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koreanboyswriting · 6 years ago

Text

In Translation Pt. 1

Words: 4k

Genre: Fluff and Angst

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader (Feat. All Members)

✨ Notes: IN TRANSLATION IS BACK BITCHESSS! I finally rewrote part 1 just a tiny bit differently, but I have so many ideas for part 7 (I think that’s what's next?? lol) and I’m planning on updating soon!! Keep an eye out lovelies!

Light wasn’t even streaming in the window yet, it was before dawn and the sun was still nestled in its bed, the moon still at its peak. Your bed was all to inviting and cozy, the covers were pulled up to your chin and the comforter was just the perfect amount of weight to want to keep you in bed. You were exhausted, you had stayed up all night excited and nervous for the new spot that your agency was going to put you in. Apparently, a k-pop boy group was going to be doing a lot of American press for a few months and you were the best English/ Korean translator they had. The position was of the upmost performance and secrecy as they were a very famous and popular group. You had been working at the translator agency for a little over a year now so your managers and colleagues trusted you, but they were required by the music label to keep the identity of group a secret till the day of because the music label was afraid you would tell someone and cause a media storm before they were ready to announce the news.

You were excited but wary because several of your coworkers had worked with k-pop groups before and had described them as snobby and stuck up, and those were just the girl groups they said the guys were worse. They thought they had a right to everything because they were attractive, rich, and famous. Some of my coworkers even said that the members would proposition them or make passes at them. And though all of this turned me off, the opportunity was too good to pass up, the money was great, and if they needed to travel they would pay you extra to go with them, and you got free time to yourself if you were to go on trips with the group. Getting paid to travel sounded like a dream and you weren’t turned off by all the bad things you heard because you were sure you could handle yourself, Korean men were worlds different than American men. And you definitely had experience dealing with them, Koreans by comparison were angels because you rarely met a Korean man who would force himself on you with the confidence that American men had, they each had their flaws though, which you got to experience firsthand; being that your mom was Korean and your father was from New York.

They fell in love when your mom had come to the States for school, which made your childhood very different from other kids. Your mom moved to America to be with your dad and they had you and your younger brother, Cameron, this meant constant trips to Korea with your mom for weeks at a time in the summer, it also meant that Korean was your first language and elementary school was a struggle to learn English while all the other kids were lightyears ahead of you. It also meant you took funny things in your lunch to school and got teased, while the other kids had peanut butter and jelly you were eating kimchi. You were definitely thankful for it when you were older though because you got to skip through all the required language credits in high school and college. And though being a translator wasn’t your dream job you loved doing it because switching from English to Korean was as easy as breathing now and you could speak both without an accent. Plus, in Korea everyone needed and wanted to learn English so you made easy money and did really well for yourself. Korea was also really beautiful and you needed an escape from the States, and all you that left behind there.

You rolled out of bed and looked in the mirror and even though your exhaustion was written in the lines of your face, you decided that today of all days was the day to look your absolute best. You showered and went through your morning routine meticulously putting extra care into your makeup and each brush of your hair. After you finished you went to your closet and pulled on a black long-sleeved dress and your over-the-knee boots. Black was required part of your work uniform; the agency didn’t mind what you wore as long as it was all black, which meant your already all black wardrobe was put to good use. You threw on your favorite pink coat for color and paused in front of the mirror. You were already taller than most Korean girls thanks to your father’s American blood and you were unsure if heeled boots would be your best option, being that you didn’t want to be taller than the boys. But fuck it you looked great and if you felt great and the boys were intimidated then maybe they would be less likely to push you around.

You pulled up to your agency building at 9 o’clock exactly and walked in the door only to be steered out by your boss and the owner of the company, Kim Byung-hee. Your boss tightened his grip on your arm as he yanked you to the side of the building, you tripped after him the heeled boots not helping with your already clumsy nature. Once he was satisfied that you were mostly hidden from street view he started rambling off in hurried and anxious Korean.

