October 15, 2019 I DON’T NEED NO DOCTOR What’s that expression, “Doctor, heal thyself”? You ever walk outside of a hospital and see the medical staff standing in clusters surreptitiously smoking cigarettes, and think to yourself, “Are you kidding me?” Of any humans on the planet, these people should see the deleterious health effects of smoking, and yet, here they are, publicly demonstrating their contempt for the known consequences of this behavior. While I smugly think, “I would never engage in a behavior that I knew for a fact was unhealthy,” I’ve come uncomfortably close to the metaphorical meaning of this phrase recently at work. The desire to…
February 8, 2019 Let a Sparkling Smile be Your Superpower There is a superpower that we all have easy access to every waking moment. Your shining smile. No, really, I mean it. People who smile more often really do rule the world. Smiling improves your health by lowering your stress, releasing endorphins, lowering your blood pressure, and gives a boost to your productivity. Researchers have even found a link between smiling and longevity. And who wouldn’t want to live a long life if you’re going to be so darned happy! I have a concrete example of how smiling may actually enhance your employment opportunities. Recently, we were interviewing for a…
January 11, 2019 Is There Anything Else I Can Help You With? Anything At All? Pet peeve time. You buy something. Or travel somewhere. Or make plans. And something goes awry. What you ordered came in wrong. Or late. Or not at all. Your hotel room was not what you expected. Or too loud. Or dirty. Your restaurant reservations were lost. Or the food was bad. Or the service was rude. You know what I mean. What do you do? You could email, or post to social media, or go straight to skewering on Yelp. Or you could call customer service and try to get a resolution. After spending an hour online trying in vain…