Yesterday was one of those days that just flowed.  It wasn’t perfect, but for some neat reason, a couple of almost bad situations quickly turned in good favor.  The morning began with efforts to cheer up a friend. I jumped into the car to make my delivery and the car decided not to start. Car trouble is never nice and while this tried to impose on my day I refused to get too wound up. I got some help and was able to be on my way with little trouble. Next, I had a few errands to fit in before I saw my friend and I was pleased to find what I needed, at the store it was supposed to be, with little distraction. If you’re shopping luck is anything like mine, half the time what you need is out of stock and you have to go out of your way to get what you need.  There are also plenty of retail traps along the way.  Not this time, yay!

After meeting my friend, which made me happy, I had one last exchange to make.  I dashed into the store, I had been making good time so I didn’t want to be slowed down by extra baggage so I locked my purse in the car. I went in with only my product and receipt.  What I thought was a simple even exchange ended up being a handful of change more.  Before I could make it back out to my car the generous Walgreens manager scraped the change together and let me be on my way.  Very cool. I’m on my way to make my payback. -ed

Work can suck.  Working with people that suck can really suck.  Especially when you are trying not to suck yourself. If you’ve vowed to improve your outlook on life then it can be a real challenge when you work with a bunch of bad attitudes. It can be done. One of the first steps is remembering that you’ve vowed to claim a positive outlook on life and that includes learning to deal with the negatives and moving on. Here are a few rules that will help you deal with those less than positive co-workers without making you out to be some pretentious Pollyanna.

Rule #1 – Take breaks. Get away from the office, cube farm, assembly line at your earned breaks.  The reason smokers are more relaxed isn’t because they are at ease about death by cancer, but because they are changing the scenery.

Rule #2 – Change the subject. When someone starts complaining you don’t have to contribute to the conversation.  In order to transition without cutting the person off you may need to be patient.  Wait for an appropriate pause and then bring up a piece of good news.

Rule #3 – Avoid. If there is a particular group that thrives on griping just stay away.  Even if you think you are only listening, negativity mentally wears you down.

Rule # 4 – Kill ‘em with kindness.  Sometimes people just need to be cheered up and that will snap them out of their phase.

Rule #5 – Pass on the positive. This one gets close to the Pollyanna line but it can be done. Let it be known that you are working on yourself (don’t blame the negative atmosphere created by co-workers) and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how many people will support you.  They might even get on board.  I used to work with a guy that was annoyingly optimistic, but great to be around.  He was always happy and looking for the good in a situation.  Kind of like the kid brother you’re glad you never had.  However, this kid actually taught me a thing or two about attitude – everyone can benefit from a good one.

You’re never doomed in a situation.  It’s just a matter of dealing with it and it can be done.  Depending on how long is up to you. -ed

Social circles. Being included in social activities can be fun. Regardless if you have the time or interest it’s nice to have your presence requested. If I’m in charge of forming a gathering, I’m the type of person that usually says, “come one, come all”. I like to include everyone and don’t see the point of purposely excluding someone. Of course it’s foolish to think that everyone is always going to have the same interests and want to be around the same people. However, I figure it’s better to offer an invite and leave it up to the person to politely decline if necessary. So I get confused when I witness adults omitting family or “friends” from gatherings. It just doesn’t seem right.

Maybe I’m not up on social etiquette or maybe my flawed personality clouds my vision. And yes, I have probably mistakenly hurt feelings in my lifetime by excluding a person or group. People are always saying how the world should be more accepting of people with differences, and the world needs to unite and not fight. But when given a small opportunity to make that happen, they want to stand back shrug their shoulders like they have no say in the matter. Social responsibility is suddenly something that is everyone else’s problem. Ah, but to anyone who has ever been excluded, if you’re anything like me, I certainly don’t want to be around any person or group that doesn’t want me there. Maybe your first instinct is to retaliate, but think hard about the benefit, or lack thereof. If they didn’t know what they were missing in the first place, do you think that they will realize it later? A simple gesture of extending your social circle might enlighten in more ways than one.-ed

I used to have a neighbor that seemed to think screaming profanities at her kids made her a better disciplinarian. I’ve always felt sorry for kids who’s parents spoke to them with disrespect, especially in public.  Discipline is necessary and certainly not one size fits all, but when a parent finds themselves lashing out at the top of their lungs, isn’t that a signal that maybe humiliation is not working? Actually, when witnessing these scenes it appears that the mouthy parent is making a desperate effort to draw attention to themselves more than they care about setting the kid straight. It’s almost like they dare anyone to say something to them about how they “care” for their kid.  If they really did care, one would think that they would do like most parents do and give “the stare”. 

