What Was I Thinking?

Have you ever done something incredibly, forehead slapping stupid? I did recently, and I don't understand why I did it. Call me silly, but I took a person at their word. I believed this person when they said that they were going to do what they said they were going to. My mistake. I'll be the first to tell you that I have trust issues. In English-that means that I have been lied to by so many people that I do not believe much of what I hear until I actually see it in action. I don't think that people mean to lie as much as they do. At least I have to hope that they don't. I guess there comes a time at the end of the day, though, when you tell yourself that it is okay not to live up to your word, because it is the best thing for you. In the movie The Big Chill-my all time favorite movie, ever, Jeff Goldblum's character has a piece about rationalizing. He says that he is more honest because he is direct with a person about what he wants. When he is accused of rationalizing he explains it by saying that everyone rationalizes, it's more important than sex. I think he is right, people seem to explain away the dishonesty in their lives by saying it is the best thing, because it is the best thing for them. A person I know who claims to be very honest never has a problem with a lie of omission, for some reason. Again, I guess to some people, it isn't a lie if you don't know you are being lied to. In the words of my 13 year old- "Whatever." If you have taken the time to read this, and my counter tells me that about 2200 people do every day, try to go an entire week without lying. No dishonesty and no lies of omission. Don't be mean to a person, just don't lie to them. Try it for a week, you'll thank me later.

So Where is This Better Economy, Anyway?

Every time I have to pick up a liberal leaning media outlet, I am told by all and sundry that things are on the rise. I wish they gave an address with that improved economy. I wouldn't mind moving there. Because where I am, it's not like that at all. Every day I speak with a small business owner who is holding on by the skin of their teeth. And slipping. I do not see any signs of optimism, in fact, some of the places that I leave seem one step from burying their money in the back yard to protect it. But if I have any doubts, I only have to turn on a news outlet, and BAM! sunshine and roses. All of our former enemies love us now, the world's opinion of us is on the rise, sunshine will follow us all the days of our lives, alpha and omega, amen. Until of course, I speak to a real person. I talk to upwards of thirty or fourty people every day. Most of them have small businesses- you know- the back bone of our economy. They do not have optimism. They don't even have much enthusiasm. What they do have is a lot of worry, and even more concern over all the changes that we are hearing about. Especially in our health care. I don't think we should insure illegal guests of this country. There, I said it. I think we should tell them we are, then when they come in to sign up, we should grab them and send them back to their own country. I know it sounds mean, but they do things like that all the time when they are trying to catch criminals. And someone who is here illegally, who is stealing my resources and taking jobs and other services from someone who is here legally, that person is a criminal. And if they have "anchor babies"? Let the child stay here. You go home until you can come back legally. Also, why can't we charge the country that the person is from for having to return their citizen? I know we send billions in aid to most of the countries that send us their " undocumented workers". Why can't we charge them, say- 25 thousand a pop for the cost of rounding up their citizens and sending them home? When a country gets $14. 73 cents in foreign aid from us, because that is all that is left from sending their citizens back to them, maybe it would become their problem and they would care about it. Think about it, you'll thank me later.

Would it Help if You Slipped Off Your Shoes?

