The name Tina Carroll may not mean much to you, but to many it does.
A lot can be said about a person who puts others above themselves, even when they are ill.
I did not know Tina, but understanding what I have read about her, I wish I had. she was truiely a person of unique spirit and courage, and I feel that her loss is a loss to all of us.
After asking for permission to post the article here, I was turned down. I was, however, told that I can post this link so that the author, Shellie Branco, would still get her due credit.
I ask that you take a moment to read this article. I envy this girl's ability to put others above herself. Her dedication to herself through her continued education and her dedication to others through her work as a volunteer.
While her life was short, and she was in pain, she did not dwell on this, and lived a productive, active and worthy life.
I cannot say much more than Shellie was able to in her article, and I think that she said it well. I can only say that I hope that I can live a life as full as she had in her short stay on this plane.
Thank you Tina for being one of the bright points in the lives of others. You will be missed by those that loved you, those that you touched and those that only knew of you through stories of others. Your parents have much to be proud of.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
How are your sales skills?
So... how good of a sales person are you?
If your response is that you are not in sales, think again.
If you stop and carefully consider you life and the motions you go through, at some point you are a salesperson. You may not realize it at the time, however.
Let's take the obvious... something that we are all familiar with, unless you are one of the many career welfare recipients in this great land.
The Resume'
Yes... that is what I said. In fact, consider the entire job search process. You are going into a place to look for a job or a career. You are going to try and convince that HR person that you are the best person for the job. This is the best example of a salesperson, only what you are selling is your services in return for your future.
You may think that this does not apply to all jobs, but I disagree. Whether you are trying to get a job as a courtesy clerk at a grocery store or working the fryer at the local McDonalds, you are providing your services in an attempt to move up in the company, thusly you are selling your skills, or selling your ability to learn a new trade and be a promotable asset.
This being said, everyone should take their jobs seriously. If you do not like your job, and we have all had a job we did not like (mine was working Fine Men's Clothing at Harris' Dept Store.) you should still do the very best you can, and be proud of the work you do. Any time you get sick and think you might just slack off a little, think if the fact that you are not irreplaceable... there are plenty of people that will be happy to take you place should you become a liability over an asset.
Lets look at the next item...
Your Mate (Relationships)
A wise person once said that Marriage is just a legalized and institutionalized form of prostitution.
OK... that was crass, I know, but lets look at the way a relationship works, and you will see that there IS a certain amount of salesmanship in a relationship.
Courting.
The courting process goes back to the beginning of the human race. If you want to imagine the old cartoons of a caveman dragging his mate by the hair from location to location, then you have a cute imagination.
Primitive man, more than likely, courted in much the same way that animals court. The males fight for the right to mate by demonstrating who was superior and stronger. As a testament to natural selection, this then made sure that the strongest survived and the weaker, sickly, died off.
These days it is not really acceptable for people to fight for the right to mate with a particular female, although it does still happen, and mostly in bars and at the urging of young or deranged women (see my article about Cheaters.)
I will use myself and my relationship as an example of a long term successful relationship sales event. My wife and I have been married for fifteen years. I met her through her boyfriend almost eighteen years ago. I moved in with him for need of getting out of my mother's house, and he brought in his girlfriend.
Long story short, she and I developed a relationship due in part to the fact that he was abusive to her, and I treated her like she was a friend. Over time she left him, and her and I became good friends, then over time we nurtured the friendship into something more.
The moral to that story would be that the first person failed the task, and I came in and took over. While this makes things sound a little impersonal, I do not want to give the wrong impression. If I could say anything to her ex-boyfriend, then it you be thank you for being a lousy sales person, because I came out with the better end of the deal. We have had a wonderful relationship and will continue to.
Ok... Now I know that there are many of you who might read this and think that my opinion is silly or unfounded. That may be the case, but these are observations made from from an attempt to be neutral. These are also just my opinions, nothing more. If you do not like them, then that is your opinion, and that is human nature. Yes... opinions are like assholes, and yes... to some they are all full of shit.