“Y/n this job is if the upmost importance and I need you to listen to every single word I say.” He breathed heavily looking at his boss, then began to whisper faster, “The group you will be translating for is BTS,” your eyes widened but you quickly composed yourself. “You need to do every single thing they ask, and I mean EVERY SINGLE THING,” you opened your mouth to protest, but Byung-hee looked at you with a murderous look in his eyes and you shut your mouth right away. “I don’t care if the ask you to fetch water for them or demand you to clean their clothes, if they like our agency they will come to us for all future translation jobs, this is very important do you understand me?”

You started to think about what this job really meant to you and if this was something you were readily willing to accept. You had always thought that your boss respected you, hell, even liked you and enjoyed your company, but you now truly saw what you meant to him and what all his employees meant to him, but you needed the money and you had already committed yourself to the job and if you turned him down now then he would never give you a job again. So, you looked up into his eyes with grim determination and nodded your head. Your boss sighed with relief and his shoulders sagged and he looked at Byung-hee as if to say, “see I told you she would agree.” Byung-hee looked at you with approval in his eyes.

“If you do your job well, I’ll see to it that you get promoted to recruiter and a raise may be able to be negotiated onto the table if you play your cards right.” He stuck out his hand to you, and you shook it excited about the possibility but weary of how far you were willing to go to get it.

After the somber conversation, your boss and Byung-hee escorted you inside proud of themselves for manipulating one of their employees into doing what they want. You began to sink in on yourself and question why you were really chosen for the job, at first you had thought it was merely based on skill, but now you were thinking it was because you were a woman. Many of the translators at the agency were women as well but they all specialized in other Asian languages like Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and Thai. You were the only woman who did English translations the rest of the Korean-English translators were men. Of course, the men wouldn’t want another man working with them they would want something to manipulate. You were becoming more and more disgusted with BTS by the second and you hadn’t even met them yet. Whereas, you initially gasped with excitement, that excitement was quickly festering into anger and frustration. You pulled yourself back to the present and tried to focus on the words Byung-hee and your boss were telling you.

“Now we’re not sure if they will need you to travel, it’s highly unlikely since they have a very close team of people that have been working with them for years, and probably will not want to take on someone so new, also accounting in that Kim Nam-joon already speaks English. But he might want the help.” Byung-hee and your boss continued on and once again you faded out of the conversation until your boss called your name.

“Y/n! Y/n! Are you listening?”

“Yes sir! Rapt attention.” You straightened up in your chair and pulled your face into one of seriousness and business-like calm.

“Big Hit is sending a car to pick you up and take you to their offices where you will meet each of the members of BTS, Mr. Kim will be there with you when you meet them, but not the entire time as he will be discussing a contract for you with their managers, while you are meant to get comfortable with the members and how they want you translate things.” He paused and looked at you, “Do you understand?” he probed.

“Will I get any say in the contract?” You asked, finding that at least here you would put your foot down.

“You will only be consulted if they request you for travel, otherwise the contract will be the same as many others that you have done, they may require a non-disclosure agreement, but it’s nothing too different than before.” You nodded your head in relief, finally assuaged in some sense, feeling like you had control over at least one small thing.

“Big Hit is outside,” Your boss looked down at his phone and then continued to speak and Byung-hee got up and exited the room leaving you alone with your boss. “Remember everything that you have done before applies here, treat them as you would any other respected official you’ve worked for before.” You nodded getting up from your chair, and making to leave the room, you could see Byung-hee out the window already greeting the driver and whoever was with him.

You had your hand on the door handle when your boss grabbed your arm gently, “Look y/n I didn’t want to put you any situation that would make you uncomfortable, but Mr. Kim gets like this whenever we do any high profile jobs with k-pop groups, please understand, and let me know if you have any problems, you know my phone is always available, and I will do anything that’s within my power to help you, should you need it.” You softened at his connection, finally sure that your boss really did care for you, but some matters were still out of his control because at the end of the day he was an employee just as you were. You nodded your head and gave him a hug, “Thank you Mr. Lee,” You bowed your head, and he smiled at you like a father would as you left the room, giving him an unsure smile through the glass door as you walked down the stairs and out the front doors.