I went to Walmart tonight. I had to get some stuff, all the good stores were closed, you know how it is. My total came up to $10.96. I wanted fifty cents for the machine in the lobby, so when it came time to make the check out, I told the cashier, "Make it for fifty cents over, please." She stared at me like a monkey doing a math problem. I stared back, not believing that a grown woman couldn't add those two figures. Finally, because there was a guy in line behind me, I said"That will make it $11.46, okay?" She laughed and said the amount threw her. I smiled like I believed her. If I hadn't given her the total, I'd still be there waiting, I have no doubt. When did people get so stupid? Does only Walmart hire them, or are they everywhere, and I mercifully don't run in to them as much as I could? Either way, it sets my teeth on edge. My other complaint, and I know it seems silly to expect customer service and all, but would it be possible for a person who works there to actually stop and help you find what you are looking for? It's just crazy enough to work, isn't it? That was my other run in. I was looking for a particular cable in electronics, and the vapid associate waved her box cutter and pointed east. That was helpful. I'll wait until Staples opens tomorrow and get it then. I'll bet the employee over there might even walk me to what I am looking for, want to bet?
Who knows, they might even ask if there is anything else they can help me with? Crazy, huh? Now, I can appreciate that the folks at Walmart are timed for everything that they do, so customer service is going to take a dump, but it seems to me that if they can still find time to discuss when they are going on a break, they can find the time to help me find the saddle soap.
But while I am here talking about things that I don't understand, can someone please tell me what the criteria is for a Nobel Peace prize? I mentioned this once before, and I am still trying to sort it out. The guy in the White House hasn't been in office for a year. If you take all of his Senate experience and combine it with this past year's debacle, my 13 year old son has more school experience than this guy has world politics' experience. (Unless, of course, you want to count his ACORN election fraud mentoring as experience) Yet the idiots in Stockholm saw fit to give this guy an award for his outstanding achievements. In their eyes, this puts him on the same field as Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela. One spent her life bringing hope and life to an impoverished group of people. The other spent the majority of his life in prison for trying to bring fairness and justice to a group of people. So this dufus teaches a group of people how to register someone to vote 23 times, and that is as worthy as the first two? It cheapens the award for them, to be sure. Why not give it to Castro? He has fixed elections,also. Fair is fair. Of course, in Castro's defense, he was actually born in the country he is running, so that might eliminate him. He might try going country to country apologizing for any conceived slight over the last eighty years, that seems to have worked for this guy. Of course, that doesn't stop B. O. from having to live up to his pre-election deals. I see that he is meeting with more and more special interest groups that he promised to help if they would help him steal the election. I would hate to think that any of them voted for him 19 times and didn't get what they were promised. So hang on, I am sure that we have another assault on our basic freedoms in the works. Socialism, here it comes. And also, if you do have to go into that retail box of wonder, take a calculator for the cashier, you'll thank me later.

What Happened to That Guy??

Did you ever meet someone and think they were wonderful? Everything about the person just captivates your fancy, you know? Then slowly ( or not so slowly) the scales fall from your eyes and you see the person you admired in complete detail, flaws and all. It's kind of sad, isn't it? Sad because the person is so flawed, obviously, but also, sad because you were duped, mistaken, utterly wrong about a person. It happens to the best of us. Who hasn't met a man (or woman) and thought that they had just met the most brilliant, funny, wonderful person in the world; only to find out in time that the person is in fact a selfish, self absorbed narcissist. What are you going to do? You try to put it behind you, of course. Take a walk, read a good book, take up a new hobby, maybe. In time, you hope that you can see things more clearly, and move on with the rest of your days. But when the person in question is the commander in chief? Yikes! Run for cover and try to keep your head above water until the next election, I guess. In the course of my day, I speak to many people, about a lot of different things. The one dominant theme that I hear over and over is about the economy and the state of the world. I don't hear much consumer confidence on any given day, and I certainly don't hear any one that is happy with the state of the world right now. I don't think that John McCain was the best choice, but he certainly was the better choice. Many people who are still hanging in there with the first foreign born president since the Revolution keep putting the blame on President Bush. Okay.... From the time after the first awful attack on September 11th, he kept us safe. He went to Afghanistan and pushed the Taliban back until it was no longer a threat, something that the Soviet Union had been unable to do in over ten years of fighting there. He sent troops into Iraq and removed a crazy lunatic despot and the country enjoys free election for the first time ever. But I can see where those would be horrible things to some people. As awful as the attacks were that September, they did one thing that was wonderful. They brought out a sense of unity that I hadn't seen since Ronald Reagan was president. People were actually patriotic, proud of our country and proud of our troops. Those on the far left couldn't abide by that, and now look, the media has gotten us right back to were we used to be, squabbling and ashamed; kowtowing to the European nations that we support, financially and with our military. It must be easy for them to fund all the socialist programs they want. They don't need a military budget, they just use ours. Europe is kind of like that neighbor who is always borrowing something, a cup of sugar, the hedge clippers, something, and never paying it back. Here's a thought that I have suggested before: If you really and truly want to balance the budget, I could do it in three years, without one single cut in our spending. I would make an announcement at the United Nations : Ladies and Gentlemen, in three years the United States of America will not be giving any money to any country, friend or foe. Get ready, be prepared. The next year I would say Get ready, the gravy train stops in two years. Make your arrangements now. Be prepared. The third year I would say Okay then, that's it. We are finished supporting you, good luck with all that. The next year, without having to send all of the pork to our "allies" the dollar should be strong, and our budget balanced, and prosperity would reign from sea to shining sea. We could use that money to repair our infrastructure. We could use it to guarantee a college education to every US Citizen, we could save it like crazy for a rainy day. How cool would that be? No more deficit spending? Hallelujah! Think about it. You'll thank me later.

