Comparison of Strong Words to Soft Words

I have been attending a few classes and I noticed that the instructors have a desire for me to have a presence. I like to have control and give others control, not sit around and wait to see what emerges. The instructor starts using the soft words and my immediate thought is that I care about authoring the facts so that others can achieve their objective but these people are telling me that I should be a character with feelings. I want the facts that I inform you of to be useful whereas they want me to share feelings that will inspire you to have desire.

The instructors are right. There is no commitment so there is no certainty and they will not be wrong. I want to hear that something or someone will and the instructor tells me it should. Below is a list of words I compiled.

                                                Strong              Soft

control             emerge

care               enable

author           character

facts               feelings

distance         presence

objective          immersive

inform                inspire

useful              desirable

normal              absurd

The problem is my word list came from medical training and they are words that we can use to help the patient during their recovery. I wonder why we are all being treated as if we are patients? I'm not a patient. I feel normal.

Net Neutrality

Tonight when I went to surf the net I found an interesting article about net neutrality which is the concept that all service providers and governments should treat all data equally by not discriminating or charging by user.  This is a term that was first used by Tim Wu of Columbia University.  Initially I thought it played right into my complaint about the net but I was not that lucky.

I like the idea of net neutrality.  I especially like my freedoms of speech and the press.  This blog only serves as example.

Net neutrality wasn't my complaint but the use of offensive language on the internet is.  I have been taking an online marketing class and the other students just don't seem to have much self control over their inappropriate language.  In marketing I have not plans to kick anybody's %$s. Yes, I want to acquire followers that visit my web site but I did not give the site an offensive name to get people's attention.

It's really just that my mother taught me to be polite and I do not believe that she was wrong. Actually, my children tend to agree.  Not as if they wouldn't say sh*t if they had a a mouth full but they believe there is a time and a place and a person should have self control.  I will surely hear about it but if you should be in the room they might keep that to themselves until later!

I have decided that though I do not agree with the younger crowd I will continue with the marketing class and ignore the foul language.  Hopefully I will learn something more than how to turn the air blue!

http://www.georgiannahardwarecorporation.com/

Believe in History

I believe that we are all in the process of making history. Each of us that are pushing for the betterment of America are doing something important that will be remembered for a long time. Once again I turned to history to help me put things into proper perspective and I found an interesting publication, Technology and the Human Dimension. 

The publication is a transcript of an interview conducted by Hal Bowser with Dr. Elting E. Morison of MIT.  The comments made by Dr. Morison during the interview offer the reader a new perspective on science, sociology, and technology.  I think you will find it's worth taking the time to read. 

Elting Morison died in 1995 but there are many people working at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that are doing important things and in the process of making history. 

Wellness in the Workplace

Recently there have been a number of news articles that specify the importance of wellness in the workplace. This is not necessarily news. It has been 26 years since workplace violence occurred at a post office in Edmond, OK and though records are difficult to find there were many incidents prior to that. Sadly, this problem has overflowed to another generation.

This morning we arrived at work after a weekend of trying to put a number of thoughts into proper perspective. It was a matter of being thankful to be able to return to our routine and place ourselves in what we considered a normal day.

Of course, our conversation centered around Newtown, CT and it involved more questions than answers. We all agree that a solution needs to be found to keep our society from living in fear. Our thoughts? The children can be our teachers. Ask questions and listen attentively to the answers. It lets people know that you care.

Need some quick help with your listening skills? You can visit http://nature.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7article/listening_skills.htm

Why Care About the Presidential Election?

Sometimes I feel like I am preaching to the choir, but today's blog is specifically for the young people that are questioning why they should be bothered being interested in this presidential election.  This will take about two minutes of your time to read.

My mom's family came to America on the Mayflower. History books have taught me that they left England because they felt so strongly about their religious freedom. They were referred to as Separatists and had many difficulties prior to their arrival here.

My dad's family came to America from Nova Scotia, Canada. My paternal grandparents decided to come to America with hope of starting a new life. They were a young couple that had already experienced having two of their children die of Scarlet Fever.

Not having interest in any election is something that is not new to me. Actually, I follow politics for my entertainment and I get it that you're disinterested, but I'd appreciate your being kind enough to allow the few minutes for me to make my case.

This presidential election is rather unique in the fact that our country is divided so evenly. This month we are starting to see changes to our country that have been put in place by our current president. Companies are experimenting to see how they can still make profits while avoiding paying for health care. The first thing those companies did was cut employee hours to 28 hours per week. I bet that hurt. By my calculations those people will receive a check for $168.00. Crap. My smallest grocery order this month was $127.54.

