One thing I know about Obama is that throughout the next four years, we will have no lack of rousing speeches in times of difficulty. His inaugural address was inspiring. The kind of speech that if all its declarations were carried out perfectly, would heal the nation in next to no time. It certainly drew a crowd and numberless raving Obama fans. I did not vote for Obama, but I really hope he does what he says he will do. His record does not assure me that he will succeed as president, but then again records only go so far. He may surprise me and I am hoping he does.
Something that I have struggled to understand though, is the fierce loyalty that many people have for this man. None of them knows how his presidency will unfold, yet they act as if The Savior Himself has just assumed the country’s highest office. I suppose such loyalty is admirable, but he hasn’t done anything yet. He has given hope for sure, but as the next four years unfold, I will need more than that to shower him with the praise that so many others do.
I understand that everybody shows excitement or anticipation in different ways. Personally, I will offer my loyalty to the new president and then observe and process what I see before I offer praise. I never have been the type to fall over myself trying to catch a glimpse of some public figure. Instead I try to ask what it is that inspires such wild reactions in their followers, and if it is admirable, then maybe I can model myself after it. But that “something” has to be admirable.
In Obama’s case, he has some big promises to keep; a big mess to fix. He’s not a rock star because he has promised to enact change – he will be deemed worthy of my admiration when he shows me he will uphold the constitution at all costs, strengthen moral values as much as he is able, and keep the promises he has made to reform broken Washington. Even then I won’t be tripping over my feet to see him as tears fall from my eyes, but I will respect him.
The bottom line for me is that he is our president and he has my support. But great presidents have proven themselves by actions in tough times. Promises are ok, but we demand more now that Obama has assumed the office. As far as I’m concerned, the honeymoon is over and it’s time to bring that change.
Disney’s Halloween Treat is what made Halloween great when I was a kid. The trick-or-treating too of course, but this old collection of the scarier moments of Disney is something that I have always remembered and wanted to share with my kids, when I have them. I don’t think Disney has released this program in DVD format because all I can find on Amazon is a VHS copy that somebody is trying to sell for $145. I guess they know they can get that price for a movie so loved by previous generations.
Luckily enough, even though not on DVD, somebody has posted the whole show on YouTube in nine parts. I’m reposting it here for everyones viewing pleasure. Enjoy.
I received a call last week informing me that my brother-in-law just won a free vacation and he wanted me to win one too. It was Worldmark by Wyndham calling, and they wanted me to come in and sit through one of their presentations on time shares. They are not actually time shares in the conventional sense of the word, but they are similar.
So I said ok, convinced April that we would get at least a free night stay and dinner, and booked the date to attend the presentation. Most of you have probably been to one of these things, so I’ll spare you all the details, but suffice it to say that it was a typical sales environment. There was loud music, happy employees greeting us, drinks, cookies – all aimed at softening us up for the upcoming sales pitch.
We spoke to our “representative” about our dream vacation and nice feel good type stuff, then proceeded into a large presentation room where we listened to a guy talk about how we needed to start going on planned vacations if we were ever going to be happy in our lives. Typical expected sales stuff – no big deal.
We then went back to our representative and he explained why they differ from everyone else. I admit that I think their idea is great and anybody should at least look at it to see if it’s for them. I can see how a lot of people would be really interested in this program. We were as interested as anybody else, but then he got to price. We listened to him, talked it over privately, and decided that this vacation deal was not in our budget at this time. We went over our reasons with him – both of us being full-time students, looking for a better job, debt payment plans not allowing superfluous vacationing expenses, and so on. We felt ready to pick up our free vacation and leave. But no.
Our representative, who was very courteous throughout the entire process, tried to overcome our objections to no avail. He even brought over his superior, who was also very nice, but couldn’t sell us either. They both gave up, then told us that they were going to have another guy come over who would verify that our representative was on his best behavior and did everything he could to please us. So he came over, but they hadn’t told us the truth. He was another salesman. He was a bit more pushy than our representative but we told him no without going into all the details that we had just explained. He then told us that they would like us to fill out a survey before we left.
Another half-truth. The next guy was an other salesman, but this one really got under my skin. He said he was from “corporate” and that he would be giving us a survey to fill out. So he proceeded to pull out the survey, turned it over and gave us the “what do I have to do to get you out of here today with this car” speech. Anything we told him went in one ear and out the other. He was the type of salesman that tries to make you feel stupid by making the deal seem too good to be true. He offered some no obligation trial plan that might have been nice had we decided to buy, but our minds were made up at this point.
What really got to me was when he said something to the effect of “Well most people like to spend quality time with with their loved ones. I like to spend quality time with my loved ones. I guess you guys just don’t like to spend quality time with each other. I guess you guys just don’t think it’s that important. Quality time is a good thing though.” He said this whole thing with one of those smug faces that makes you want to reach across the table and lay him out flat.
Needless to say he ruined the pleasant experience I had been having up until that point. He then carelessly led us over to some guy who gave us the free vacation. He didn’t say anything else to us. Not a thanks for coming in, not a hope to see you again soon. We were dead to him.
So, three bits of advice for these guys:
1. Tell people the truth. Don’t speak in half-truths or flat out lies. If you are going to throw three levels of sales at them, then tell them.
2. Don’t insult their intelligence. If they’re not buying, don’t treat them like idiots. Chances are they really do like your product and they’ll either come back when the time is right or they’ll refer someone to you. Don’t ruin it by being a smug jerk.
3. Act like you still care about their business if they turn you down. Most no’s mean “not right now”. If you act like you never want to see them again, then guess what, you won’t. They’ll take their business elsewhere and chances are they’ll tell their friends to stay away from you.
I never thought I would be writing a book recommendation post about a school book. Well, I take that back. I read some good books during my undergraduate degree, but they were more scholarly and not exactly good for reviewing.
If you want to read a book that’s just weird, ‘Orbiting the Giant Hairball‘ is it. It’s not weird in the same way as, say, tiny crablike creatures inhabiting the earth, but it’s still out there. You have to have experienced work in a corportate or semi-corporate setting to understand the weirdness in it. That said, it is a business-like book, but don’t let the word business deter you – it’s not a real business book.
This author worked at Hallmark for years and now takes the reader on a journey through many of his experiences there. He describes Hallmark as a Giant Hairball, sucking everything into it with it’s powerful gravitational pull. It especially sucks in creativity and individuality, then squashes it in its giant, hairy mass. The author, however, never got sucked in. He “orbited” the hairball. He was part of the organization, but never an organizational casualty.
The hairball is everything that you hate about your job. Gray cubicles, white walls, stodgy suits, corporate backstabbing, politics, and so on. People might hate the hairball at first, but then they get raises, promotions and pats on the back by superiors until they have become one with the hairball. The book’s author never let that happen to him. He stood out – way out. He found a way to submit to superiors without really submitting. The way in which he did this is the fun part of the book so I’ll leave it up to you to read it.
You’ll like it, I promise. You might not think everyone can do what he did, but it’s a fun read anyway.
One thing I know about Obama is that throughout the next four years, we will have no lack of rousing speeches in times of difficulty. His inaugural address was inspiring. The kind of speech that if all its declarations were carried out perfectly, would heal the nation in next to no time. It certainly drew a crowd and numberless raving Obama fans. I did not vote for Obama, but I really hope he does what he says he will do. His record does not assure me that he will succeed as president, but then again records only go so far. He may surprise me and I am hoping he does.