Socialism, Please, Does that Come With Change?

I have been reading quite a bit about the socialized medicine that the current administration is preparing to ram down our throats. I especially look forward to the time when my own family doctor retires, because he does not want to have to spend more time with paperwork than with patients. That was irony, for those of you who don't recognize it. You will be getting a lot of that now, you had better be prepared. One glaring irony is this: If this new socialized medicine is so dang fantastic, and the health care will be so much better, why not try it on a test group for two years and see how they like it, and if it's going to work for them. I'm thinking of the hundred brave and hearty soul in the Senate plus the two hundred and change in the Congress. Let their families and them try this brand new socialized medicine out and see how it works for them. Give them a couple of years to work all of the bugs out of it before they foist it on the rest of the country. I think that this is the best way for all of them to display 'servant leadership' as it's called. After spending months-if not years- running for office and telling me everything that they are going to do for me, this seems like the very least of those. They were all gung-ho to "fix" my health care, weren't they? Of course, they had no qualms about their own, did they? Who would, it's the best in the world, and for them, it is Scott free. This way, if they do have the committees to decide if I am worth keeping alive ( we used to call that euthanasia, but I'm sure there is a much friendlier, more democratic word for it now) I can actually have a say in some of these elected officials' health care. They sure want a big say in mine. I have had my experiences with socialized medicine. It was the US military and their system of see whichever Doctor is available. This was the system that completely missed the fact that my oldest son was deaf in his left ear. For five years, not one military health care provider caught it. Who did? A screening at his school, by a volunteer- was the first person who noticed that my son had a hearing problem. That is what is going to happen more and more as more people-especially uninvited guests -tax a system with fewer and fewer medical practitioners. The medical practitioners who stay in business are facing huge hurdles. many of them, like my own Doctor, will decide it isn't worth it anymore and simply quit. And companies that offer "medical coverage"? I imagine many of them will do what they company that cares-Walmart-has done. Many companies have started medical plans that have a five or ten thousand dollar deductible. Is that a figure you have sitting around in case there is a medical emergency? Well you better work on that, too. Socializing anything,especially medicine, is not the answer. I see more and more of a bumper sticker that says I'll keep my guns, my doctor and my freedoms you can keep the change. I couldn't say it any better, can you? Think about it, you'll thank me later.

Did You Miss Me?

I've spent the last few months getting my life reorganized, and sad to say, this blog was not my top priority. I would like to thank the people that sent me messages to see when I would be returning. It's nice to know when you are missed. I have a job that sends me all over the area talking to people every day. I love my job, and it seems to be something that I am good at doing. Whenever the day isn't going well, I remind myself that it could be worse. Much worse. Pete worked at Wal-Mart for the better part of ten years. He was in the management program, he was a department manager, he is an all around good guy. But the co-manager at his store had a money problem. And when another hourly associate loaned this co-manager over four hundred dollars (ethics, anyone?) Pete was quickly replaced as the dairy department manager. Never mind that he had taken a department that was a constant money loser and had it making a profit for the first time in ages. Never mind that he worked above and beyond the call many times. Pete was out. And the best part? The person that replaced him has hepatitis C! You know the one? It's the Hepatitis that is usually contracted from unsafe sex or shared needles and contaminated blood. It's the one that twenty percent of the time the person has no known risk factors so that they aren't sure how it was caught. One in five is a bigger chance than I am willing to take with my milk. There is a Kroger in town, I'll get my milk there, thank you. You may want to consider it. You'll thank me later.

