MERRY CHRISTMAS OR XMAS

Xmas, ☧mas, XTmas or Christmas: I'm just going to get this out of the way ahead of time, since it's something that we start flipping out about seeing this time of year.First: "The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for "Mass",[1] while the "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, translated as "Christ. (Also) The X and P version arose as the uppercase forms of the Greek letters χ and ρ used in ancient abbreviations for Χριστος (Greek for "Christ")," I'm glad I did some research a while back. Now if I see this, instead of getting Belligerent and allowing it to bring me down, or to anger, I will see one thing.the ancient symbol for CHRIST. NOT someone Xing out our Lord. So if any of you want to say Merry 'Xmas' to me, know that this is ALL I will see. If you do this in malice, know that your intent will not sway what I know him and his symbol to be, and that it will not change MY heart, but I will pray for you and watch him change YOUR heart. So in advance MERRY CHRISTMAS, MERRY X MAS.

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POLITE POLICE

 

How many times have you made a call,

or written an email, to complain about bad service? 

OK....Now how many times have you made a call, or written an email, to praise someone's outstanding service?

That's what I thought.  (Whew! I'm not alone)

One of my recent blogs got me thinking. How have I gone all these years and not bothered to write One letter, or make One call to a manager and let them know about an employee who really stepped up, or gave me great service? OK, I’m sure I’ve done that here and there, but not enough to really brag, or blog (lol) about.

Not to make excuses, but there seems to be a real problem, in recent years, with actually experiencing great service. It seems to be especially bleak where I live. However, after calling the manager at the KIA dealership, and telling him about one outstanding employee, I’ve become more alert. Instead of expecting horrible service and complaining about it, I am remembering to praise people. Even when someone is being extremely polite, it Stands out to me! That should Not go without commendation either. How hard is it to at Least speak to a manager? Not hard at all, as I've recently learned. My next venture is to start sending emails.

Today my polite police target was a young Wal-Mart Pharmacy employee.  (Insert loud siren) I was greeted, over the phone, by someone who sounded like a teenager. However, this girl was Extremely nice And helpful. I had to call back and speak with the Pharmacist about something else, and I let Him know that she was terrific. He seemed very pleased. I’ve had a few people, write, or call in, over the years, to let my managers know how well I served them. People don’t seem to take the time to do this anymore and that has Got to stop! Maybe we are all so focused on the bad, and comforted in complaining, that we don’t really recognize the good anymore. We just expect it, and complain when we don't get it. In the Wal-Mart case, she was just being genuinely polite, and offered to hand me over to the pharmacist for something she couldn't answer. But just being nice can make ALL the difference in the world. So many people are rude when dealing with the public. Also, keeping your job isn’t as easy as it used to be, with the economy as it is. There’s always someone standing in line to take it away from you, and employers know this. So step up and report good service. Help someone keep their job. It will brighten your day and may bring you some good karma along the way.

THE SEA, THE SOLACE

The sea is a place where I find much peace, love and great memories. Growing up, my dad mostly lived on, or near the beach. This was his favorite place. He was a Great artist and the sea was probably his fondest subject, in oils. When things were not going well at home with mom, dad would always rescue me. We would take long walks on the beach, where we had some of our best conversations. I wish I could remember some of them. So much is a blur to me now. He always said he was a lover, not a fighter. He required a peaceful existence. He tried to pass this way of life on to me, as much as he could. I had a little too much fire in me though, and still do, to some degree. :) He used to call me the kid with ants in her pants, always on the go. Not a lot has changed. Just try keeping me in one spot for any great length of time. The great thing about that relationship was that I could do no wrong in his eyes. That was probably the worst thing about it also. As I grew up, I could hardly understand why Any person, or man, would have issues with me. After all, I was perfect. Just ask my dad :) A friend of mine, from where dad lived, made a comment to me not too long ago, when I mentioned dad and I. He said, "Yeah, daddy's spoiled little girl". Hmmm. What could I say? He was right. He didn't spoil me at All with material things, but he did spoil me with unconditional love. How bad could that be? Yes, he did let me get my way a Lot also. Like the time my best friend and I snuck out in the middle of the night, hitched a ride to a bon fire on a beach Towns away, and then walked home. That was a beautiful sunrise that day. I think he shook his head, gave me a 2 line lecture and moved on. But he didn't see me often and I think he was trying to make up for the other part of my life, which he understood was very difficult. In the end, I wouldn't change a thing. The love and the memories are treasures that could never be replaced. Having someone love you That much is a wonderful thing.  There was one painting called Genesis. It was always my favorite and he had MANY offers on it. Oddly, it was the smallest one he ever painted, and possibly one of the most beautiful. A house on a hill, on a beach with the sun rising behind it.  I know he needed the money, but he never sold it. He passed when I was just 19 years old and it, along with many of his other paintings, have been in my possession ever since. I believe he is still out there, and every now and then he makes his presence known to me. It's been a long time since the last visit, and I hope for another one soon. I know it every time because the smell of his oil paints, flows by me briefly and is So powerful that it almost knocks me over and brings a tear to my eyes. The smell of oils and the sea give me a great sense of love and peace. I love you dad and always will.