If your response is that you are not in sales, think again.
If you stop and carefully consider you life and the motions you go through, at some point you are a salesperson. You may not realize it at the time, however.
Let's take the obvious... something that we are all familiar with, unless you are one of the many career welfare recipients in this great land.
The Resume'
Yes... that is what I said. In fact, consider the entire job search process. You are going into a place to look for a job or a career. You are going to try and convince that HR person that you are the best person for the job. This is the best example of a salesperson, only what you are selling is your services in return for your future.
You may think that this does not apply to all jobs, but I disagree. Whether you are trying to get a job as a courtesy clerk at a grocery store or working the fryer at the local McDonalds, you are providing your services in an attempt to move up in the company, thusly you are selling your skills, or selling your ability to learn a new trade and be a promotable asset.
This being said, everyone should take their jobs seriously. If you do not like your job, and we have all had a job we did not like (mine was working Fine Men's Clothing at Harris' Dept Store.) you should still do the very best you can, and be proud of the work you do. Any time you get sick and think you might just slack off a little, think if the fact that you are not irreplaceable... there are plenty of people that will be happy to take you place should you become a liability over an asset.
Lets look at the next item...
Your Mate (Relationships)
A wise person once said that Marriage is just a legalized and institutionalized form of prostitution.
OK... that was crass, I know, but lets look at the way a relationship works, and you will see that there IS a certain amount of salesmanship in a relationship.
Courting.
The courting process goes back to the beginning of the human race. If you want to imagine the old cartoons of a caveman dragging his mate by the hair from location to location, then you have a cute imagination.
Primitive man, more than likely, courted in much the same way that animals court. The males fight for the right to mate by demonstrating who was superior and stronger. As a testament to natural selection, this then made sure that the strongest survived and the weaker, sickly, died off.
These days it is not really acceptable for people to fight for the right to mate with a particular female, although it does still happen, and mostly in bars and at the urging of young or deranged women (see my article about Cheaters.)
I will use myself and my relationship as an example of a long term successful relationship sales event. My wife and I have been married for fifteen years. I met her through her boyfriend almost eighteen years ago. I moved in with him for need of getting out of my mother's house, and he brought in his girlfriend.
Long story short, she and I developed a relationship due in part to the fact that he was abusive to her, and I treated her like she was a friend. Over time she left him, and her and I became good friends, then over time we nurtured the friendship into something more.
The moral to that story would be that the first person failed the task, and I came in and took over. While this makes things sound a little impersonal, I do not want to give the wrong impression. If I could say anything to her ex-boyfriend, then it you be thank you for being a lousy sales person, because I came out with the better end of the deal. We have had a wonderful relationship and will continue to.
Ok... Now I know that there are many of you who might read this and think that my opinion is silly or unfounded. That may be the case, but these are observations made from from an attempt to be neutral. These are also just my opinions, nothing more. If you do not like them, then that is your opinion, and that is human nature. Yes... opinions are like assholes, and yes... to some they are all full of shit.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Our actions
Do you feel that your action, or inaction, can truely make those around you into better or worse people?
Have you ever noticed that when, in the course of your day, you encounter a person who is in a genuinely good mood, that mood will rub off? The power that a smile or a pleasant nod to a person is vastly under appreciated. Sometimes a smile and a nod at the right time can make a person's day a little brighter.
Just a mild thought that I wanted to share.
Have you ever noticed that when, in the course of your day, you encounter a person who is in a genuinely good mood, that mood will rub off? The power that a smile or a pleasant nod to a person is vastly under appreciated. Sometimes a smile and a nod at the right time can make a person's day a little brighter.
Just a mild thought that I wanted to share.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
In-N-Out Burgers
Hamburgers and Cheeseburgers, fries and drinks.
That's all...
