • DO NOT supply any information on the website that may open, if you have clicked on a link in an email.
    • DO NOT open any attachments that arrive with email.

    Anthem is not calling members regarding the cyber attack and is not asking for credit card information or social security numbers over the phone.

    This outreach is from scam artists who are trying to trick consumers into sharing personal data. There is no indication that the scam email campaigns are being conducted by those that committed the cyber attack, or that the information accessed in the attack is being used by the scammers.

    Anthem will contact current and former members via mail delivered by the US Postal Service about the cyber attack with specific information on how to enroll in credit monitoring. Affected members will receive free credit monitoring and ID protection services.

    For more guidance on recognizing scam email, please visit the FTC Website: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0003-phishing.

    Source: Anthem, Inc.

  • Brought to You From The FBI: Online Dating Scams

    From the Federal Bureau of Investigation:Dating scam image

    Millions of Americans visit online dating websites every year hoping to find a companion or even a soulmate. But as Valentine’s Day gets closer, we want to warn you that criminals use these sites, too, looking to turn the lonely and vulnerable into fast money through a variety of scams.

    These criminals — who also troll social media sites and chat rooms in search of romantic victims — usually claim to be Americans traveling or working abroad. In reality, they often live overseas. Their most common targets are women over 40 who are divorced, widowed, and/or disabled, but every age group and demographic is at risk.

    Here’s how the scam usually works. You’re contacted online by someone who appears interested in you. He or she may have a profile you can read or a picture that is e-mailed to you. For weeks, even months, you may chat back and forth with one another, forming a connection. You may even be sent flowers or other gifts. But ultimately, it’s going to happen — your new-found ‘friend’ is going to ask you for money.

    So you send money … but rest assured the requests won’t stop there. There will be more hardships that only you can help alleviate with your financial gifts. He may also send you checks to cash since he’s out of the country and can’t cash them himself, or he may ask you to forward him a package.

    So what really happened? You were targeted by criminals, probably based on personal information you uploaded on dating or social media sites. The pictures you were sent were most likely phony lifted from other websites. The profiles were fake as well, carefully crafted to match your interests.

    In addition to losing your money to someone who had no intention of ever visiting you, you may also have unknowingly taken part in a money laundering scheme by cashing phony checks and sending the money overseas and by shipping stolen merchandise (the forwarded package).

    In another recently reported dating extortion scam, victims usually met someone on an online dating site and then were asked to move the conversation to a particular social networking site, where the talk often turned intimate. Victims were later sent a link to a website where those conversations were posted, along with photos, their phone numbers, and claims that they were ‘cheaters.’ In order to have that information removed, victims were told they could make a $99 payment — but there is no indication that the other side of the bargain was upheld.

    While the FBI and other federal partners work some of these cases — in particular those with a large number of victims or large dollar losses and/or those involving organized criminal groups — many are investigated by local and state authorities.

    We strongly recommend, however, that if you think you’ve been victimized by a dating scam or any other online scam, file a complaint with [the FBI’s] Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov).

    Before forwarding the complaints to the appropriate agencies, IC3 collates and analyzes the data — looking for common threads that could link complaints together and help identify the culprits. This helps keep everyone safe.

    Here are some tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of an online dating scam.

    Recognizing an Online Dating Scam Artist

    Your online ‘date’ may only be interested in your money if he or she:

    • Presses you to leave the dating website you met through and to communicate using personal e-mail or instant messaging;
    • Professes instant feelings of love;
    • Sends you a photograph of himself or herself that looks like something from a glamour magazine;
    • Claims to be from the US and is traveling or working overseas;
    • Makes plans to visit you but is then unable to do so because of a tragic event; or
    • Asks for money for a variety of reasons (travel, medical emergencies, hotel bills, hospitals bills for child or other relative, visas or other official documents, losses from a financial setback or crime victimization).

    One way to steer clear of these criminals all together is to stick to online dating websites with nationally known reputations.

  • Ferida Wolff’s Backyard: Hydrangea in Winter; Passenger Pigeons, Extinct; Coping With Winter

     

    Hydrangea

    Hydrangea in Winter

     

    Well, winter has been making its presence known in a large portion of the Northeast. We were lucky, with only a few inches last week in our area as opposed to a couple of feet in New York and Massachusetts.

     
    We had to shovel, of course, and the township trucks were on the job early. The birds were a constant presence in our yard and the squirrels were digging into the snow for their buried acorn treasures. Rabbits left footprints as they looked for food. Everyone seemed busy.
     
    But there is a quiet scene, too. In the midst of it all, Mother Nature is planning for the spring. With branches bare and its roots covered in snow, the hydrangea bush is laying on buds. It’s hard to imagine from the tight nubs the beautiful leaves and flowers that will delight us next season. The comfrey leaves have shriveled and gone yet I know the plant is only storing its energy and will return for another year. The hibiscus branches are white and brittle but they can’t fool me. Their blossoms will be dazzling late spring and well through the summer months.
     
    It is the hydrangea bush, though, that is speaking to me now. I know some hydrangeas need shelter but mine have had an unsheltered life and still bloom. I am grateful for that. I sense its determination to survive and thrive despite difficulties. It reminds me that we all have things in life that are challenging and yet there is the hidden drive to blossom when we can, to let our inner selves support us until the right time comes to let the world see our beauty. Sometimes it’s hard to remember what’s inside but the hydrangea can remind us that it is worth the effort.
     
