Medical Marijuana?!

Do not even fake! Everyone knows somebody who is a functional a$$ weed head. In fact, these folks tend to be the most outstanding N!GGAS sometimes.That s$%t boggles my mind how one can smoke weed 8 hours a day and still manage to have intellectual conversation with relevant information to contribute in a team meeting.

On the other hand, we all have seen weed turn a buppie bad. Those are the saddest moments, because it can kill the potential and drive we all love.

15 jurisdictions in the U.S have opened medical marijuana joints. DC is now considering to join them.

I cannot help but think about the excuses people will come up with to get a prescription?! Shooot. We got Universal Healthcare too???! This will be the first time people will be happy to go to the clinic!

Reminder: April 15th

It's TAX SEAAAAASON!
Yet another reminder that you either do NOT make enough OR make TOO damn much.

When the W-2 comes, I don't know about you all, but I liken it to the day Mike Vick got indicted for Animal Cruelty.

I go the entire year. I play broke over here, stack some cake over here. Oh that? Put it in the bag! Oh Taxes? Child please! I'm above the whole IRS.

Then BAM! Uncle Sam hits you with that paper. That perforated card-stock comes.

F%^K! *Head Drops*

I open it ..and there it is... all my worth in one lump sum.

Sigh...

If you personally know me, you know I talk about taxes once a day. It is in the forefront of my mind. I think daily of ways to evade minimize my taxes. Why you ask? Because
I'VE BEEN AUDITED BEFORE!!!! YEP. Folks I caught a case.

Here is how I got got:
Of course in college I had a job. My parents did my taxes, because I was their dependent. Let's be real folks, in college I never got paid that much to owe anything.

Fast Forward to after college. I am now on my own and trying to stack cake. Then one day, like any responsible adult, I go check the mail. I see this here letter from the Internal Revenue Service.

Here is what it said:

Dear District's Buppie,

Your a$$ owed us $200 1 year ago. We need our money. You are late. So over this year we have been charging you 100trillion% interest. Yes we know you did not know about it. But see code XXXXX and you will see we have a right to do things like this. Now you owe us $2 billion. Oh ..send it in the next 30 days or we will take your black a$$ to Jail.

Peace B!tch,
Sam aka OLD Money

What was a buppie to do? I paid that S%$T! Quick and fast. Till this day, I am scarred whenever I get something in the mail from IRS. I vowed the government was never going to get me again. I'm trying to make sure they don't get you all either! Do your taxes!

The Elephant in the Room

Over the past four years I have entertained a few casual relationships. But back in 2006 I fell in love....HARD! At the time we were both too young to deal with the feelings and it did not last. Good thing it ended because there were many things in my life that I wanted to do that I probably would not have done if I were in a relationship with him. I moved to a different city, moved to a different country, and dated different men. I can say I would not have done most of these things if I was tied down in love in a relationship. However, this man was always in the picture. We always kept in touch and as much as I tried to cut him off I couldn't. In addition, every relationship I have tried to entertain, casual or semi serious he has been the "Elephant in the Room". The man that I am still in love with and am trying to forget but CAN'T!

So before I left South Korea "The Elephant" re-emerged. He was coming back into my life like he always did from time to time but this time with a different approach. The approach this time was more than the usual "just wanted to see how you were doing." This time it was a direct "I am coming back to take my position approach." Of course he was more subtle about it but it soon became clear to me what he wanted when he straight asked me, "Soooo what are we doing when you get home?"

So returning home I was excited yet nervous about the love that was awaiting me. I was afraid of being hurt again and it being more severe due to the fact that this wasn't just anyone. This is my "Elephant in the Room." However I must say that this Elephant never led me on. If we were friends he never tried anything. He was a gentleman and kept it platonic. He never wanted to confuse or taint our relationship. So I knew the fact that he wanted to change our relationship back and do it so drastically was a sure sign that this man was ready to be with me and nothing was casual about it.

And thus far that's how it has been....... :-)

Ummm....What About The Ring?

So recently I have noticed more and more women I know are having babies. It's like a damn epidemic. Granted I know we are at that age and this is about the time when many young adults begin to start families. However that's just it, START FAMILIES. In my opinion starting a family starts with an engagement followed by a marriage. But many of these women are having babies with long time boyfriends or men they were just dating and decided that they were going to have these babies. My question is this...... Is marriage obsolete in the situation of having a baby now?

