Mika, If you are reading this — and chances are pretty good you’re not…
My message to you – for all to read – is this:
Please practice what you preach. If you don’t want to sugar-coat the truth to your family, don’t sugar-coat the truth on Morning Joe, either.
What you went through with regard to telling your daughters about your dismissal was heartbreaking. In my opinion, there was nothing wrong with “sugarcoating” the truth when you told them about all the positive sides about getting fired. You were absolutely right to tell them that it would be a good thing in the end. It wasn’t your fault that your daughter had a nervous breakdown at school because of it. It simply taught you that your daughters are far more insightful than you realized. I’m glad you decided to choose a more “direct approach” when dealing with breaking bad news to your daughters. But I’d really like it if you used the same approach when dealing with the men on your show “Morning Joe”. Maybe you could start by using a more “direct approach” with your show’s host, Joe Scarborough.
If it were up to me, I think you should dump hot Starbucks coffee on his fat lap every time he belittles the women on his show. For crying out loud, Mika, he treats you like his friggin’ maid! He talks down to you, belittles you, talks over you – and every single one of the women who visit his show.
The first time I noticed you on the show was when I was watching the 2008 DNC Primary Convention. You were serving coffee to all your guests as if you were the show’s hired hostess. You kept getting up to get people drinks, clear their placemats, etc. Seriously, is this how you see yourself? Do you play “mommy” to the men on Morning Joe?? I was soon surprised to learn that you were the CO-HOST of the show – and not simply a techie or stagehand who happened to enjoy facetime in front of the camera.
I think you are doing the wrong thing by saying one thing, and doing another.
You are treated poorly by the men on your show because you are, quite frankly, extremely passive when it comes down to men sugar-coating the truth to you.
Men like Joe Scarborough love to make women feel meaningless and insignificant. Don’t kow-tow to them. Don’t let them treat you like your words, feelings, and views are nothing more than “female hormones on overdrive”. Men like Joe love to treat working women like they’re overpaid housewives or mommies-for-hire. So, please, stop acting like one on the show.
Seriously, you need to throw some scalding hot coffee on Joe and his buddies the next time they tell you that you’re over-reacting about rape, abuse, and hostile-workplace behaviour.
You’d be far more of an inspiration to me – and to your daughters.
Link to the story I’m referring to: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mika-brzezinski/getting-fired-and-how-it_b_342298.html
Copied below:
I was fired at the pinnacle of my career, on my 39th birthday. And in the year that followed, I learned that there are many psychological phases of being “let go.”
By 38, I had a shiny new contract as the anchor of the Sunday evening broadcast; a correspondent spot on 60 Minutes Wednesday; and the possibility of co-hosting the CBS Evening News. It was great fun, and a huge steroid injection to the ego. My two girls were especially proud.
After all those years of hard work and dedication, it all ended in a flash. With Dan Rather’s departure came the elimination of managers above him — the very same managers who hired me.
It wasn’t long afterward that I was negotiating my very public and very painful exit from CBS. To my kids I acted like I was giving them a gift. Somehow, I felt it was my duty to protect them from the pain I was feeling. I sugarcoated the whole thing. Big mistake.
I fed them a speech explaining how great this would be for all of us and quickly moved on, thinking I had done the right thing as a protective mother. The next day, the school called: Eight-year-old Carlie was upset, and the teacher asked if I could come in. Could I come in? Of course, this was the new me!
I found Carlie outside of her classroom in the fetal position; her teacher crouched over with her hand on Carlie’s shoulder. My child was clearly upset; the teacher looked uncomfortable and said in a low voice, “Carlie tells me you’re leaving your job, and she’s very upset.” I turned to Carlie and said, “That’s a good thing, right? It’s a good thing because we’ll get time together. No more rushing. No more missing your events. No more job!” She pulled her head up, and, with two big blue eyes pooling with tears, said, “But Mommy, you love it so much! I don’t want you to have to leave your job”
That moment was the first time I truly cried about what had happened to me, to us. I realized it would be OK to mourn together, to be angry together, to be discouraged together, and to be honest with each other. From that moment on, I sugarcoated nothing. They needed to be part of the process, whether I was up or down. It was a humbling yet enriching experience for all of us.
A fundamental lesson on being fired: Never lie about it. People will know what you’re saying is a cover-up for how you really feel — embarrassed, discouraged, and afraid. It’s best to simply be true to those feelings and work form them. Kids are a great place to start with that. They too, will face challenges in life, and job loss is an opportunity to show them what you are made of.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mika-brzezinski/getting-fired-and-how-it_b_342298.html
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