McLeesBogaert » Life’s realities

Another Unnecessary Death

Marcia — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:19:03 +0000

Why is it necessary to use a real gun with blanks in a play, when sound effects can be done another way? Yes, the sound of a blank going off can be very effective, but in this day of digital recordings, are you going to tell me, as a parent, as a human being, that using a real gun with blanks that can injure or kill is worth the realism in a high school play? In any play?

Is there not enough negative realism in the real world without chancing bringing it to another family?

This was real life for one family. It should not have happened and it certainly should not happen again. It is up to each of us to educate those around us that it CAN happen. That is the first step.

Pay On Time

Marcia — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:28:21 +0000

It is bad enough that so many people get caught up in, “I’ll just pay it a week late”, even when they have the money. But to have a business owner not pay his or her employees on time, especially when they are a solvent business….

What happened to responsibility in finances?

Bail out?

Marcia — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:47:29 +0000

Bail Out? Only if you are physically in a boat and it is sinking. Ok, perhaps, a couple of other situations might warrant it. However, I feel the current bailout the government of America is working on, is not a good idea.

As much as individuals want to blame the lenders for their problems, it is the individual’s responsibility to not over extend themselves. We have all made poor decisions, I know I have, but it was my responsibility to do everything in my power to bail myself out. I have spent more than I should have, bought a house more expensive than I should have, and I have just had to do with less, go out less, buy less, for years, at times, to deal with it. It wasn’t fun, I wasn’t as overextended as many are, but the principle is the same.

It is not a good situation, it is not pleasant. But, it is no different than expecting a child or teenager to learn from their mistakes so as not to repeat history. There is only so much bailing out — there comes a time we have to stand on our own two feet.

Rules in Business

Marcia — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:33:27 +0000

Exceptions to rules are fine – and make sense – when those exceptions are thought out with care. When you just allow them when convenient to you or when you don’t wish to take the time to think, or for favorites, you undermine not only your authority, but your esteem in your employee’s eyes.

And, once esteem and respect are diminished, they are hard to win back.

Please, Train Your Employees

Marcia — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:11:59 +0000

People, in general, wonder why so many businesses go out of business. I wonder why as many stay in business as they do.

I realize it is difficult at times for management to get their point across to employees, to train them, to help them learn to treat customers as though they have value.

And for those who are in that position and still trying to work with new employees, I applaud your efforts.

- But it appears some management

- But it appears management in too many businesses either do not have the skills or just do not have any better attitude than the employees they hire.

- But it appears management is holding on to employees both not qualified to learn the job or with attitudes unsuited for customer service.

And to you, I will try your business once, twice, if it appears it is just one employee trying to learn, but after that, I will drive 25 miles if necessary to avoid your business. I refuse to reward another business that just doesn’t care.

But then, the USPS, over the years I have found two many uninformed or non caring employees. I’m apt to run out of places to go.

That said, I have found a few great employees there, I just hope I find more!

Advertise Accurately, Please

Shh — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:38:23 +0000

Advertising is a great tool, but advertising incorrectly, with more license than necessary, just shoves your product or service into the trash heap for many of us. You may trick me once, but if I have done my research and/or the second time you attempt, you are only playing tricks on yourself.700 is not the same as 640. Large may be relative, but there is a distinct difference between a large piece of cake and a slither of cake. Freshly made is not the same as days old. Excellent quality is not a synonym for falling apart. And so on.

At War With Self

Shh — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:55:01 +0000

Though peace is often a topic discussed, it often takes people like Mimi with projects like Peace Globes to cause us to sit down and really give more than a cursory thought, leave it to others who know best kind of attitude. Writing about peace last week and trying to bring back my work habits – long since tossed aside brought this thought to mind today:

How can we expect to win battles for peace in the world, when we do not bother to win self battles?

Perhaps, the real first step toward winning world peace is to face our war with self, to face why we:

ignore our bodies’ overall health
ignore our need to rest mentally
ignore our need to balance work and pleasure
ignore our need to help others

Those battles are notorious for being hard to win. Had we more practice fighting those battles, pulling in inner strength toward a goal so very vital to a decent life on earth, then those skills could be applied to fighting battles for peace. It all really does start within.

I am battling, they have always been weaker battles, hopefully this one will be fought longer and harder. I’d love to apply those skills to the rest of my life – and fighting for peace.

If you see it as I do, care to join me in fighting a better, smarter, more efficient battle? Or just, at least, going beyond just declaring war on bad habits, and start fighting them with the intention of winning?