PARENTAL LOVE

In my experience, each parent means something different to us. Mom's post, on The Piano, The Bridge, was my tie to her. The sea was my tie to my dad (Blog still to come). I loved them both in different ways, and for different reasons. I always thought that I loved my father more. As an adult, I'm learning that the relationships with each didn't mean that I loved one more than the other. I thought I loved dad more because he brought out the love in me more and mom 'seemed' to bring out the anger. And I know I brought out hers in my teen years. But the truth is that the love flowed the same for both.

 We just learn to relate to people, on a certain level, because of each personality and individual emotional makeup. So each relationship blends into something different. But at the core of them, especially with our parents, is nonetheless love, and love is simply love. At it's core, it is not different, less or more. It is always the same. It's the fears embedded in each of us that creates the illusion of a different kind of love. So embrace each person that you 'feel' love for, regardless of what you 'think' the 'relationship' is about. The bottom line is Always the love.

STOLEN SANDWICH. ALERT THE AUTHORITIES!

I'm guessing a lot of you saw the story of a husband, pregnant wife and their two year old child who were separated over a $5.00 freaking sandwich. Breaking it down for those who did Not hear, they Just moved to a new town and were famished. They went looking for a grocery store and found a Safeway. While shopping, they ate the sandwiches and held onto the labels for checkout. They checked out, but completely forgot to pay for the sandwiches. They get called back in, explained they forgot and tried to pay. Instead of accepting the money, the Obvious mistake and being DECENT, the police were called, the couple was arrested and social services took the 2 year old girl who remained separated from them for about 18 hours. I was SOOO fired up about this and telling my coworker. She stated that she would basically cause physical harm if they tried to take her child. LoL. ME TOO!! This poor couple. I was ranting about how Easy it is to do that and that most people have done that at some point in their lives, inadvertently. I thought about this couple tonight when I went to 7-Eleven. I had $5 cash for a pack of cigarettes, but decided I wanted a lottery ticket. Bought the lottery ticket with the cash and went to use the debit card for the cigs. It was declined. Yikes! What did I do with that account? No idea. I told the cashier that I was running to the bank and would be right back. "OK". Ran to the bank, got back in the car and Freaked out!!! There sat the cigarettes that I NEVER paid for, on my car seat. "AAAAAHHH!" I didn't know if I should laugh or start ducking from any cops......I ran Back to the store and paid for them. I asked the cashier if he realized that I left with them and he said he did not, till later on. See??? It HAPPENS. I happen to know the owner of this particular store so I was not concerned about arrest, but after that headline story, I suppose that I should have been worried. What in the World are people thinking!? Having this couple arrested over an honest mistake, resulting in their CHILD being taken from them. Over a lousy $5 Sandwich!! This poor woman said that she remained calm so that her child didn't get freaked out, but after she was taken, the woman went straight to the restroom and got sick over it. I'm not big on suing people, but I hope they can find some way to sue the pants off that store! At the very least, I hope Safeway does Something to make this better. Oh, and they were apparently banned from shopping there for some great length of time too. Grrrrr.

FREE PIZZA ANYWHERE?

A coworker and I ordered pizza one day. It took over an hour to get here. Afterward, they called me back to say the next pizza's are on them. Yippy! Today we decided to take them up on that offer. We were discussing the name of the place, which I got All wrong. She comically commented that I should just call a bunch of pizza joints till I find one that gives me free pizza. Then I got on the net, to get their phone number and made the call. I was told that the manager was out on a delivery and would be back in 15 min. I explained the situation and that I'm calling to cash in on the offer. He took my number to have the mgr call me back. I thought it was odd that the manager was male, as originally I spoke with a female, but maybe there are 2 managers.... Sometime went by with no return call. Back to their web page for the number. I BUSTED out laughing when I saw that I called THE WRONG PLACE!! I just had to tell my coworkers what I had done. The response was that I must have taken her seriously about finding free pizza anywhere. As I sit here eating my pizza from the Right place, I wonder why the wrong place had not called me back. Hmm. That is Not good customer service. Maybe I should call and complain about That. I think I see more free pizza in my future.... 

If you like trivia, please visit my trivia blog and engage!

http://triviatrain.blogspot.com/

or to read some of my poems you can visit 

http://ofverseandrhyme.blogspot.com/

Thank you for visiting!