Lighten Up

I'm not one to get excited, or passionate, about things in my life. I can certainly understand that some folks do and they are very vocal about their beliefs. I have no problem with that as long as it doesn't infringe on my right to the pursuit of happiness!

That being said, there's a difference between being passionate and being a complete lunatic. It's a fine line but I feel that many people have crossed that line these days and it must stop. You can't sue people just because they don't agree with your beliefs. You can't sue people because the rules of an institution require you to do something that you don't really want to do. You can't sue people based on discrimination just because you didn't get something you wanted (job, home, etc).

 

In this Story, a family is suing the school because their atheist daughter has to say "under god" when they say the pledge in the morning.

 

Here's a thought...how about she refrain from saying the pledge at all or omit those 2 words if you agree with the rest of it?

 

Why are we using the school when they aren't the ones that wrote it in the first place? It's not like they have the authority to change it.

 

If the school was making her say the pledge each morning, then I could see the parents being outraged; however, it doesn't sound like that is the case. It sounds more like the kid has been saying it all this time and the parents are just looking for attention and maybe some money!

 

I'm so sick of people that look for discrimination in everything and will do anything to get money for nothing!

 

There will always be people that hate you for whatever reason. Unless it makes it impossible for you to go about your daily life, it's not worth stressing over! Suck it up, Move On, Don't be a Baby! This is the real world and it's time we learned to deal with it...without being an ass!
 

 

The minimum wage debate

There are all kinds of stories from both sides of the coin on this issue. What I've not been able to find are middle class folks who are in favor of it. Those of us that work 40-75 hours a week to support our families because we live just far enough outside the poverty level to get assistance but top close to it to get ahead.

In this story, they claim the majority of women that make over $100,000/year are in favor of the increase.

WELL, WHY WOULDNT THEY?

These will be the folks least impacted by a change to minimum wage because they already make enough to live on, have an emergency fund and save for retirement.

The people that will get the wage increase will be happier than pigs in slop because they will be making more money...at first. What they fail to realize is that when you make more  money, you lose benefits & there is a place in the middle where you don't qualify for help but you don't quite make enough to stay afloat.

Then, the cost of living goes up so all you've done is screw the lower & middle class that are working their butts off to survive. Now, it'll be even harder to do.

That is, if they can keep their jobs. Small business owners won't be able to afford to pay that much and hours will get cut, as well as entire positions. I just don't see how this is going to benefit anyone.

Add collector to my job title

I have no problem helping other departments with accounts that we share but I do take issue with the fact that I'm being asked to get my customers to send something in writing saying they will actually pay a past due invoice before we can ask the collectors to do their jobs, and collect.

I've spent hours researching these unpaid invoices for them and already given them detailed information about why each invoice balance is valid, and they have done nothing. Now, these balances are reflected on a report making it appear that I have failed to do my part and respond to these issues.

To add insult to injury, it's my own boss telling me to do this. I don't believe she clearly understands anything about what we do on a daily basis. Nor does she have an inkling of how much push back we get from other departments that don't want to do their fair share.

Unfortunately, there's no reasoning with her and she doesn't understand where we are coming from. It's like beating your head against a brick wall!

We can't all be #1

When I was a kid, there were rewards for doing better than your peers. Prizes for being the best. Consequences if you didn't do so hot. These days, everyone has to be a winner because nobody wants to make a kid feel bad for not being the best.

Welcome to life! It's time for a reality check! You can't be the best at everything. 

Sometimes you can't be the best at anything. That's what life is about and this sense of entitlement and false sense of success has got to stop!

Even employers display this mentality in so many ways:

- Sending out blanket emails rather than addressing issues directly with the employee in question
- Refusing to provide advancement goals to employees that want to improve
- Sweeping things under the rug by giving all the "screw ups" to one employee to "fix"
- Promoting all employees at the same time, without true validation of achievement

I've tried everything I can to expand my knowledge and get to the next level of my position...and I DID IT; however, it means nothing when you find out that everyone else also got promoted at the same time. In addition, I'm flabbergasted by the fact that I got promoted by only "earning" an overall ranking of MEETS EXPECTATIONS on my annual review.

How can that be? Are we again rewarding everyone to keep from upsetting anyone that might be struggling? Clearly we aren't addressing issues so the mistakes can be corrected, nor are we coaching our employees so we can pick out those with leadership potential and promote where appropriate. It's much easier to promote everyone and move on. Especially when there's nobody paying attention enough to question it.

We can't all be #1. We can't all be the best. You have to have leaders and followers in your company or you will never get anything done. Coach your people. Watch what they are doing. Interact with them and listen to their ideas, their wishes, their goals, etc.

You should NEVER promote based on a ranking of meets expectations. If that's the best I can do, maybe I don't belong here at all! If all I can do is meet expectations, I have no business being a leader for anyone so DO NOT PROMOTE ME!

Hell of a week

Monday, my brother had another "episode" and had an ambulance called. Not sure what's wrong but he's having tests run.

Tuesday, my sister fell at work, hit her head and ended up in the ER.

Wednesday, I hit a curb on my route, popped a tire and had to call my mom at 4am to being me her car. Then had to spend $160 for new tires.

Thursday, my nephew, Blaze, was taken to Riley Children's Hospital in Indy due to a possible infection in his hand. He's only 7 weeks old.

I also found out they are going to amputate my uncles leg from the knee down due to health complications.

I don't know if I can take much more of this.