When I’m approaching a stop sign at a four-way intersection, and someone is already stopped at one of the signs to my right or left, I’m expecting them to go after they’ve stopped. But instead, too often those people wait until you stop at your stop sign before they go. Yesterday, I was driving up to a four-way stop sign intersection. As I was approaching, there was a car on my right already stopped at their stop sign. I was hoping they’d move on so that when I stopped at my stop sign, I could just go right away….
No place to pee in a homeless town
I was stuck in downtown Seattle, right smack in the middle of one of the largest homeless population centers in the country, and I couldn’t find a place to pee. Because of the large homeless population, Seattle businesses have gotten very strict about allowing restroom access only for their customers. So if you have to go, you’re kind of out of luck unless you buy something from a local business. As I was walking around trying to find a place, I realized I was looking at this all wrong. I’m in Seattle. Why am I looking for a restroom?…
If everything is a fire drill
It’s not hard to encounter someone in your personal life, either at home or, more likely, at work, who seems to be constantly in a state of emergency. They’re always stressed and always busy. They’re always just meeting or just missing their deadlines, and because they rush, little of their work seems to be very thoughtful. Those people will tell you how busy they are and how they just can’t catch a break. Things are moving at a breakneck speed, and they just can’t find a minute. The thing is, if everything you’re doing is a fire drill, the…
You don’t know the meaning of the word “offended”
I used to say I can’t be offended. When would try and choose their words with me, I would reassure them they couldn’t offend me. To be offended, to me, meant you were bothered by meaningless or careless words someone around you said. It was a sign of weakness. Thin skin. Then one day I looked it up. Turns out it means to feel upset, annoyed, or resentful. I guess I’m really offended all the time. And it’s usually because of all the people I see or read about who go out of their way to be offended by…
Why we tell kids they’re great
Before every child was issued a smart phone, kids used to go out and explore on their own. Instead of watching other people create and have experiences, they would have their own. When kids get out of the house, they either get with their friends (or sometimes go it alone), and head into an adventure. It’s not always an amazing, movie-worthy adventure. Sometimes something small or minor happens. Sometimes, it’s not really memorable at all. But it’s the sum of all these experiences – the conflicts, little victories, tiny defeats, attempts to talk to others, the unique, seemingly meaningless…
What if Jesus Christ comes back, but his message goes to spam?
Yesterday, I found an email in my spam folder from none other than Jesus Christ… I’ve worked a lot with email marketing over the years, and have certainly received my share of it since 1994. But I can’t believe I’ve never seen an email from Jesus Christ before. With a second coming in the offing, and all of the mass and instant communication channels available at this time, I wonder how he will announce his return. Would it be via Twitter? First he’d have to establish a base of followers. Same with any social media account. But by simply…
Perhaps we need offended training
Sensitivity training has settled comfortably in as the solution for when a co-worker, college student, or celebrity says something that may offend the easily offended. There has always been an element of watching what one says in public. That’s how things like class and decorum were determined. But as we’ve given more weight to the politically correct, watching what one says is becoming not only a full-time job, but also quite a guessing game. There’s no way to know who will find what offensive. And the scales of society have tipped to give weight to the offended. Perhaps we…
The lost art of looking out the window
Growing up, we took many long road trips from Wisconsin to places like Florida, Louisiana, Colorado, and North Dakota (to name a few). As I look back on those road trips, and the ones I’ve taken since, as an adult, the one thing that stands out is the view from the car. There’s really no other way to see America than to drive around and look. Sometimes, you see fascinating buildings, landscapes, houses, people, or just other cars that you’ve never seen before. And the calm that accompanies these views allows us to practice the art of introspection. There’s…
Why we have rules
Rules are for people with no goals or morals. For people with goals, rules are necessarily being broken because they’re innovating beyond the public’s current understanding or imagination. Those with goals are often either solving unusual problems or encountering challenges or situations not covered in our existing rules. In these cases, rules are being bent, reinterpreted, or rewritten. Those who exist simply to know and enforce the rules usually come out of the woodwork in these situations because they can’t wait to apply the rules and do what they can to stop the person breaking them. Rules are also…
It’s hard to be the person who cares the most
In every endeavor, be it a sports team, a project team or department at work, a club, or simply planning a vacation, there’s always a person who cares more than everyone else. It’s simple math. Someone cares about the results, the goals, or the sustainability of the endeavor more than everyone else, just as someone also cares the least. The hardest job in this situation is to be the person who cares the most because you’re set up for the most possible disappointment. Someone, or several, in the group are going to let you down. They’re not going to…