Of all the titles I want to hold, the Emissary of Peace is among the top 10. It sounds super cool but unfortunately it doesn't really apply to me. Clearly, from my past posts, I am an angry, angry girl.
This weekend, I'll get to watch the guy who the real Emissary of Peace reports to. You may have heard of him- he answers to the title Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama will be speaking at Qwest Field this Saturday (more information below) and obviously, lots of press want to be at the event. Guess what? If they want to get in, they have to go through a PR agency.
Which (HA) happens to be the one I work for.
I'll be managing a reporter section (oh, joy!) which is a bit of a surprise because I was expecting to be an usher or other kind of grunt but whatever. I'm just happy to be around for this event. That sounds cheesy but I'm really glad I have the chance to volunteer.
The event is called Seeds of Compassion and is about, "providing the fundamental foundations for happiness and success in children, their lives and the society they live in. Those foundations which are critical for success in school and in life include Early Learning, Cognitive Development and Social-Emotional development."
I majored in Child Psychology, with an emphasis on Psycholinguistics (yes, it deserves all inital capitalizations) so my interest is always perked up when I hear of an event or a cause that aims to help children, you know, not FAIL. I think the most important thing that parents can pass on to their children is respect. Respect for themselves, other living creatures and the environment. Once they have respect down, they are set for life. Compassion is just the cherry on top of the Respect sundae, y'all.
This is probably going to be a grueling, brutal event. Reporters can be mean (and yes, PR people can be asinine) but hopefully we can all get together and act compassionate and respectful towards one another for at least a few hours this weekend.
Otherwise, I'm kicking them out of the press box. Just sayin'.
SEEDS OF COMPASSION GATHERING
APRIL 11–15, 2008, SEATTLE, WA
http://www.seedsofcompassion.org/event/
An unprecedented gathering to engage the hearts and minds of our community by highlighting the vision, science, and programs of early social, emotional, and cognitive learning.
Anchored by the deep wisdom of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this community–focused event will celebrate and explore the relationships, programs and tools that nurture and empower children, families and communities to be compassionate members of society.
Each of the five days will provide parents, educators, business and community leaders with an opportunity to better understand the real benefits of compassion, and concrete steps on how to bring compassion into their lives.
-Signing off in Seattle
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
:)
Seattle and I clearly have a LOT of work pet peeves, but there is one that seriously and truly makes me want to throw a fucking stapler at someone's head.
The smiley face emoticon. My eyes involuntarily rolled at the thought of it.
Here's my unsolicited piece of advice for the day:
A smiley face emoticon in IM may be OK on occasion. A smiley face emoticon in an email every once in a while...fine, I will let this one slide (no one is perfect). A smiley face emoticon after every annoying and passive aggressive comment does NOT make that comment any less annoying. So, stop it. STOP.
Part of the reason I hate this commonly used feature is due largely to this woman I work with, who I do happen to think is very smart and good at her job. She's fairly aggressive and that's something I actually like about her, BUT she can at times cross that line to pushy and overbearing, which is usually in the form of a very obvious or passive aggressive statement...immediately followed by, you guessed it, a smiley face:)
I assume she thinks this helps ease the blow of an annoying comment and let's the person feel like they're not getting the smack down - but it doesn't. Nor does it make me think any nicer thoughts about her. It's along the same vein as someone making a racist comment, but saying they're not racist. Come on. We all know that one is a facade.
So I suppose my second piece of advice would be to just lay it out on the table and don't make any apologies for it. If it's warranted, and more importantly, correct then you've got nothing to worry about.
Class dismissed.
-Signing off from San Francisco
The smiley face emoticon. My eyes involuntarily rolled at the thought of it.
Here's my unsolicited piece of advice for the day:
A smiley face emoticon in IM may be OK on occasion. A smiley face emoticon in an email every once in a while...fine, I will let this one slide (no one is perfect). A smiley face emoticon after every annoying and passive aggressive comment does NOT make that comment any less annoying. So, stop it. STOP.
Part of the reason I hate this commonly used feature is due largely to this woman I work with, who I do happen to think is very smart and good at her job. She's fairly aggressive and that's something I actually like about her, BUT she can at times cross that line to pushy and overbearing, which is usually in the form of a very obvious or passive aggressive statement...immediately followed by, you guessed it, a smiley face:)
I assume she thinks this helps ease the blow of an annoying comment and let's the person feel like they're not getting the smack down - but it doesn't. Nor does it make me think any nicer thoughts about her. It's along the same vein as someone making a racist comment, but saying they're not racist. Come on. We all know that one is a facade.