Out With the Old, In With the.... Well Out With The Old, Anyway

I can't believe how much time has passed since I have been able to post a blog. I have no excuses, only reason is that my life keeps getting in the way. I have found time to speak with many former associates. The one thing that they all have in common is their time served with the happy haven of retail. When I walk into a store that I am familiar with, I do not recognize one person in five that I see. Why is that? Because so many of the former employees had the misfortune to be employed by Mr. Sam's company for a period of time that made them expendable. That is to say, they were finally making a living wage, and that as you all should know by now, just isn't going to make the nation's biggest employer( outside of the US Government) any money. Can any one say Kmart? Walmart seems determined to cut costs at the employee level until the employee level is decimated. The people that I talk to now are all timed for everything. Timed for their freight, timed for the clean up, timed to death. And where is customer service in all of this? Sorry, no time for that. I feel like I should apologize when I have to interrupt an employee to help me find something. What a great way to run a business. If Walmart is so determined to run themselves into bankruptcy, I can only hope they manage to do it while the current administration is socializing everything else. Can you imagine how much less efficient Walmart can be if they have the Government meddling even more? I spoke with a long time associate about a week ago. He had been with the company for over 10 years and had retired from a factory job years before that. This gentleman is a hard worker, no question. He had been named the associate of the month and had received glowing evals for years. But he made one mistake in staying with the company that cares. He kept coming to work! Silly, silly man. But Walmart in their infinite wisdom found a solution to keeping an experienced hard worker around. They complained and nagged at him until he had enough. Good job. Mr. Sam would be so proud! So if you have worked at Walmart for more than five years, I hope you can update your resume. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

The Family Company that Isn't

I talked to two of my favorite associates at my friendly Walmart SuperCenter. One of them is a people greeter who gives new meaning to the word dedication. When she hired in as a cashier, she just didn't get it. Instead of giving up, she thought the problem might be her glasses. So she would work eight hours (that tells you how long ago this was) without her glasses, suffering ferocious head aches when she got home. Eventually she became a people greeter and the problem was solved. But this dedicated, hard working associate was given a point against her attendance record because she left earlier when the nursing home called to say that her 98 year old Mother might be dying. Is that big hearted or what? Mr. Sam would be so proud. The second lady told me that she is finally retiring in July. She isn't sure that she will be okay financially, but she is looking forward to spending the Holidays with her family instead of at Walmart. Her family is looking forward to it also. Other news included a woman who is being promoted into salaried management even though her sister still works in the store where she will be working. How does that work? Probably the same way that the old co-manager used to go to her son's ball games. Can you say fraternization? Me neither. Oh, well, what are you going to do? Most people that still have to work there are just trying to keep from going under. 34 hours in not full time, no matter what Walmart might tell you. So if you have an interesting experience to share send it to me. You'll thank me later.

Odometer Tampering is not a Crime in Auburn, Indiana

It has been a while since I have been able to work on this. To the people who have sent emails asking for more, thank you. To the ones who sent emails to check on me, I also thank you. I have been so busy with a new career change that I haven't had the time to devote to this that I should have. I have also been in the throes of the legal system, Dekalb County, Indiana style. If you ever have the chance to avoid the area, I highly recommend it. It is a lot like stepping back in time, to a place where favors truly rule the law. I have been trying for months to notify someone, anyone of the odometer tampering that has been going on in this little town for various judges and other esteemed individuals, and there is not one person who cares, yet. I have sent information to the state police who to their credit are still checking into it. I gave the information to the chief of police in Auburn, Indiana. His response was to tell me I seemed like an angry spouse and I was just trying to make trouble. No, the fact that odometer tampering is illegal was never a consideration for this guy. The important people who have their leased vehicles tampered with never entered to conversation either. Hmmm..... I'm just trying to cause trouble, I guess. Be careful buying a vehicle at auction in Auburn, Indiana. You may well be buying a hidden lemon. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

Too Much Crap, Not Enough Time

I haven't posted in quite a while. The happiest place on earth being what it is, I found a different job that I absolutely love, so maybe things happen for a reason. I spend quite a bit of time talking to people who are still doing time in the retail giant of all giants, and they keep me informed of all the great changes. My favorite so far, is the practice of hiring only part time workers, now. Keep in mind that Walmart considers full time 36 hours, and you can just imagine what is going to be considered part time. Any person with a memory may well recall another retail giant that took the same step. I believe that Sears owns them now and they are limping along towards being just a memory in the world of retail. How many years until Walmart is in the same boat? It doesn't seem like Sam Walton was cold for very long before the greed of his family or underlings set the once great company on its ear. Nice job. It kind of reminds me of a sad version of Brewster's Million's. It makes me wonder what kind of time frame they gave themselves for dismantling the biggest retail store on the continent. They must be so proud. But I keep receiving emails from people who are telling me what has happened to them. I got a very sad email from Yvonne, who was terminated after 6 years because she was had to go to Doctor appointments more times then you-know-who thought was necessary. They gave her the option (if take it or go is an option) of going on leave or being terminated. When she said that she couldn't afford to go on leave of absence, the company with a heart terminated her. Mr. Sam would be so proud. So if you have a story, let me hear it. I'll write about the ones I can. Trust me, you'll thank me later.