Saturday, June 27, 2009

Having a little fun! Rachael Knight, hope you like this...

Having a little fun with some photo software I got for the computer recently. The edited photo below does reflect a bit with how I feel about the company featured.

It's not professional quality, but I'm working on it...




Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Beauty - a lost generation!!!

One of my facebook friends is a wife, a mother, and I believe a grandmother now. On her profile page is her profile photo that I want to use as the basis for this blog entry.

The profile photo is one of her and two of her friends as teenagers on vacation upnorth in the early 70's wearing only their bathing suits. It took me a while as to why this photo impressed me so much. It brings a much broader message to us...

I feel a whole generation has lost meaning of what it means to be beautiful.

Starting around this time period, we started the focus on our women to feel sexy (which I feel is a step beyond beautiful only).

This is an attitude that has been demonstrated by those in the media, and they have started to hype up the next stage...

The next stage beyond feeling and looking sexy is looking slutty. Gee, thanks Brittney and friends. Now a significant portion of North American young girls are looking like they are going to be ready for sex that moment.

Only as a demonstration - the teens in the profile photo are all wearing 2 piece swimsuits but the area they cover is (in some cases) significantly more than they do today. I've even seen swimsuits that only cover areas between their butt cheeks. I joke with people that they cover less area than my underwear (which has doubled at times as a swimsuit).

I'm not advocating a return to days where women wore dresses that took 2 people and six hours to put on. What I am advocating is a return of innocense to a new generation of young women who can frolic freely like the 3 young women in the 35 year old photograph in their bathing suits.

Monday, June 1, 2009

A joke that came to the store the other day!

"A Sunday School teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honour" thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, 'Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?' Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, 'Thou shall not kill"

I know it's an oldie but it's still cute...

Image is everything...

A co-worker and were both witnesses to the following incident:

I was patronizing the Speedway gas station (1215 S. Saginaw, Midland) last Saturday (05.31.09) when I noticed an irate customer. This customer, a driver for the Shining Star Taxi company in Midland, has just purchased some stuff from the store and went back out to his van only to it blocked in. Now if this driver was a regular at the store, he would have realized that the parking lot at this Speedway is small and extremely poorly laid out. Not so with this customer.

He walks back into the store and tells the employees the truck needs to be moved. Walking back into the store moments later, he says (his words), "This is bull****" and that he gave 5 minutes for the truck to be moved or he was calling a wrecker to move it. Never mind the fact that this truck probably belongs to another customer who probably understands what I do about this parking lot. Of course by the time I left, both parties had left.

Here's what I understand:

If you are out in the public eye conducting business for your employer, you are being watched. They notice that you are wearing the uniform, whether on your body or vehicle or some other place, therefore they are watching you to see if you are someone to do business with. In my business as a pizza delivery driver, sometimes I am the only person that customer sees.

Because I am the only person they can see, I have to give the best impression I can. This is true whether everything is going right or if the customer is acting like a complete and total jerk. If I give a positive impression to my customer, the likelyhood they will order again increases dramatically. If, like the Shining Star driver, I come to you start making demands, complaints, and cussing then the chances of you wanting to do business with me decreases dramatically.

This is something Shining Star needs to convey to its employees. Right now businesses need every customer they can get. Conveying the positive image will go a long way, not only in getting the business but in retaining the business too.