So I suppose my second piece of advice would be to just lay it out on the table and don't make any apologies for it. If it's warranted, and more importantly, correct then you've got nothing to worry about.
Class dismissed.
-Signing off from San Francisco
Friday, April 4, 2008
We are not a start-up. No pets allowed.
I like animals. Especially cute, furry ones with big round eyes and sweet dispositions. I've never hurt an animal. It's one of the reasons why I'm a vegetarian.
However, I don't want to be around animals at certain times of the day. Let's say, between 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on weekdays. To be more specific, let's say around 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
One of the reporters we work with (on another team) decided to bring his dog into our office during an in-person meeting with a client. S'all fine and good, right?
Wrong.
The dog in question was being baby-(dog)sat by a few of the folks on that team and, okay, it's a Friday, but come on. We still have to work for our other clients. If you bring your dog to a restaurant, you don't expect the waitstaff to dogsit, do you? This is an office setting. If you decide to bring your dog with you to a meeting, why not keep it with you-
-where you can see it-
...and clean up after it when it vomits and pisses.
No joke, folks. The little bitch (I'm allowed- it's a female dog) threw up. In our kitchen. On the seat at the table. While a bunch of us were eating lunch.
That's abso-fucking-lutely unacceptable in my book. And I know the folks on that team thought I was being particularly prissy when I got up and moved my food to another table (muttering obscenitites all the way) but that's disgusting. I may not have grown up around dogs but I draw the line at eating my lunch two feet away from chunky dog vomit. And yes, I will complain- I reserve the fucking right to complain. Of all the places in the damn office you could take that dog, why choose to let it hang out in the kitchen where people are eating?
Considering that it pissed in the hallway outside the kitchen a few minutes later, I would think the folks dogsitting finally realized that maybe the dog was better off with its owner. I don't care if they thought I was being a horrible person by picking sullenly at my food (vomit+tofu, mushrooms, and brown rice=unappetizing); I was just wondering when the light bulb would finally turn on over their heads and they realized, hmm, maybe she's nervous being around a bunch of strangers without her owner.
At the end of the day, I know it's not the dog's fault. She was a cute little bitch (seriously, I like saying that) but her owner was an ass.
-Signing off from Seattle
However, I don't want to be around animals at certain times of the day. Let's say, between 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on weekdays. To be more specific, let's say around 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
One of the reporters we work with (on another team) decided to bring his dog into our office during an in-person meeting with a client. S'all fine and good, right?
Wrong.
The dog in question was being baby-(dog)sat by a few of the folks on that team and, okay, it's a Friday, but come on. We still have to work for our other clients. If you bring your dog to a restaurant, you don't expect the waitstaff to dogsit, do you? This is an office setting. If you decide to bring your dog with you to a meeting, why not keep it with you-
-where you can see it-
...and clean up after it when it vomits and pisses.
No joke, folks. The little bitch (I'm allowed- it's a female dog) threw up. In our kitchen. On the seat at the table. While a bunch of us were eating lunch.
That's abso-fucking-lutely unacceptable in my book. And I know the folks on that team thought I was being particularly prissy when I got up and moved my food to another table (muttering obscenitites all the way) but that's disgusting. I may not have grown up around dogs but I draw the line at eating my lunch two feet away from chunky dog vomit. And yes, I will complain- I reserve the fucking right to complain. Of all the places in the damn office you could take that dog, why choose to let it hang out in the kitchen where people are eating?
Considering that it pissed in the hallway outside the kitchen a few minutes later, I would think the folks dogsitting finally realized that maybe the dog was better off with its owner. I don't care if they thought I was being a horrible person by picking sullenly at my food (vomit+tofu, mushrooms, and brown rice=unappetizing); I was just wondering when the light bulb would finally turn on over their heads and they realized, hmm, maybe she's nervous being around a bunch of strangers without her owner.
At the end of the day, I know it's not the dog's fault. She was a cute little bitch (seriously, I like saying that) but her owner was an ass.
-Signing off from Seattle
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