Sunday, June 29, 2014

What happened to customer service?

I'm sure we've all experienced poor service at one time or another. Sadly, the bad experiences seem to outweigh the bad in the world today.

Blame it on burnout, stressed out workers. Blame it on poor training and lack of follow up. Blame it on lack of any work ethic which results in a workforce of people who don't care of they perform well.

Unfortunately, all of these things play a factor in the workplace today. Too many huge companies that don't take care of, or pay attention to, their employees mixed with workers that feel unappreciated lead to poor service, slow response times and lost revenue.

Even employees with strong work ethics are being dragged into this vicious cycle of unstructured, absentee management enabling lazy, inefficient workers.

Employers seem to micro-manage everything or step back and refuse to manage at all. Most employees would probably say an approach somewhere in the middle works best.

In this story, a Cracker Barrel employee actually liked his job and was offering good service but was fired for it. Perhaps the management should take his lead and allow their employees to "comp" customers on occasion to build customer loyalty & satisfaction. I'm not saying every shift but allow them 1 or 2 comps a month that don't require approval and then require manager approval after that. Sure would make employees feel more vested in the company of they had some empowerment to do things for customers if they think it's warranted.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

The world owes you nothing

Saw an article today that says a woman is suing her ex boss because the rush hour commute made her ill.

Why do so many people refuse to accept responsibility for their own lives? If you didn't like the commute you were free to move...Or quit. You are free to make your own choices and it's not your employers fault that your commute wasn't easy.

Did you not know what the commute would be when you took the job? Exactly! Now, suck it up and take responsibility for your own actions.

Friday, June 27, 2014

REMINDER: Your kid's in the backseat

There have been way too many instances where parents leave their kids in the car and the child dies due to the heat. We all say "how could you forget your child?" but it seems that the majority of these cases are due to a change in schedule where the "other" parent is supposed to drop the child off. Anytime you change the daily routine, you run the risk of something not being done as usual.

A middle school boy invented an item to help prevent these deaths and calls it the E-Z Baby Saver. It's a device you can make from rubber bands and duct tape that, essentially, straps between the back of the driver seat to the door so you can't get out without running in to it. It's supposed to be a reminder to check the back seat.

I am glad people are thinking about ways to prevent these tragedies but I really don't think this will work. And here's why:

1. Parents may use this a few times but if they are responsible for dropping the child off on a daily basis, they aren't going to be the ones that forget the child in the backseat to begin with.

2. If it's the parent that doesn't normally have the daily task of driving the child around, they aren't going to want to have this "strap" in their way on a daily basis and they will remove it. Hence, making it non-functional because it's not being used.

3. The use of the strap still requires that the parent actually check the backseat before leaving their vehicle for the day. If they leave it on full time and get used to ignoring it because they don't normally have the child in the care, it's not going to work because they aren't going to get in the habit of checking the backseat because they don't normally have the child in the car.

Basically, it all comes down to human error. Unfortunately, people get preoccupied and don't pay attention to what they are doing. Everyone needs to slow down and pay attention to life, instead of worrying about what they are going to do the rest of the day. Worry about now!

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Are we ready for CO-ED dressing rooms?

A blogger recently wrote a story about an experience a male friend of his had when helping his daughters try on clothes at a department store.

At first I thought, what person would actually complain about this to a manager, but then...I started thinking...this man was with his wife and 2 daughters. Yes, he has the right to help them choose clothing but why didn't his wife go with them into the "ladies" dressing room?

And then I thought, what would have happened if he was a single father with no female to help him in this situation. I'm torn...what should have happened here.

Could he have taken them into the mens changing room? Would that have been preferable? What if his daughters had encountered a man changing in that dressing room? Isn't it possible that they would have been equally as "traumatized" as the daughter of the woman filing the complaint?

The mother that complained most likely worried that her daughter might be seen by someone of the opposite sex and feel uncomfortable by the encounter. Do you really blame her? Would you want a man wandering around the ladies changing room when you are in there trying on clothes? I'm sure seeing little girls wandering around the mens room with their father's is awkward for many men.

Even if the rooms are all private, there really is no true "privacy" when you are in a public place and you're getting naked. Anyone could open the wrong door at the wrong time and...BOOM! Instant awkwardness!

