Word to the Wise #8: To Vote or Not to Vote - Will you be ostracized by your friends?

Oh my.....what a soapbox we could get on this morning. Very interesting attitudes I see displayed this morning on the various social networks. When there's a world filled with despair, rage, self mutilation, recession, and just all around other bad stuff, the one thing we've always been able to depend on as a Nation is the freedoms we have. Now it's come to a time when friends slam friends and neighbors beat each other up for expressing their right to vote. Everyone has a right to their opinion and everyone has a right to express said opinion. No one is obligated to agree with said opinion, and SOMETIMES maybe even we choose the wrong forum to express our opinions in, but we SHOULD be courteous enough to respect others when their opinions are shared. What are we teaching our children and our children's children when we can't even be respectful enough not to slam others because they excercised their right to vote? At least they voted!!! Why can't we just put our energy into actually doing something about the issues we feel so passionate about instead of wasting time slamming others? Get a grip, people.....get off of your soapbox preaching how you are 'ashamed of [your] friends' or how you 'are ashamed' to live in one state or another. If you're so ashamed of your friends for voting the way they felt lead to vote, then they're not really your friends at all. Maybe you don't really understand what friendship is all about. Maybe you'd rather sit by your Facebook page and tell the world how ashamed you are rather than get out and work the streets and help the ones that you feel are being slammed by one amendment or another. Stop TALKING about it and actually DO SOMETHING about it!!!  Word to the Wise......don't put your 'worldly' criticism out there unless you've done everything within your power and then some to better the world you live in.

Word to the Wise #7: Stole this from a friend's facebook page yesterday......"You wouldn't have to worry so much about how much greener the grass is on the other side, if you'd water your own grass every once in a while."  And the morale of the story is......no matter how bad it gets, it could ALWAYS be worse.

Word to the Wise #6: Everyone makes mistakes. It's how you recover from them that sets you apart from the rest.......

Word to the Wise #5......I'm on a government kick this week. Hang on...it's gonna be a bumpy ride!!! Soooooo.....you pay your taxes........you get refunds......you submit your paperwork on time. What for? None of the government offices that are SUPPOSED to keep track of all of this work together. They don't know how to communicate with one another. AND they do whatever they get ready to with your money however they see fit and whenever THEY deem it logical. You have absolutely NO CONTROL and NO POWER when it comes to the government agencies that deal with your money. Long story short? Make sure you keep good records. Make sure you know where those records are. And make sure you apply common sense when it comes to networking and reaching out to the powers that be. Get to the person that can resolve the issue. Don't talk to people who just have to go in circles to get anything accomplished. Know your rights and stand your ground at all times.  Be in control of your finances.  IF you're not, THEY will be. There.....I'm done.....for now. :)

Word to the wise #4: I guess I'm on a common courtesy kick this week. Bear with me.....it will pass. :)  So... you're a server in a restaurant. Big or small, busy or not, upscale or dinky....it doesn't matter. Take your pick. You've had a really long day. Maybe it started off good, maybe it started off bad. Maybe you have a lot of personal stuff going on at home creating extra stress. Maybe you're on cloud nine and everything is going well. Who knows.

Whatever the situation and no matter how you're feeling, IF you expect to earn an extra monetary compensation completely reflective of your table-side manner (better known as a TIP), you will want to be very certain that you treat each customer like they are your first for the day....like your day has been the best you've ever had, like you absolutely LOVE your job and really want to be serving them.  Be mindful that your customer just may have had a bad day, too, and that you could be the one person to turn that bad day around. Become the customer and think for a moment, 'How much tip would I leave if that had been my server?'

Word to the Wise #3......if you use public social web pages (you know the ones I mean) and you make general posts on your page for anyone to see instead of sending someone a private message, be prepared for any comments that may come back to you. Please remember that it is always more difficult to infer the tone behind a written message. Don't assume someone's trying to slander you or call you out. Be prepared for playful banter. Laughter is the best medicine and MOST people are just out to have a good time. Please do not criticize or call someone out for commenting on your post. Social web pages are not intended to be gathering places for public disputes or heated discussions. Be the grown up....if you don't like something they said, pick up the phone and call......OR better yet....IGNORE THEM. Word to the Wise - You never know who's reading your posts.......

Word to the wise #2.......if you are cash register clerk in a retail outlet, please do not comment on a customer's purchases, sniff the merchandise, or admire anything being purchased for a long period of time. Please also do not talk on your cell phone or text your buddy while trying to ring up a sale. For example, 'Wow, you sure must like this soda to buy so many' is not an appropriate choice of conversation. Sniffing a bag of cucumbers because they smell sooooo good to you or because you are just absolutely starving is not an appropriate behavior. Texting your buddy, Joe, is not the best way to make your rings per minute very efficient. Make sure your actions reflect what you would expect if you were standing on the other side of the counter. Be kind to yourself by being kind to other people......