Dona Nobis Pacem – It is our responsibility

Shh — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:07:20 +0000

Yes, it is our responsibility to ourselves and the world to brainstorm ways to find peace – and then act on them.

My words I felt worth repeating are found by clicking on the globe.Mimi’s most recent post summarizing all her research this past month on wars is found here: Dona Nobis Pacem ~ A Revolution of Words.Links for other writers on peace there. Perhaps reading some of them will take your thoughts on peace in a different direction, one of can do, rather than frustration and hopeless?

Peace Globe – It takes many

Shh — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:34:56 +0000

Mimi’s Peace Globes are flying… Many of us want peace – I would say all, but there are a few who prefer to stir things up in a negative way, hate driven? Self-loathing; a missing link to a thing one might label heart and kindness in their chemistry? I don’t know, but I know that because of the strength of the few, their ability to throw a wrench in the works that seems to have the uncanny knack to stop “production of peace”, the many (all of the rest of us — a LOT of many) have to work harder and constantly at combating this disruption of peace. I don’t believe there is one way of both preventing them from disrupting or from repairing the damage they cause to society as a whole. Individually, we need to do what we can, we need to use our strengths to join in the constant battle – and at the same time shore up our weaknesses, our loss of resolve, our frustration that becomes (or became) so great that it becomes anger and blinds us from the tools we have in our arsenal.

I read years ago, when I was more impressionable, that negative energy is stronger than positive energy, that when in a crowd, the negative people can easily incite riots because of that. Riots scare the heck out of me, I think of them like runaway cattle, crushing and destroying, innocents killed or maimed because of. I don’t know if science still spouts that fact, but I do know that true or not, to combat negative energy it takes an inordinate amount of work and it is either do that work or be absorbed and controlled by the negative.

It is personally extremely frustrating when a point as important as living in peace is not accepted by the masses. No, in truth, it is extremely frustrating when it is not accepted by even one single human being. And it is only in writing this that I realize HOW important that one person is, for that ONE person can spread that negative energy to the many. Just as their negative energy can wear us down, why could not our positive energy, IF IN MASS, wear them down? It may not wear down those that truly hate, that have a major screw loose in their brains, that loathe themselves so much they don’t see the good in a single human life. It may not, but it will influence those that are teetering, that just need a little dose of respect, that need knowledge, that need someone to explain life and the benefits of peace and kindness in a way they understand.

That last paragraph, how to get there is both simple and so very complicated. So many ways to reach people, so many people, though, that are not reachable by normal every day words or your explanation, or mine, or his. That is where blogging comes in. There are so many millions blogging, we DON’T all think alike, one of us may have a different idea… And that is where Mimi comes in:

she is giving us another excuse to try to get the point, even just the thought, of peace across. It is but one way, but it will get through to at least one person — and one more is more than no more — and one more tips the scale that tiny bit toward peace.
she is using repetition, asking us to participate in peace more than once, creating a “Universal” brand, Peace Globe
she is bringing the word, “PEACE” to our minds
she is doing something,
she is asking us to do something, to take a step forward, to scheme, to brainstorm toward peace

Any step forward is a good step, even if retreating comes later, or we make detours along the way. You have different strengths, different ideas, you are, like Mimi, like me, like your aunt and uncle, your neighbor, your unborn child: one of the many. Brainstorm on P e a c e, I dare you. (And if you are one that plays opposites, I dare you NOT to brainstorm on P e a c e.)

I’m flying a peace globe again on June 4th. It may mean nothing to some, it may be but an opportunity to link for others, a game for yet others, but it means the world to others, so for them, I will post mine. It is your choice to Shh? or No! Speak up! And if you chose Shh?, you can always decide later, that No! Speak up! is your new course of action. It took me a while to get there, too.

Toll roads affect lives…

Shh — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:41:34 +0000

… more than people realize!

Family: it is well known family time is important and working for a living to a point interferes with that process, but it is a necessary and for the most part good evil. There is much to be gained other than money by spending hours working “together”!

Those who can afford it spend money on toll roads to get where they are going faster, many times the place they are heading is home, home to their families.

Many of the working poor work two jobs to make ends meet – just to get bare necessities. They weave through side streets, the long way home, because they have no money for tolls. They miss those few extra moments with their families.

Society leans toward the rich. More and more, government is pushing for toll roads. Shame, isn’t it that being rich affords more than just luxuries?

That said money to fix roads has to come from somewhere… wouldn’t taxing by percentage be more fair?

I know I went from point A – tolls affect families to Point B – taxing by percentage. Just the way my mind works. Everything affects something else. It is not easy coming up with solutions that do right for everyone. I doubt I could do it – well.