Byung-hee opened the door for you and you got into the black SUV, buckling your seatbelt. You looked up and Byung-hee was introducing you to the driver and one of BTS’ bodyguards. You smiled and reached forward and shook the driver’s hand, who introduced himself as Yi Daejong, insisting you called him Dae, as every one of the boys did. You smiled and then extended your hand to the bodyguard, who seemed permanently stone-faced as he introduced himself as Gi Deok-su, you shook his hand and he offered you a gruff nod as a hello.

Dae took off winding through the streets at a fast although not uncomfortable speed, you arrived at Big Hit Entertainment in minutes as you fiddled with your fingers in nervousness, it seemed you were good at hiding it though as Byung-hee chatted to Dae, happiness conveyed easily in his tone. Dae leaped out first and opened the door for you, as Deok-su opened the other for Byung-hee. Dae extended out his hand as well to help you down and he gave you a warm smile, you knew then that Dae was someone you were going to enjoy their company for however long you were with BTS. You walked around the car till you were facing the front of the building, from the ground it easily looked about ten stories, it was all stone and glass, built to last but also to inspire elegance and sleekness. Dae and Deok-su guided you and Byung-hee up the stairs and into the building. The interior was clean and modern, there were two white couches facing each other with a metal and glass coffee table in-between, this waiting area was opposite a massive white and glass desk that stood in front of a large trophy case displaying several gleaming trophies. You looked around in curiosity trying to memorize everything to tell your only friend, Eun-a later. Dae called your name to get your attention and you bowed your head in apology and hurried after them your cheeks blazing. You walked down the long hallway passing several offices and dance studios, people working hard within all of them, when your entourage suddenly stopped, and it took all your balance to keep from bumping into the back of Byung-hee. You walked into the meeting room and sat down in a leather rolling chair next to Byung-hee as Dae left the room to fetch whoever we’d be meeting next.

Your looked down at your twiddling thumbs as BTS’ main manager, Manager Sejin, walked into the room. He looked in a rush and you didn’t know whether to speak or stay quiet till he said something, Luckily, your inner monologue ended with him speaking first.

“Hello, I am Mr. Sejin. I am BTS’ main manager the boys will be in here shortly to meet you and then we’ll leave you…” He trailed off looking at you to fill in your name, “Hi sorry,” you gasped, “I’m y/n.”

“Great, y/n, I will leave you alone with the boys to get better acquainted. First, I need you to sign this non-disclosure agreement, which basically says that we won’t sue you as long as you don’t reveal any private information or business information to anyone, got it?”

You nodded quickly and picked up the pen he set down in front of you and hurriedly scratched you signature into the thick paper. He pulled it up just as you finished and extended his hand to Byung-hee.

“Sorry to be curt but we are in a bit of a rush today as BTS will be having an over the phone radio interview today so you will need to be well acquainted with the members in thirty minutes while Mr. Kim and I roughly outline a contract in another room, they will be in shortly.”

Byung-hee gave you a stiff nod as he swept from the room already speaking fast in hush tones with Mr. Sejin, who had his ear inclined to Mr. Kim, nodding intently. You sat there wondering how long shortly would be, when BTS came shuffling into the room.