Maybe it's time to install "family" dressing rooms that are larger and in a more neutral location to allow either parent to assist their children. I don't know how this changing area was laid out so it may have been such an intimate setting that there was no way to avoid her daughter running into the man but I think this issue needs to be addressed. There are way more single parents these days that have children of the opposite sex and could be subjected to this practice. Much like the lack of changing tables in mens rooms, we need to have a more universal place for parents to help their kids without being subjected to nasty glares and rude complaints.

So, what "disorders" do you blame your bad behavior on?

It sure seems we have become a society that refuses to take responsibility for our own actions. There's a diagnosis for everything these days but the symptoms of these "disorders" are no different than they were when I was a kid. We just called it something different.

Munchausen's has been around for a while but this one is really hard for me to accept. I mean, you're basically an attention whore that tortures your children to get the desired attention, which often kills them. While I can understand people may do extreme things for attention, I do not believe this should be a valid defense for being acquitted of any crime. I'm very interested to see how this case turns out: "Mommy blogger charged with murdering son with salt"

I think the disorder that makes me the angriest is what they call "Affluenza" aka: The Spoiled Brat defense. In this article, the psychologist admits he wishes he hadn't used that term and says that "we used to call these people spoiled brats". In this court case, the defendent was placed in a treatment facility and will be on probation for killing 4 people and injuring 2 while driving drunk! Basically, his family's money got him a break. That is NOT acceptable but as long as we have idiotic judges on the bench that are willing to give people breaks, this could continue!

My son was in trouble alot at school and eventually ended up in the juvenile court system for truancy. He was diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Basically, he has a problem listening to and respecting authority. Sound familiar? When I was a kid, we called this being an a$$hole! There was no disorder or "treatment". You learned to deal with life, the good and the bad, you sucked it up and you eventually grew up. Many people are now treated with anti-depressants for this disorder, which have been known to cause crazy side effects, including suicide, in teens. Um, thanks but no thanks. I chose to homeschool my son and he's been in much better spirits. It may take him longer to graduate but at least we aren't caught up in the justice system which just wants to lock him up and medicate him til he's an "adult".

As a society, we need to stop blaming all our issues on some psychological "disorder" and take responsibility for our actions. By the time you are in high school you are old enough to make your own decisions, choices, etc. Stop blaming your bad decisions on other people or your "messed up brain" and get your life together.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

When parents enable the entitled teens of today

Mother protests school dress code by wearing daughters dress to graduation

I'm all for letting your kids express themselves and be unique but there are rules that apply to life and they must be followed. If your kids can't even follow the dress code in school, how do you ever expect them to know how to follow rules in real life? Dress code rules are easy to follow. Stop letting them get away with pushing those boundaries! You are the parent...act like it!

This mother decided to protest her daughter being sent home for a skirt that was too short by wearing it to graduation. Way to be a good role model and let your kids know that it's ok to break the rules. This is why we have so many criminals and juvenile delinquents. Kids don't believe there will be any consequences and that someone will always stand up for them if they break the rules.

As we all know, that's not how real like works! Being an adult is all about following rules, laws, etc; not being an entitled ass & learning to adapt to your surroundings with courtesy for others and common sense. I think most kids have never learned some of these skills and the world is definitely going to hell because of it.

Monday, June 16, 2014

You're embarrassing yourself!

It's now illegal for contractors to discriminate against gay and transgender workers.

Why the hell is this necessary?

People wonder why the government is constantly telling us what to do. It's because a good # of us are too damn stupid to be decent human beings on our own. Hell, even with laws in place, a huge chunk of "humanity" still can't behave as humane, intelligent members of society.

It's sad that we can't even "play nicely" without someone constantly watching us and pointing us in the right direction.

The fact that this law is even needed makes me embarrassed for our country. Just stop & think before you act and stop embarrassing yourselves...and the rest of us!

Friday, June 13, 2014

Stop forcing discrimination on our kids

Elementary kids call out LEGO for discriminatory play sets

I find this comment from a viewer interesting:
"I have always been frustrated that LEGO decided they had to market separately to boys and girls, and that "girls" sets had to be pink and purple and pastel. Until that point I had not realized that primary colors were for boys only."

Perhaps this is because the commentor is more open minded and doesn't let themselves get pigeon holed into what people think is male or female appropriate. I think we spend way too much time looking for discrimination in everything that we do and it's what is causing the world to be such a negative, bitter place.

