It's All In A Name

Each year scores of earnest, upwardly-mobile Americans enter the corporate workforce. Eager to begin the slow climb, they are often taken by surprise when they learn an axiom often overlooked in academia - and it is usually learned after the majority can't answer a basic question:

Questions New White Collar Workers Pass

• Who is the Company's competition?
• What is our value proposition?
• What is our elevator pitch?
• What numbers do we need to hit to reach Q1, Q2, Q3 & Q4's goals?
• What are our Reps main up-sells, cross-sells and rebuttals?

Question New White Collar Workers Often Fail

• What is the name of the woman who empties your trash?

I came across this little nugget of wisdom once and chuckled to myself, thinking, how true, how true. Since first noting it, I've seen it multiple times. The word must be getting out, so this is a good thing.

Right, Diana? :) Ola and buenos nachos. Hey, at least I try.

Spanish, that is. Yes, it brings laughter. But that's okay by me ...

This all came to mind when coming across a story on CNN that read like fiction:

A Tacoma woman, Annamarie Ausnes, stopped in at her neighborhood Starbucks regularly. She was greeted warmly by the barista, Sandra Andersen, who regularly prepared her coffee. When Annamarie seemed down and sick, unlike her former picking-up-coffee-self, she asked her what was wrong.

She told Sandra her kidneys were failing due to a rare disease, that she needed a transplant, and was on a dismal waiting list. No one in her family was a match, and prospects were grim. Sandra immediately reacted, telling Annamarie she would test.

Sandra's prayers were answered. Annamarie was a match. They had the procedure performed at Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle on March 11, 2008. It was a success.

The most remarkable thing is this: at the time Sandra volunteered to test to see if she was a match, the two women hadn't even exchanged names.

You can read the story here.

Something to smile about ...

Anti-News Channel

This will become the place to visit throughout the ups and downs of life. This will be a sort of anti-news-commentary commentary. Because life is inherently beautiful. We all know it. It's so easy to become bogged down with work, hectic schedules, the toxic media, etc; that we forget why we are here, we lose touch with what it means to be human and alive today.

It gets messy.

We lose sight of the wonderful things that are out there. And they are out there. Why does it seem like it's just so darn hard to find them?

Hence, the r'asion d'etre of this blog (other than that I can use my random French 101 phrases, like r'aison d'etre). I want to pull together as many of these positive news articles, art, affirmations, inspirational pieces, humor and anything really that could act as a mood lifter.

A place to come when things maybe get bleak and dark and you want an uplifting form of instant gratification.

I was looking for the perfect story to set the tone. I found a few things, but not the ultimate babies-and-rainbows article. What I found:

• A story about a 96 year-old who published his first book (it can be done!)
• A story about someone returning $8,000 to a man who lost his wallet

Then somehow, I ended up watching news bloopers on Youtube! for a while. Why is it so funny when people fall off ladders, curse unintentionally, get socked in the groin, etc.?

Then I decided, laughter is good too. Nothing beats a case of a self-inflicted pity party like a good old man-goes-into-the-bar joke. Well, for me anyway. But we won't limit this blog to just man-goes-into-the-bar jokes, as, I am willing to accept the fact that not everyone finds them as funny as I do. Or a good pun. Love a pun. Who doesn't?

Toilet humor, anyone? Check. Inspirational stories and quotations are good too. For you know, a good old healthy cry (what, PMS - you have heard of it?). I'm not saying everyday, because, that would be weird.

Parodies. Satire. Funny songs. Poems. Anything that is the opposite of the News at Eleven.

Now here is the tone. Is it set enough yet?

Good. Send any or all of the above here. Reject toxic media. Accept only the uplifting, positive and positively funny (to someone). It will do wonders for all of us! Me, you and Tiny Tim.