You stood up quickly, and sucked in a breath, holding it, not sure what to with yourself. They all looked as if they just came from one the dance studios you had passed on the way here, they were all wearing Puma in varying amounts. V and J-Hope were each wearing a full Puma tracksuit, whereas Jin and Suga were only wearing hoodies, and Jimin, RM, and Jungkook were each wearing different colored and fit track pants. Sweat glazed each of them in a light sheen, but it was as if they were glowing, not dirty. You had seen their faces plastered on billboards, and flashing across TV screens for years, but none of those did them justice to how beautiful they were in person. RM was the first one to introduce himself, he walked around the table to you as each of them made themselves comfortable, V, Jimin, and Jungkook plopping into chairs, while J-Hope and Suga leaned against the wall, and Jin stood neatly next to the table. You turned your attention to RM, who was holding out his hand a welcoming smile on his face.

“Hi, I’m RM, but you can call me Namjoon,” he introduced himself in English, you smiled and meekly cleared your throat, “Hello, sorry I’ve been speaking in Korean all day, I’m y/n.” You blushed and tried to keep your calm.

“No need to apologize, I completely understand, switching back and forth can be hard sometimes,” You smiled back nodding in agreement as Namjoon began to introduce you to the group, switching to Korean, “This is Jin.” Jin reached across the table, shaking your hand politely and giving you a small wink. “This is J-Hope.” J-Hope moved from the wall and walked toward the table to reach and shake your hand, “You can call me Hoseok,” he gave you a beaming smile, making you smile back just as warmly. “This is Suga.” Suga moved from the wall as Hoseok did, and stretched out his hand to shake yours, “Call me Yoongi,” He gave you a small smile, his eyes conveying his disinterest. “This is Jimin.” Namjoon went on as Jimin ran his fingers through his hair and extended out his hand to you, you smiled and shook his hand as he gave you a little smirk. “This is V—.”V cut him off and stood from his chair to lean across the table and shake your hand, “Call me Tae,” he smiled at you as if you were something to eat, and shook your hand firmly clasping the other side of your hand with his. Namjoon rolled his eyes, though there was laughter in them as he spoke again, “And lastly, this is Jungkook.” Jungkook didn’t move from his chair, just leaned forward and extended his hand, his eyes smoldering and holding your eye contact a beat longer than necessary, after your hands came apart.

Hoseok and Yoongi moved from the wall and settled themselves in chairs next to the other members, as Namjoon sat down next to you.

“So, do you think I need the extra help?” Namjoon spoke up in English and the other members turned to each other and began talking, uninterested in your conversation. “Well me personally, I think your English is fantastic, I guess Manager Sejin, just thought you’d get tired of continually translating,” You shrugged your shoulders at the end of this feeling at ease around Namjoon, as he had an intellectual, but warm air around him. “Well, thank you,” He puffed up his chest in mock pride, but quickly chuckled all the air leaving his chest.

“Means a lot from a native speaker, I’m guessing…?”

“Oh, you noticed?” You smiled at his astute keenness to others around him, “I was born in the States, so my first language was Korean and my mother and school taught me English at the same time.”

Namjoon nodded, and turned towards his members, who quieted down as they noticed his attention only Yoongi kept talking to Hoseok till he realized they were all quiet.

Namjoon effortlessly switched to Korean, “Alright guys were doing the radio interview in fifteen and y/n will be here to translate everything they say, you can answer back in English if you want, if not I’ll translate for you, cool?” They all nodded in response, and you smiled at them doing your best to be open, you looked at them and noticed Jungkook still giving you the same intense eye contact. You turned away and began talking to the other members about which English phrases they were comfortable with and taught them some simple ones to say back. You were resolutely looking anywhere besides Jungkook and you noticed him smirking from the corner of your eye, and you decided to busy yourself with taking off your coat as Manager Sejin walked into the room with Byung-hee. Byung-hee looked extremely satisfied with himself and you didn’t want to know the bad news before you had to, so you focused on your clasped hands in front of you and smiled pleasantly at Manager Sejin. He looked at the boys and began explaining the parameters of the interview, to which they all nodded, mouths closed in respect to the elder speaking. Mr. Sejin then pressed the accept call button in the intercom phone at the center of the table and we were greeted by the booming voice of Michael Thompson from TheDailyScoop.