My answer is NO! I personally do not plan on having a baby UNLESS I am married and I have discussed this thoroughly with my significant other. (Now I understand accidents can happen which is why as a woman I am personally doing everything I can to make sure there are no accidents.) Like seriously, I don't get it ladies. Now say for instance you are getting up there in age and you just want to have a baby before your body gets too old to reproduce. In this case I can kind of understand the whole getting pregnant without a ring. However, the women I am referring to are between the ages of 22-28. Like can someone explain to me why you are having numerous babies for a man you are not married to? You are educated, beautiful and young. Now fellas be honest, let's say you meet this attractive and moderately successful woman and you all go out for dinner. How are you going to feel when she tells you that she has two kids? You still going to want to get dessert?

I guess my thing is this, I feel the sanctity of marriage is something that is often overlooked in our generation especially among Blacks. Which could be argued is why the state of the black community and the black family is effed and blah blah blah. (I really do not want to venture too far down that road.) I have spoke to quite a few black men about this topic and how ultimately I want to be married before I start a family.

I often get met with comments like:

What is that marriage certificate really gonna do for you?!

I mean as long as you the "main" you should be good. If everything works the way it is why you need to get married?

Man you just want the jewelry!

If we been together for 6 years and it works like this why must we get married to bring meaning to it? It's meaningful just the way it is.

Fortunately for me none of these men are MY man. (Whew!) But people you all don't see the problem with this school of thinking? And women you don't see the problem with being a "baby mama" or long term "wifey" and not his actual WIFE? Let me enlighten you all then. If he wants an out, he has one that's why he won't marry your ass. Simple as that. Now if you are okay with having a baby with someone like that or with a man that just isn't ready to be a real husband than yes we do have a chronic problem within our community.

Finally let me say this, I am the product of a couple that was never married. I was blessed to have two parents that made a GREAT parental team despite the fact that they never got married. Still as a person who grew up in this situation I know the negative effects it can have on that child. Which may be even more reason why I am determined not to have my children out of wedlock.

MBA? JD? MD? No, MRS. She's trying to get married.

How many people are tired of talking about gold-diggers, groupies, jumpoffs, and hoes?

Not me, but I’m sure some of you are. LOL. It came to my attention a few weeks back that there are other types of tricking that are commonly overlooked. Just because some girl is not in the club chasing after a baller or celebrity doesn’t mean she’s not chasing.

I went to an undergraduate business school and there was a particular girl in my class who was known for always bringing some type of dessert to class 3-4 times a semester. No she wasn’t fat, she was actually perfectly sized and kept herself together nicely. I remember when we had a course together and she talked about what she wanted to be when she grew up. My jaw dropped when she said, “I would like to earn my degree, get married, have a family and then open my own catering business so that I can have time to devote to my husband and children.”

WHAAAAAAAAT?!

You decided that you wanted to go through four years of Finance to open a catering business? (I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to drop Beta Sigma Phi aka B.S. in Finance while taking Securities & Derivatives.) You can’t be serious. But in fact she was. See she had it all figured out and some women should take heed. She placed herself in the line of fire with the men she thought would give her the best chance to marry rich. She was in class with all the finance majors who would be leaving college and accepting jobs at some of the best firms in America. Her momma didn’t raise no fool. She was in college to meet a husband. Her chocolate covered strawberries were merely a way to show all the men in our class how great it would be to come home to a woman who could throw down like that on the daily.

I’m sure many of you have already drawn conclusions about this young lady, but to be honest with you a lot of women do the same thing, but in different ways. Can I piss ‘em off? “Piss em off Jay!” – Buppie Nation.

Preying on MBA, JD, and MD students

There are several women who prey on the men in top graduate professional programs across America. I mean, why chase some baller who makes millions who doesn’t really have any plans to settle down, when you can be the princess of a guy who is about to come out of school making a cool $220K? Makes sense right. I admit to you, I’ve given this advice to many of women who are seeking to get married. I tell them, go to Columbia and find you a 1st year MBA student, he won’t know why this grown woman is treating him so nice. He might wife you down, and when he makes it big, you’re in the money.