    Taking care of your hydrangea:
     
    Filoli’s instructions on Hydrangea care
    Tons of comfrey facts:
     
    What to grow in winter:
     

     
    Passenger Pigeons

    Passenger Pigeons, Extinct

     
    It’s nice to think that things we value last forever but it isn’t always so. Case in point — the Passenger Pigeon. The New Jersey State Museum in Trenton is paying homage to the bird. Through June 27, 2015, it commemorates the 100th anniversary of the death of Martha, the very last passenger pigeon in the world, who died on September 1st, 1914.
     
    The birds once numbered in the billions but within a few decades became extinct. They were over-hunted and their forest nesting areas were decimated for agriculture. It’s ironic that the largest bird population in the world came down to zero, because of us.
     
    Yes, we humans have needs — for housing, for sustenance, for reproduction. But so do other creatures. Should our needs always supersede those of others? We’re smart, surely we can figure out how to live within nature rather than decimating nature.
     
    We can ask this about people, too. Can we respect all life, even if it is dissimilar to our own? Can we make room for those who look different from us, who hold various opinions, who have other beliefs? Or are we destined to be passenger pigeons, extinct by our own hands?
     
    Facts about the Passenger Pigeon:
     
    A state-by-state look at the Passenger Pigeon:
     
    Go see the exhibit for yourself!

    http://www.state.nj.us/state/museum/dos_museum_exhibit-pigeon.html

     
    Coping with Winter

     Coping with Winter

     
    We’ve had a few cloudy days here, some rain, a bit of snow these past few weeks. Things look bare and winter-worn and we are only a third of the way into the season. The trees reveal their hidden nests, small ones for birds, larger ones for squirrels. The natural world seems to be in waiting mode.
     
    What about all the excitement of the new year? Has it disappeared already?
     
    Not for Mother Nature, it hasn’t. Nature is alive and active: there is life to protect during the cold months. The leaves may be gone but the trees have merely slowed down, conserving their energy in a process called dormancy, waiting for Spring. Squirrels are busy fattening up for the coming cold weather still to come. Birds fluff up their feathers to keep themselves warm as they munch on the seed in the feeders or wherever they can find it and seek shelter in coniferous tree branches. Deer huddle in groups, slow their metabolism, and watch out for each other. Chipmunks semi-hibernate, lowering their body temperature, though they don’t actually sleep.  They are coping with winter in their own special ways.
     
    And what about us? How are we coping with winter?
     
    Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean we have to hibernate. It’s a good time to reconnect with friends who are busy all summer. Libraries offer programs like book discussions, art exhibits, author visits. Forget resolutions — follow your intentions to do what feels right to you. Every year, every season has its excitement. It’s called life.
     
    How trees survive winter:
     
    Birds keep warm in winter:
     

  • That First Job, That Part-time Job, That Retirement Job: The changing face of retail trade

    Editor’s Note: Before I returned full-time to a 25-year career at Time magazine, I took a holiday job at a Bloomingdale’s. Many of us take a detour at times into retail, regardless of  low salaries, including those of customer service reps. There are  part-time jobs, jobs close to home, somewhat flexible hours and a post-retirement dip into the job field. The US Labor Department has just produced a realistic look about this venerable employment field so well presented in recent years on Masterpiece Theater’s Mr. Selfridge and  The Paradise.

    Mr. Selfridge

    Actress Amanda Abbington (Miss Mardle)  from the Masterpiece Theater presentation of  Mr. Selfridge. (C) ITV Studios for MASTERPIECE 

    By Michael Rieley | December 2014

    About 15 million people worked in retail trade in the United States in May 2013, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These workers — salespersons, stock clerks, customer service representatives, and others — provide a crucial link between consumers and the products they buy.

    This article explores the retail trade industry and the trends that have influenced it. The first section gives a brief overview of the industry and its major occupations. The second section examines recent and future employment trends in retail trade. Sources for more information appear at the end of the article.  

    Retail details

    The retail trade industry is a vast network of businesses that needs workers in hundreds of different occupations. Here’s a closer look at the employment, wage, and outlook data for both retail trade and its largest occupations.

    Industry overview

    The retail trade industry includes establishments that sell products, such as motor vehicles and clothing, and after-sale services related to these products, such as cleaning or repair. Retailers sell their products and services directly to customers, which may include individuals and businesses. Retail trade deals in smaller quantities than the bulk sales of wholesale trade. 

    There are two types of retailers: store and non-store. Store retailers run fixed, “brick-and-mortar” locations designed to attract walk-in customers. In these stores, retailers usually display products that they also advertise on television, radio, and other formats, such as the Internet.

    Non-store retailers also sell to customers, but, as the name implies, they do not run a fixed, physical location. These retailers usually sell their products through informational commercials, or “infomercials”; door-to-door sales; and other places, such as portable stalls and kiosks.

    Employment. According to BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) data, there were about 15.2 million workers in retail trade in May 2013. That total represents about 11 percent of nonfarm employment that year.

    The largest employers within retail trade are other general merchandise stores (which includes warehouse clubs and supercenters, dollar stores, and variety stores) and food and beverage stores, each with about 3 million workers. The next largest employers are motor vehicle and parts dealers, which had 1.8 million workers; and clothing and clothing accessories stores, with 1.4 million workers.

    Wages. In May 2013, the median annual wage in the retail trade industry was $22,980, compared with a median of $35,080 for workers in all industries. The median wage is the point at which half the workers in the industry earned more, and half earned less.