The parental stare can be quick, it’s more a glance so intense that the child knows that once out of the public eye they will learn the correction of their public error. In fact, many of my friends who grew up getting the stare agree that it will leave a youngster shakin’ in his or her boots long enough to straighten right up in hopes to repent and lessen the private punishment. Of course I’m being light-hearted but on a serious note, teach like you’d like to be taught. -ed

It’s Saturday and sunny.  This week was pretty rough for the mid-west with ice storms, snow, and bone-chilling temperatures. Now that the weather is decent crowds of people will be breaking out and curing cabin fever. Let’s see what it does to their attitudes.  Off I go to observe, who’s to say what I’ll see? -ed

It surprises me how many people don’t realize that walkers and runners are supposed to be on the left side of the road. The DMV.ORG states “Walk facing traffic when no sidewalk is available.” That means here in the United States we are supposed to drive on the right side of the road, therefore leaving pedestrians to use the left side of the road. Typically, I mind my own business when it comes to such issues, with exception to rare occasions involving danger and what not. But, I’m not going to hop out of my car and tell someone to put on their seat belt if I notice they’ve neglected to click it.  If I did decide to tell that person that they were breaking the law, I hope that I would do my homework first and make sure that I was spreading fact-not fiction before creating unnecessary debate.

Where I live the sidewalks are scarce and so my dog and I are required to share the road.  We do our best to respect the drivers and hit the ditch where we can.  Most passers-by are friendly and understanding.  Many wave while they make a safe swerve around us. One day a car slowed down and my spirits lifted as I expected the driver to offer kind words about the likes of the weather or some other cheery small talk.  Before I could break into a full smile or offer a “hello” the driver proceeded to scold me for being on the wrong side of the street.  I didn’t even get to offer a rebuttal and off they went. It took me a moment to realize that the mutter from the drivers mouth was not only rude but, uh WRONG!

Part of me wanted to go print the traffic laws out and paste them to their car at night. Another part of me wished I had the chance to argue back in my defense with the RIGHT infromation.  However, I was glad to have the private time to stew and renew my thoughts.  Obviously this person didn’t know the law and my walk was probably not the root problem for their bad mood. A few days later, my dog and I walked by the house of the driver and the trash-walker-talker was outside.   We minded our own business but were greeted by the driver with flower seeds and garden talk.  Not a word about the road.  I’m not the type of person to get walked on or disrespected and I also don’t use others as a doormat or disrespect them.  I also have learned that sometimes you must pick your battles, that is if they are even battles to begin with. I chose to accept the seeds and chat with a silent understanding that this person’s abrupt stop was nothing more than good intention.  -ed

“I got it, I’ll pay,” were the words that a young woman directed to me and the cashier as she proceeded to pay for my one item.  Excuse me?  At first I thought maybe I misunderstood her, maybe she asked me for something? I glanced at the cashier with confusion who seemed to instantly get it. She cheerfully rang up my jellybeans telling me that it was my lucky day. The woman nodded and gave a half smile and was on her way. I had a mix of emotions including gratitude to such kindness, giddiness because I got free candy, and reservation to why I had deserved the nice gesture. Were my clothes dirty, did I look needy? Maybe I just experienced an “Oprah moment”.  Regardless, this woman had no angle or motive other than a pure, kind, out-of-the blue nice gesture. It was refreshing and sweet.  It was a feeling that I made certain to return to the universe.  I made sure to pay it forward.  Hope it happens to you, too. -ed

Since customer service has pretty much gone down the tubes these days, it makes my day when I have a good retail experience.  Last week my precious watch went ka-put. My watch is an extension of my arm, practically a body part. No, it isn’t a Rolex – but to a runner it’s more valuable than any Swiss time piece. It is a Timex Ironman watch. Just about any athlete is branded by a sports-watch and it’s probably the most valuable piece of equipment that they own.  It’s there for them to Indiglo in the night and to wake them for the day with it’s gentle alarm. So when mine refused to beep I wasted no time fixing the failure.  I went to Kohl’s where I had made the original purchase.  However, I had bought it at a different store and did not have the receipt.  I was up front with the manager telling them my situation and hoped that we could send it off or swap it out.  After checking the numbers and verifying that it had beeped it’s last beep, the Kohl’s crew hooked me up with a new slick Timex Ironman.  Thank you Kohl’s for taking care of your loyal customer. For that I wish you many more. Although, only time will tell. -ed