Who cares? Your healthy. You didn't even want to work full time. OK, think about the number of doctors that are becoming disinterested in serving their communities because they never get time off, their pay is going to be reduced, and they will need to make budget cuts with their staff. Odds are they will need to have a part time staff. They went to school for this? They are doing more accounting than assisting people and they're not happy. Can you blame them?

We have heard a lot about Libya recently. Big deal. Most Americans don't even know where it is. That doesn't stop us from sending money to their country and we will do it again next year too. In return we had four Americans killed. Only four, but they weren't your brother, uncle, or friend. Americans care so our government sends money to countries that need financial assistance. Don't forget the millions that we send to others countries and that inludes North Korea, Columbia, and Russia. Wonder why North Korea wants to blow us off the face of the earth? Maybe it's because we gave them $106 million in 2008 but only gave them $2.5 in 2009.  I did the research using our government's web site at http://foreignassistance.gov/CountryIntro.aspx so that you didn't need to.

If you're in the twenty-something bracket think back to September 11, 2001. Do you remember where you were when you heard about the attack on your country? Prior to September 11, 2001 there had been few foreign attacks on U.S. soil. Just for reference, we had the War of 1812, the U.S.-Mexican War in 1846, an attack led by Pancho Villa in Columbus, NM, in 1916, the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and an attack in New York on the World Trade Center in 1993. These people that you have no interest in keep all of us from harm.  

I remember feeling that my vote didn't count and the president didn't really represent me. Not that either candidate can relate to me now! Who cares? The question is, why care?  Well, as American citizens we have been granted our unalienable right: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  The generations before mine didn't just throw these rights away, they've kept them in check for you. Even with its current difficulties people still have a desire to live in our country and they have good reason to. C'mon, that's kind of cool to know that people you don't even know want to have a life like yours.

If you don't care, too bad. You're not the first and you won't be the last. Worst that can happen is the candidate you choose might not win. I have a realistic view. Is the glass half full of lemonade or is it half empty. Realistic me: It could be piss. You're in America because the generations that came before you thought your rights were important. It's time you care.

We're Concerned About Jobs

     We're concerned about jobs.  We've heard about the taxes, but without a job we cannot be taxed.  We can't even go to the mall and spend money on things that are taxed at the local level.  This whole situation is obviously a big mess.

     There are other things to be considered too.  What are we teaching the next generation?  As for myself, I see an angry younger generation that is trying to understand things that are way above my middle-age ability. Knowing that one of six children are receiving assistance for food provisions, it leaves me wondering how these children are handling this crisis that they experience every day.  With mom or dad not longer working this is added stress to the children too.    

     As adults, our coping skills include humor.  Wonder what the next generation thinks of our laughing about there being a lack of oxygen in Denver?  I'm fairly certain that a five year old child hasn't learned about altitude changes.  I keep hearing about light-hearted comments, but I'm not even sure how much my heart weighs!

     The next time the younger generation tells you that you're clueless, take a moment and think about it.  I agree that we need to pull ourselves up by the boot straps and hang in there through these tough time, but think about how the next generation interprets what they see and hear.

OK, folks.  I'll get step down from my little soap box.  When I heard teens talking earlier, it crossed my mind that they should be talking about cars and dances, not gas prices and political debates.

We Need Literacy

We Need Literacy

     When I was talking with a friend of mine the other day she said, “There is no reason not to learn. Education is free.” There is no doubt in my mind that she is right. That is more so true today than it has ever been. I'm not a classroom person, but since I can read, I can learn.

     There are 21 million Americans that cannot read at all. That's hard to believe, but I feel confident it is true. More than 40 million Americans cannot read well enough to fill out a job application. Low literacy levels are easily connected to poverty, but Dollar General is doing something to correct that.

     The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is available to help. I found 23 available programs within 25 miles of my home. This means people are helping people.  It crosses my mind that if I couldn't read I probably would not have found this information on the internet. Again, Dollar General helps by providing a phone number, 1-877-38YOURGED. (1-877-389-687433)

     I realize that the phone number suggests that a person will be working toward their GED, but this is America and it is still a free country. Everything you do will be by choice. I've always thought it was fun to learn. We can't all be the best at everything, but we can all share our knowledge.

     Dollar General has 10,000 store in 40 states, 14.8 billion dollars in sales. I read that the founder had a third grade education. That's cool. More of us should be talking about things like the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.