“Hey there to all, my ARMY’s out there we have BTS on the phone today, can you guys say hello?” Namjoon looked up and counted down from three, to which they all announced together, “Hi, we are BTS!”

After the interview was over the atmosphere relaxed, Namjoon thanked you several times for identifying words that he didn’t understand. And the members all looked at you with more respect in their eyes as you had proved yourself to be of some benefit to them. You felt proud of yourself, as Manager Sejin seemed to be very impressed with you and Mr. Kim looked pleased at your performance. Manager Sejin began to talk with the members about their upcoming press tour as Mr. Kim pulled you aside and began to whisper into your ear.

“Y/n, if you do well these next couple days Mr. Sejin is considering bring you onto their American press tour, so perform well and you’ll have the position we talked about available to you the second you come back.” You nodded trying not to show the excitement on your face at the opportunity. You straightened your posture and listened attentively as the members to Mr. Sejin as Mr. Kim excused himself from the room pressing his phone against his ear.

After Mr. Sejin finished addressing the members, he turned to you, “I’ll need you back here at 8 a.m. tomorrow as we have important matters to discuss regarding the next interview, this will be live, so the environment will be very different.” You nodded to show your understanding and all the members rose together, you following suit and grabbing your coat from the back of your chair. Mr. Sejin exited first, followed by Jin and Namjoon who called out his thanks once again. Hoseok, Yoongi, and Jimin left next laughing loudly at something Hoseok said, this left you with Tae and Jungkook. Tae winked at you and left immersed in his phone, and you finally moved from your standing position the side of the room towards the door only to be stopped by Jungkook as he blocked your exit. He was entirely way too close for a business relationship, so you stepped back, so you could look into his face instead of his lips. He was wearing all black and it suited him very well, and even though he still glistened with sweat, he still smelled of his amber cologne, mixed with salt of his sweat, it was pleasing aroma, and it drew you in like an embrace, but you weren’t about to get star-struck in front of this man, who clearly knew how attractive he was. So, you fixed your face with a mask of cold indifference and finally met his intense gaze.

“Can I help you with something?” You said in your business voice.

“No, no, I’m okay,” He responded, you stepped to the right in an attempt to go around him but he blocked your exit again. Now you were getting frustrated, you were about to open your mouth with a retort, when he placed his finger over your lips and leaned down to your ear, “Shhh… I hope I’ll be seeing you around.” He brushed his hand across your lower back and exited with the door clicking softly behind him.

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years ago

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My Boss Kept Breaking COVID-19 Rules. I Didn’t Know What to Do.

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Watching the bar fill up, I felt like I’d reached my breaking point. I knew I needed to do something, anything.

This is Eater Voices, where chefs, restaurateurs, writers, and industry insiders share their perspectives about the food world, tackling a range of topics through the lens of personal experience.

It was a Friday in August, about 9 p.m., and I was working one of my regular shifts as a line cook at a bar in Seattle’s University District. The bar up the street had closed a full hour before COVID-19 restrictions required it to, sending us a flood of customers. As they filed in, I felt completely overwhelmed. A couple of months earlier there had been a coronavirus outbreak in the nearby University of Washington’s Greek system. A lot of the customers coming into the bar now were wearing Greek-lettered shirts.

This wasn’t the first time this had happened, but the day before I’d run out of gloves, and when I’d told my boss he just said it was too bad and shrugged it off. So watching the bar fill up, I felt like I’d reached my breaking point. I knew I needed to do something, anything.

But I had no idea what; nobody offered information about what to do if you, as a worker, need to tell on your workplace. Not King County, not the city of Seattle, not the state of Washington. I needed to tell someone, but carefully.

I felt guilty, because I knew that my boss was hurting — he and his wife have three children they’re trying to send to college. Not having a reliable flow of customers had been really hard.

