Labels

I recently purchased some multivitamins. I like them because I can take one vitamin and feel that I am doing what I can to ensure that my body is getting the nutrients that I might not get from the foods I eat. The brand I recently purchased is One-a-day. Assuming I only had to take one of them a day, I thought little of it.

A few days after purchasing the multivitamins, I was reading the label and noticed that I am actually supposed to take two a day! My first thought was that if I had realized I was supposed to take two each day I would have gone with a different type of multivitamin.


Oddly enough, I started thinking about other things in life and how labels would help out in making decisions on them. Hmm, what if there were labels on guys, jobs, friends, decisions, etc.?


As I continued to ponder my musing, I wondered if labels would really help. Part of the experience of life is learning. How much would I really learn if I just looked at labels and avoided people or things that had warnings on their labels? Or would I pay any attention to the labels at all? Obviously I was provided information on the label of mulitvitamins but I didn't bother reading it before making the purchase.


I guess it really is best to live and learn , even if labels are included!

Grateful

Today I want to talk about how greatful I am for all the people in my life. Not just the people I see and talk to everyday, but EVERYONE!!

I am currently unemployed (due to a layoff) so in addition to finding the perfect job, I spend my days cleaning things in my apartment that I have never thought to clean before, reading people's blogs, watching TV (sadly my TV watching has gone up--I attribute it to the late winter we are having in Salt Lake City), going to the gym and looking for new and interesting things to do. But really the highlight of my day is hearing from people via email, text, phone, facebook or other modes of communication.

I delight in hearing from them not because I am bored or lonely but because lately I have been noticing how brilliant the people around me are and seeing their wonderful attributes.

One example--I have been working on my resume lately. I have found it difficult to summarize what I have done at various jobs because quite frankly, each job deserves more than a few bullet points!! I have honestly put my guts into the different jobs I have had. I am not your typical 9-5er!! I have stayed late at jobs not because I was required to or because I wasn't efficient in my work, but because I knew that if I stayed late, then I could go above and beyond and make a project or my company that much more competitive or that much better. Not everything that I did have tangable, immediate results.

At my last job, I was a center manager and sales manager. I was responsible for leasing executive office space to individuals and companies. But was that all I did? Heck no!! I stayed and did the paperwork behind everything after hours so during business hours I could be out front where current clients stopped by because I felt that it was important. Yes, I did increase the number of suites occupied in my center and that is very satisfying, but even better is hearing the CEO of my company say that I created a feeling of welcoming to my center. He said he has noticed that anyone who comes in feels at ease and welcomed to the place. Clients who have wanted to upgrade from my center (class B space) to a nicer building told me they were set to do it, but don't want adjust to not having me and my employees to work with and see on a daily basis. How do you quantify that in a resume???

But I sent my ho-hum resume to a friend and within minutes she emailed me back giving me pointers and hints about how to list and quantify my accomplishments. Gosh, I am so grateful for her!!

I have a roommate that has been going though a lot of family issues as of late, but does that stop her from making my day a little brighter? Does that stop her from making the lives of others that she interacts with happier? Not at all.

Really when it comes down to it, I feel that I have become a better person for knowing the people that I have known and currently know. I just hope I can do the same for them!!

Oh the Stories I Could Tell!

So now that I am separated from my previous employer, I can tell some of the stories that I have mentioned to friends, but until now, haven't published anywhere.

I had an assistant, Matilda that I constantly entertained me. I will miss hear and her young, naive, narrow minded perspective on life.

Before I left the company, Matilda told me that she has always wanted to be a stripper. Yes, this assistant is LDS and is 20 and married...in the temple. She went on to say that back when she was 16 she would tell her mom that she wanted to be a stripper. She was convinced that she would make tons of money and be very happy since she would be the center of attention and everyone would stop what they were doing and just watch her dance around. She said she still thinks she should do it, not tell her husband and start working at a strip club. She would be able to make all kinds of money and be able to pay off her car, her student loan and pay for her husband's schooling.

When I heard her vocal daydream, I stopped and asked, "so you don't mind random dirty men putting their hands on you?"

She responded, "they wouldn't touch me! They aren't allowed!"

That is when I couldn't control the laughter any longer and answered, "how do you think you make tips?"

Sadly, her face sank. "What? They let them do that? I would slap them...but then I probably wouldn't make much on tips."

"Well, there are certain places where the men like being slapped and you could make money."

Matilda then asked what I meant by that and where to find these places. As an LDS individual who really has no affiliation with that lifestyle explained that there are places where people like it a bit more rough and that opened the floodgate of questions. After defining several things that I know little about, Matilda decided that her idea of the stripper lifestyle was much better and that if she could do it her way, that would be a much better option.

Personally, I am convinced that she didn't believe me and that in her mind, she still believes that her idea of that lifestyle is how it really is.

Poor naive soul.

More stories will follow as I remember them.

Unemployed...again

So there you go! I had been working for a company and last week I contacted a friend to let her know that I had decided to start looking for a new job. Not that I needed one, but because I felt it was time to find something that compensated me more appropriately for the time and effort I put into the job I was doing. That same day I had been called in to discuss the opportunity of a promotion at the same company. Despite the opportunity, I still felt I should look.

Fast forward to the next day and bam! The same person I discussed the promotion with told me that the CEO had decided that the company couldn't afford the new position and my current position would be eliminated. I honestly tried not to smile as I got the news. Yes, it is better to look for a job when you are employed, but I really wanted to leave and not come back and until that moment, I really didn't have a reason to do so. I guess maybe I should have given my 2 weeks notice the day before--then I would have had at least 2 weeks to find something!!

This cloud has a silver lining!!