Frequenting upscale bars where bankers, lawyers, doctors, etc. go for happy hour

LOL. You know women tell me where to meet men at and I tell them get in the line of fire. I can only speak for DC, so bear with me. If you want to meet men of good stature, stay out of the Park at 14th for happy hour. The type of people who are there on the regular don’t have real jobs or they’re too old to be in Park on a Thursday shopping for women anyway. However, let me recommend you go to Elephant & Castle. That’s where all the lawyers hang out and talk about work when they’re letting loose for a few before they go back to work. The moral of the story is get in the line of fire. Find out where the type of man you want likes to go and go there.

Go tell it on the mountain that you have found some success

Here’s a little known secret about men of a certain stature, “Birds of a feather flock together.” So women if you meet a guy and you are thanking 6 lb. baby Jesus for bringing you this gift, phone a friend, post on the message board, blog about it, or tweet about it. Women need to stick together. Most successful men only associate with other successful men because they’d like to have something in common with their network. If they would like to go to dinner at McCormick & Schmick’s they don’t want to hang around some noodle who would rather go to Applebee’s.

Play the role. Be the change you want to see in the world.

If you want a man to wife you down. Show him what it will be like to be with you, and to one day be married to you. Don’t stress him out. Be the type of woman he wants his mom to meet. Don’t have him wondering if you are going to be faithful to him or not. Let him know that you are dedicated to things like; the gym, bettering yourself through reading and study, keeping a good house, learning how to cook several dishes and servings for those dishes, and the list goes on.

So there are some tips or clues to how women who are trying to get that MRS are doing outside of the club and All-Star weekend. If you think I’m coming off brash or egotistical, I’m merely giving it to you straight from the Mind of a Man. Now before I let you go, let me remind you, tricking is still tricking. But at the end of the day, I think we all need to evaluate our goals and where we want to be and get there. Don’t worry about what people think about you, if in the end you get what you want.

Inappropriate Interviews - Straight or Natural?

The other day over dinner a friend of mine shared a story about her friend who interviewed for a position and was told that as a Latina she should probably straighten her hair when she goes on an interview rather than wear it curly.

First let me start by saying that was illegal for any employer to discriminate on the basis of race to anyone. However, as we talked over dinner we realized that this was a controversial topic. Should the girl report the employer? Should she try and press charges? It was a heated discussion. And usually in heated discussions people fail to listen. So here are my thoughts in a nutshell.

1) I think that it is ridiculous that people are not aware of social norms such as, interview etiquette in 2010. And I also think the reason why is because some people are able to get away with for so long that they’ve never been corrected. Seriously frustrating.
2) This situation puts someone in a weird place. I have been involved in a situation at work where I chose to let something go because I didn’t want the attention of the process that I had to go through to fix it. A coworker sends a racist email, do I want to go to HR and file a complaint? Maybe, but do I want to be called a whistle blower at work, or just not associate with this coworker anymore?
3) As a Black man who has done some recruiting before I’ve always wondered what I should tell another candidate who was also a minority. Should I even lend a helping hand to a frat brother of mine? I think the answer is yes, I should be helping both of these people out. And honestly, if I interview someone and they are a hot mess and they need to get it together, then I think I will tell them.
a. Now if some Black girl comes into my office to interview and she’s “thick” and I tell her, if I was you, I’d try to wear better fitting clothes. You appear to be “showing” off. You know Black women have curves and all, but is she going to be offended that I’m telling her to “know her audience.”
4) The last thing, is that in some ways you have to be happy that someone doesn’t lie to you. I like to know why doors are closed in my face. If you are not hiring me because of my race; then I’d like to know that. I’d rather someone tell me it’s because I’m Black or because I have locks in my hair than say, “We just didn’t think you possessed the skills to be a good fit at our firm.”
5) Here’s what I would do. I would go home and post an article about the interview on Glassdoor.com. It’s anonymous and it actually helps to avoid what you don’t want happening, this happening to someone else. I wouldn’t want the job at that place because if that’s how they treat their prospective employees, I can’t imagine how they treat their current employees. Lastly, I get back on my grind working to meet my main goal which is to find a job.

So yeah, those were my thoughts, but I’m interested to see what the Buppie readers think? Do you feel like I’m playing Uncle Tom here? Have you had similar experiences?