Tuesday, March 29, 2016

What Does 1X Mean?



While coming home from my last trip, I thought about this statement.  What does 1X (x being anything you can think of) really mean? 

One minute early means I made the connection in a busy airport. 

One minute from a person is the difference between being a customer and being a nuisance.

One car breaking at an intersection means minutes of ripple effects in the flow of traffic. 

One point difference changes the label from loser to winner or vice-versa. 

One piece of trash in the park can start a collection of trash, while one person picking up a piece of trash could mean a cleaner park. 

One smile can change the attitude of multiple people and one frown can impact the attitude of even more. 

One sentence can make you fall in love with someone or, make you despise someone. 

Eventually, all of us will be in that last one minute of life and one last breath.  Therefore the difference between being alive and dead. 

The power of one cannot be discounted.  Of course you are want to win by 20, but winning by 1 is still the same; a win.  Someone coming to a complete stop on the freeway has more than a ripple effect.  Think about that one minute, that one point, that one smile and remember that power of one is impactful.  While I keep going, I do so more mindful of the power of one. 

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

With a Heavy Heart

The blog I intended to post this week will have to wait.  Today, we mourn more lives lost in the act of terrorism.  With a heavy heart I pray for the people in Brussels and in Belgium as a whole.  As with Paris, the world is mourning with you and we pray for you to be strong resilient and come out of this on the other side; as city and country united. 

We cannot let those with hate in their hearts win.  We must....keep going. 

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

An Airport in Turmoil



In case you missed it or haven’t had the privilege of checking in at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (MSP), there is a challenge there! 

I was there almost a year ago and I was thinking it was a fluke; the TSA process can’t ALWAYS be this bad.  I was in line for 30 minutes with pre-check.  I am hearing that 40 minutes is standard and that it’s not uncommon to have it be an hour wait during peak travel times!  I would lose my patience if that was something I had to do once a month, once a week would make me lose my mind. 

Today, I hear that help is on the way; Senator Amy Klobuchar is stepping in to help address the problems in MSP. 

So, while this is a challenge for the travelers that got into and out of the MSP, what scares me is that a member of the Senate needs to step in to fix it!  Does that mean that the airport authority in Minneapolis has no power?  Maybe TSA can’t figure out that they need to have additional resources?  Does this mean that no one is monitoring this stuff?  Look at Yelp, Trip Advisor or the local news and you can see the travelers have been upset for a long time, but not until a Senator steps in, will something be done about it?  That’s crazy to me! 

If my wait time at Starbucks is more than company standards, I get an apology from the barista.  If my hold time is more than 4 minutes when I am on hold with the bank, I get an apology message and am assured that someone will be with me soon.  Starbucks and the bank are monitoring that stuff, but you mean to tell me until Klobuchar stepped in, that the TSA advisors for MSP were not doing anything about it? 

I feel for the travelers that have to endure the MSP situation.  I am happy that the issues are being addressed, but I do worry about a system that cannot fix itself without the government stepping in to force action.  I hope eventually, travelers in MSP will be able to keep going, without monstrous delays. 

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

An Award Show Worth Watching



I have seen photos, tweets, posts, articles and chats about the Oscars and I am proud to say, I didn’t watch a second of the show.  Not because of the racial controversy, but because honestly…who cares!?!    The award those Hollywood folks deserve, they have already been given; people’s time to watch their production and their hard earned money.

Now, if there was an award show called, the Global Human Awards Show, I’d probably watch that!  Imagine if awards were given to people who deserve them!?  For instance:

- The middle school teacher who spends countless hours to ensure their students are learning and cares more about the person than a grade.
- The police officer who died in the line of duty to help protect me and my family from people set to do harm.
- The lawyers and judges who see to it that the person, who has malice in their heart and actions, pays for them.
- The doctor who yesterday delivered bad news to a family that the cancer was back and today, got to tell a different family their loved one was cancer-free. 
- The pilot who landed a plane on a river and saved the lives of every person on board. 

Some might tell me that all these people are doing their jobs.  When was the last time you put on Versace gown and Harry Winston jewels to go in for a parent/teacher conference and say thank you to a teacher for doing their job?!  Why, when TV, movies, music or productions are involved, do we think we need to “put on the dog” and make a big deal out it?! 

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Sheldon Cooper moment as much as the next BBT fan, but I don’t think Jim Parsons should get an award for entertaining me, that’s his job! 

The viewership of these awards show is going down and for good reason!  People are starting to realize that this crap doesn’t matter.  Let’s start giving awards or appreciation for the people who really make a difference every day…or at least, stop paying attention to these shows in hope that they simply go away and not keep going.