Yes, it's great that Lego now wants to make these more "fair" and put more variety in their toys but these kids didn't know the difference until an adult pointed this out...I'm sure of it. They didn't feel discrimination before but now they do and will probably continue to look for this in everything for the rest of their lives.

Congratulations, we've just made a new generation of paranoid, hypocondriacs who will want to sue everyone for some sort of discrimination when things don't go their way.

Ok, maybe most of these kids won't even remember this "project" when they get older but I do not like the fact that this idea of discrimination was placed in their head and then pounded home day after day as they "researched" each play set to see what sort of options were included.

I'm just so sick of kids being taught to hate and look for the bad things at such a young age. They'll figure it out on their own...let them be young and oblivious to the big bad world as long as you can.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Who are you to tell me what's "NORMAL"?

When the Miss USA pageant was on, people were excited and supportive of Miss Indiana because she looked more like the "normal" American woman than a typical beauty queen.

Today, people are posting critical comments saying shes not "normal" at all...as if it's her fault people were making that comparison at all!

Um, how about we just be supportive of all women, regardless of their body shape, and stop being so critical of each other? We aren't all going to be the same and each of us will probably battle with different body shapes and weights at some point in our lives. Do you really think we need more people drawing attention to us?

If you are that insecure with yourself that you have to spend time critizing someone else about how they look, you need to get help! Leave this woman alone and let her be. She's beautiful and more "normal" than many of the previous pageant contestants.

Let's hope the trend continues and people become more tolerant of each other in general!

You can't regulate stupidity, morality or courtesy (Or, a world full of assholes)

The Political Parent claims "I'M DONE"!!

I never cease to be amazed at these people.

#NotOneMore they yell...yet they cannot provide one ounce of proof that making it harder for honest citizens to get guns will stop the bad guys from getting them. I'd just like one of them to stop their ranting, about how horrible the NRA and gun owners are, and explain to me why they believe that criminals, who don't obey the current laws, are going to become law abiding citizens if we put new laws in place.

Like they are going to say "hey, this is new...maybe we should follow the laws now". No, that's not how it works. That's never how it's worked. And if they'd look at the facts a little more closely they'd see that there are many situations where a good guy with a gun has stopped a bad guy with a gun before more fatalities occurred.

This "74 school shootings" quote that they are all referencing is from a member of the Everytown crowd and they admit that their statistics include assaults, homicides and suicides. I'd wager that they also include instances that happened "near" a school or a school sponsored activity and not actually at the school where the kids were at all.

I believe 1 of them was a teacher that committed suicide, after school hours, in his office. Noone else was around. I hardly think that qualifies as "gun violence".

It amazes me that these people think you can regulate common sense, courtesy, decency, morality! It's not going to happen, people. You have to deal with the real problem, which is the fact that the US has become a country full of entitled assholes that don't feel they have any consequences for their actions and no respect for others.

Until people stop being worthless wastes of space, the problem will remain.

Monday, June 2, 2014

A special kind of stupid

A random stranger offers to sell you thousands of pairs of Nike sneakers for way way way below retail and you don't stop to wonder if the shoes were stolen?



I'm honestly amazed that they tracked these ladies down at all and that it took 5 years to do so. I guess when you are talking about millions of dollars of merchandise, Nike isn't going to play around. Wonder how many pair were left and how much they were selling them for.

It's not all about you

When will we stop focusing on these mass killing sprees and worry about the daily violence that is taking people out daily? How about ending the focus on banning guns and worry about the other ordinary household items that are being used to kill people on a daily basis such as butcher knives, screwdrivers, etc.

I don't know if it's completely accurate or not but the graphics at this link provide some interesting data regarding the types of guns used for mass shootings, how they were obtained, etc. The comments on the website provide some additional insight that might get you thinking about your current stance on this subject.

Again, it all comes back to the people behind the violence. A gun, knife or other sharp object will do nothing without the force of a person behind it. I think we can all agree that anyone that thinks it's acceptable to kill anyone else for no reason is not sane.

People need to take more responsibility for their actions, their possessions, etc. Take the feelings and lives of other people into consideration before doing or saying something. IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU!

Yes, you have certain rights but...SO DO I! And your rights don't trump mine. A little common sense, common courtesy and common decency should be used when doing anything in life!

If more people had respect for others, we wouldn't be in the situations we are now.

Too many self centered, entitled people in this world that probably should have been beaten a little more as children!