Memories

I used to work in downtown Salt Lake City. I used to ride Trax every morning and evening. It was nice. No worries about traffic, you won't miss that cop that is always hiding somewhere. But invariably, I would always be the one who had an adventure or two on the ride home.

First, there was the time I was really tired and boarded the train. I sat down and will sometimes doze off. Usually I wake up a stop or two before my stop and all is good. When I woke this time, I had been completely asleep and had not realized that while sleeping, I managed to completely rest my head on the business man that was sitting next to me. My head was completely resting on his shoulder. I straightened up and as I realized what had happened, I apologized to my fellow commuter. His response, "you seemed so tired, I didn't want to wake you."

Then there was the drunkand homeless man that was walking through the Trax station, passed several commuters, walked up to me and gave me a huge hug. I honestly didn't know what to say or do and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the men there turn and start coming over to protect me. The guy finished giving me a hug and just walked off. Sadly, he smelled quite bad and it transferred to me. The whole trip home made me sick because of the smell. I had to shower before the smell went away.

I remember a drunk native american that came up to me and talked to me while I was waiting for the train. He just talked and talked about the bars in SLC, despite me saying I don't drink and know nothing about bars. When the train came, he shook my hand and walked away.

There are also the random men who have asked if I was married and proceeded to cheesily hit on me despite me telling them that I am (I am not).

The most memorable would be the man that got on the train and proceeded to fall to the floor of the train. Everyone looked up when that happened. He looked like he was on something. He of course sat near me and started trying to have a conversation. I told him I was trying to sleep and pretended to fall asleep. My seat was right by the exit (stairwell) and he went around to the stairwell and started to say,"boo!" every few minutes to wake me up. He got bored because I wasn't reacting and went away. The gentleman next to me asked what stop I was exiting at and I told him. He said that if the guy got off at the same stop, he would escort me to my car.

So despite being the 'chosen one' on Trax, I never felt worried. I knew there were always people looking out for others. And if they didn't, I am pretty good at making some noise.

New Year's Thoughts

New Year, new effort to chronicle the goings and comings of my life.

At the start of the year, I reflected on the things that happened that were significant during the last year:
1. My dad having a quadruple bypass
2. Getting laid off from an extremely stable job
3. Cops deciding that I need loads and loads of tickets
4. Not being able to register my car because of an over-vigilant mechanic who failed me on inspection, getting 2 tickets and almost getting my car impounded, but talking the cops out of it
5. Things getting tense in the house I lived in and having to find a new place to live
6. A rock flying up and chipping my windshield and several minutes later cracking my windshield
7. Getting hit, head on by a driver driving too fast in the snow and having $3600 of repairs to my car

I am sure there is more, but that is all I remember right now. Yes, to me it is a significant list and when thinking on it, I decided that 2010 HAS to be a better! A good friend of mine helped me alter my perception of the intense year I had.

1. My dad is in fantastic health and because of his great health, didn't have a heart attack and cause more damage. He recovered remarkably quickly from his surgery and is doing great!
2. Although I did get laid off from my job, it has been a good thing. Within a week of being laid off, I found a great job with great people doing something that pushes and challenges me more than I was ever challenged at my last job
3. Yeah, the whole getting tickets really is my fault, so I have no one to blame but myself
4. Again, my own fault. I could have taken it somewhere else and had it re-checked sooner than I did (it passed the second time it was checked)
5. This, too is a great thing. I moved with one of the roommates I lived with and things are fantastic! We found a beautiful place to live and the move was pretty easy
6. Life happens
7. The good news is that I wasn't hurt and the other driver wasn't hurt. My car was repaired through his insurance and I am now driving it

Really, when I think of all the good things that have happened this last year, they really make me realize that this last year wasn't so bad. In addition to the items listed above, I travelled domestically quite a bit, saw some fantastic concerts, had new adventures, made new friends, got to spend a lot of time with my sister and her family while they were here for 3 months, grew up quite a bit, learned what it is to be employed and unemployed in a crazy economy, and many other lessons that will make 2010 a dang great year!

My assistant and Martin Luther King, Jr.

You never know what an assistant will be like, especially when you don't pick them out yourself. There are different types of people that go for assistant type jobs. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying there is anything wrong with being an assistant. It is a pretty important job. Some people who go for this type of job do it because they know the CEO of the company and he/she hires the person for the assistant job because they want to help them out. Others take a job as an assistant so they can get in with a company that they want to move up in. My assistant falls into the first category--she is a friend of family of the CEO.

Please understand, I love my assistant, Matilda. She is sweet, cares about our clients, tries to do a great job on all her assignments but sometimes I wonder what she is thinking.

As today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and my office is closed, I asked Matilda to make a flier to send out to our clients. Later, the same day I asked her to prepare it, I went to Matilda's desk to see if she had finished the flier. She was just getting a graphic to add to the flier to complete it. In my mind I figured she would add a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. himself. Instead, she had gone into clip art and typed, 'black people.' My jaw dropped and I felt like the civil rights movement went back in time.

I asked her why she was in clip art rather than getting a picture from the internet. Her response, 'I have seen two black people in my life. They all look the same to me. I thought I could just find one that looks like him.'

I about fainted. Yes, the state I currently live in is not very culturally diverse, I have never heard a comment like that. I grew up in a state that was pretty well mixed with different cultures and people and had many friends of various races and backgrounds. Hearing that comment made me feel as though we had moved back to a less tolerant day.

Matilda finally put a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the flier and after a discussion I thought I would never have to have with my assistant, the situation was resolved...but not without me being reminded that despite the years that have passed, ignorance towards others unfortunately still exists.