No More Multi Tasking

I hate multitasking! In fact, when I hire my office staff, I specifically tell the applicant that I do not expect them to be a  multi tasker. I expect a single task, attention to detail, person. Do one thing at a time and do it well. That is my philosophy. For some reason, the world has gotten it into it's mind that many things must go on at once. In the "olden days" (and this was without modern computer technology) things were done at a normal pace and done correctly. Start a project and follow through until it is done, sans errors! Yesterday I went to purchase a few varied items in a craft store. The worker there was mixing and matching so quickly that I was losing track. When I reviewed the order before I purchased it, things were missing. I called the salesgirl back and told her that we needed to go over the order in a systematic way. One item at a time, one color at a time. When we did it that way, it was done correctly. No mistakes. Why are we all in such a rush that we need to do 10 things at once and then have to re-do it the right way. Sometimes the fastest way to get things done, is to do it slowly.

Food For Thought

Yesterday, in work, we were deciding what food to order for lunch. We only have two choices, as the area I work in, is mostly medical buildings. We have Chinese and Italian. After 9 years, it gets boring. I then asked my co-workers what their favorite food was. One person said Greek food. One said lobster. When it came to my turn to answer, I realized that I had not eaten my most favorite food in 45 years and that I would never eat it again. My favorite food was Petcha. My Grandmother used to make it for the family. It is calves feet that are boiled and seasoned to perfection. The feel of eating it adds to the taste of eating it, as a jelly is formed as it cooks. There is no other food that tastes like this. After I said my food choice, another woman I work with said "Oh my gosh.... I haven't thought of Petcha in years". It seems that her grandmother also made it, and when our grandmothers passed away, many of their recipes died with them. Each recipe was made a bit different, so no two grandma's Petcha would taste the same. I looked online and there are recipes for this dish. They are complicated and take hours. Even if I made it, it wouldn't taste the same. The missing ingredient would be my Grandmother's love.

Look into my Eyes

Most people are very quick to judge others. They look at what the other person is doing and saying. The only problem is, that they never take a good look at themselves. Over the years I have worked with a variety of people. One of them had the nastiest tone in her voice. The funny thing was, that she was the first one to tell me if someone has spoken abruptly to her. She always used to say, "I hate nasty people". I never understood how she could not see that she was the nastiest of all. It bothers me when people make random unkind comments about people they do not even know. Why does it matter if someone is overweight? Maybe their heart is as big as their frame. Maybe the person that is not attractive on the outside is beautiful on the inside. I always loved the famous quote "It is only with our hearts that one can truly see. What is essential is invisible to the eye". I think that is why G-d made our bodies with our eyes pointing outward. If they pointed inward, we would all have to take a good look at ourselves, and some of us would not be very happy.

Northern Lights

The Northern Lights are a natural light display, in the sky, in polar regions. They are caused by the collision of charged particles directed by the Earth's magnetic field. I would like to talk about another set of Northern Lights. They are found in Nassau County, NY on the Northern State Parkway. It seems that some politicians thought it would be a good idea to waste even more of our tax payer dollars by installing senseless signs along the roadway. The purpose was to let drivers know how long it will take them to get from point A to point B. The signs were costly to make and when they are not broken, use a lot of electric. Who OK'd this project? I find it a distraction and after I tried to read it the first time, I realized that I was concentrating on figuring out which roadway I was looking for, and not on the road. Why does it matter how many minutes it will take to get to my destination. If it is 10 minutes or 15 minutes, I still have to drive on the same road. Is this sign inferring that I should text or call the place I am driving to, to let them know I will be 4 minutes late? I thought that was illegal. These signs do not take into consideration, the slow driver ahead of me. I decided not to look at the signs anymore, and if there is traffic I will just relax and sing along with the radio. I will get there when I get there.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Aretha Franklin said it best. RESPECT. We used to earn it or give it, but recently I do not think we can even find it. Not only do we not have respect for others, some of our youth does not have respect for themselves. I find it disgraceful to walk behind a young man who has his jeans so low down under his behind, that his boxer shorts are visible. How is he trying to portray himself to the world. Do strangers need to see his underwear? To me it shows laziness, and slovenliness. By his appearance, I can tell that he is most likely unemployed and uneducated. Part of our respect problem stems back to our school system and its' dress code. When I was in school we respected and even feared the teachers and the principal. Just the thought of being sent to the principals office kept most of us in line. Now students feel they do not have to follow rules and even curse at authority figures and get away with it. WE fear THEM! When did our standards become so low that we became complacent and allowed this. I may be wrong but I think that how you dress can change how you act. That is why parochial schools have higher test scores. When you wear proper attire you sit up a little straighter and perform better. It's a fact. Furthermore, the way we disrespect the police is appalling. In my world, when a police officers asks you to move your car if it is illegally parked....you move it. When they ask you a question ....you answer them. This should not be a choice. Democracy does not mean "free for all".

Use Your Inside Voices......

I do not know about anyone else, but I am annoyed by people who talk on their cell phones in public. For some reason everyone yells. I am surprised that there are not more casualties from people being hit by cars, as they walk and talk. It is as if they zone out and have no idea where they are walking. I have even seen somebody finish their call and stand there dumbfounded because they have no idea how they go to where they were standing. They were just aimlessly walking as they had their conversation. I do not want to hear about your marital issues, your children's bad behavior or which friend is gossiping about the other. Once, at an airport, a woman was talking so loud that another passenger actually told her to hang up. We all applauded as the woman ran into the restroom totally embarrassed. Let's remember what we all learned in kindergarten....even if you are outside you need to use your "Inside Voice".

Too Much Conversation......

Ninety percent of our daily conversation is nonsense. Only ten percent has some value. If we clocked our daily word usage we would probably use a few hundred thousand a day. For some people those words are hateful ones, for some they argumentative ones and for others just plain irritating ones .A smaller percentage of us use the kind and caring ones. America's speech patterns have become worse with age. So many people use the "F" word five times in one sentence. To me this is a filler word. It has no meaning but some people think it makes their sentences stronger. I feel the opposite. I have always told my children that if they have to use profanity to make their point...they have no point. The best way to have someone listen to what you are saying is to say it in a low soft tone. Caribbean people speak with a lilt in their voices, almost like a song.  Their speech is comforting. Even though most Americans go to school through the twelfth grade their grammar is appalling. I hate the word "youse" as much as I hate the word"aks" and will someone please tell me what "Not for nothing" means. I really think it means nothing! Did everyone sleep though their English classes?