Anyone that is familiar with the In-N-Out burger chain, will sympathize with me on this. This is a company that is one of those companies that has not bent itself over to add new things to the menu and try to cater to all tastes and all people.
I go there on a regular basis, and I am always impressed with the amount of business they get versus the competition. Add to this the fact that I have never been treated rudely in one, and I have never heard people speak badly of them as a while, either.
One of the In-N-Out locations in my town is located right across the street from a Burger King, and what strikes me as the most impressive aspect to this store, and a true statement to the quality of the food there, is that almost all the time, the In-N-Out (to save time I will refer to them as INO) has a line in the drive through going all the way around the building, with wait times ranging from a few minute to upward of ten minutes... Yet people are willing to wait. Meanwhile, across the street at the Burger King, there is rarely more than two cars in their driveway, and the dining area is rarely even half full. I wonder, too, if the only reason that people are in there is only because they could not wait for the line at INO. Either way, this is still a big complement to the INO.
While in any INO, if you look carefully, you may see a sign in the back that tells you an important piece of information. You will see the number of burgers that they make in a day, and in a month. If I had any suggestion to the family that still runs INO, it would be to put that sign out where everyone can see it. The numbers, while I do not recall them now, are astounding. I simply could not believe that they were right. I asked an employee about them once, and he smiled and said something like; 'you're not really supposed to see that, but yes.' Amazing. If anyone from INO happens to read this BLOG, please consider putting that sign in an easier to see place. It will not hurt your business.
In recent news, however, it looks as though there is some trouble in the INO family that may have long term affects on the company. There seems to be a rift forming in the relationship between the remaining heir and the board of directors. I do hope that throughout this ordeal, these people remember who the real jury is in this case, and make sure not to alienate us, the loyal and dedicated dining public. If something were to happen to the chain, then we would certainly lose a great place to eat. What is almost worse than the idea of them closing, is the possibility that they may go public, or sell out. These would both be a tragedy.
That's all...
Anyone that is familiar with the In-N-Out burger chain, will sympathize with me on this. This is a company that is one of those companies that has not bent itself over to add new things to the menu and try to cater to all tastes and all people.
I go there on a regular basis, and I am always impressed with the amount of business they get versus the competition. Add to this the fact that I have never been treated rudely in one, and I have never heard people speak badly of them as a while, either.
One of the In-N-Out locations in my town is located right across the street from a Burger King, and what strikes me as the most impressive aspect to this store, and a true statement to the quality of the food there, is that almost all the time, the In-N-Out (to save time I will refer to them as INO) has a line in the drive through going all the way around the building, with wait times ranging from a few minute to upward of ten minutes... Yet people are willing to wait. Meanwhile, across the street at the Burger King, there is rarely more than two cars in their driveway, and the dining area is rarely even half full. I wonder, too, if the only reason that people are in there is only because they could not wait for the line at INO. Either way, this is still a big complement to the INO.
While in any INO, if you look carefully, you may see a sign in the back that tells you an important piece of information. You will see the number of burgers that they make in a day, and in a month. If I had any suggestion to the family that still runs INO, it would be to put that sign out where everyone can see it. The numbers, while I do not recall them now, are astounding. I simply could not believe that they were right. I asked an employee about them once, and he smiled and said something like; 'you're not really supposed to see that, but yes.' Amazing. If anyone from INO happens to read this BLOG, please consider putting that sign in an easier to see place. It will not hurt your business.
In recent news, however, it looks as though there is some trouble in the INO family that may have long term affects on the company. There seems to be a rift forming in the relationship between the remaining heir and the board of directors. I do hope that throughout this ordeal, these people remember who the real jury is in this case, and make sure not to alienate us, the loyal and dedicated dining public. If something were to happen to the chain, then we would certainly lose a great place to eat. What is almost worse than the idea of them closing, is the possibility that they may go public, or sell out. These would both be a tragedy.
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