Still, I couldn’t reconcile my desire for him to do well with my concern for my own safety, and the safety of diners in the bar. Everyone can make their own decisions about whether or not they want to go out, but as an employee, I knew firsthand how poorly managed the bar’s sanitation was. When I’d run out of gloves the day before, it wasn’t the first time, and running out of soap and paper towels had also been a recurring issue. And in the dining area, night after night, groups were being seated one after the other without the table being wiped down.

Meanwhile, my boss seemed very unconcerned with whether or not he would become infected with COVID-19. His goal every night was to get as many people as possible in the door, and he often said that he’d stay open later if he could. He also said it wasn’t his business if people came in and wanted to have a good time. If all the tables were seated, he encouraged people at the door to wait for five or 10 more minutes. Our seating capacity was around 50 (and COVID restrictions halved that), but a lot of people would just crowd around, so often there would be 60 or more in the bar at a time, in very close proximity to each other. At the tables, which were limited to five seats, there were parties of six, seven, or eight. It was infuriating to see so many people drinking, yelling over the noise and loud music, eating and sharing finger foods, while I thought, “Oh my God, this is not okay.”

I had started working at the bar in June, three months after I’d lost my previous job as a host at another restaurant. I needed money, and so many people had told me what a mess it was to get unemployment; I had industry friends who waited three months to get paid. I only have a couple years of experience, so it was kind of a miracle when the bar’s owner wanted to hire me. I was surprised, but then I realized that he hired someone he could pay a low rate. He couldn’t afford to pay somebody with 10 or 20 years of experience what they deserve.

I felt very low in the bar’s hierarchy, and I believed that I should just shut up and be grateful to have a job in pandemic times. It seemed out of place to be stern about my needs. There is an order to the way that things are done: who can speak, who can make changes, who makes certain decisions. I put the hours in, but I still didn’t feel as though I had any right to speak up to the boss.

Still, I expressed my concern to him when I realized there were no gloves. He’d never provided them when he trained me, and I’d previously worked with chefs who didn’t wear them. I figured, surely, in light of the pandemic and safety and hygiene issues, that everybody would be wearing gloves and washing their hands a lot. But my boss didn’t wear gloves at all. And when I asked for them, I could tell it was a confusing request for him. “Why do you need so many gloves?” he asked. “Why are you going through them so quickly?”

He gave me a box that he had, but I went through them pretty fast. I had to be sparing with how I used them, and that didn’t make me feel particularly good. I was freaking out. I was very concerned for my health, but also about my job. I felt conflicted as an employee who was witnessing and working in unsafe conditions, but who also desperately needed to keep her job. I didn’t want to be responsible for shutting down my workplace altogether, because that’s a lot of pressure, and I felt horrible for snitching because that’s not a good look for anyone. And because I was the only employee, aside from the bar back who had been working for my boss for 30 years, I was really anxious about anonymity.

I felt conflicted as an employee who was witnessing and working in unsafe conditions, but who also desperately needed to keep her job.

So I looked for some kind of anonymous complaint phone number, website, or email address to air my grievances with somebody who would then have the authority to come and do something. I went to the OSHA website, scrolled for a few minutes, and just panicked. I needed an actual human person to tell me what to do, to talk to someone whom I felt I could trust to not get me or my job in trouble.

If there were somebody else working there with me, maybe it would have been different. We would have had more power in that situation, and the ability to organize with coworkers. Being able to withhold our labor until we got what we needed, even if it was a freaking stupid box of gloves, would have been huge.

I ended up filing an anonymous complaint with the county health department’s online form. They asked for a name and contact information, but I didn’t fill them in. I wrote it as if I were a customer at the restaurant: “Today I came in and this and this happened, I observed this many people sitting and this kind of behavior.”

I’m not sure if anybody from the health department actually showed up. Normally, my boss would call each day I was scheduled to tell me when to come in, but the week after I filed the complaint, I mysteriously wasn’t called to come in at all.

Thankfully, a good friend who was opening a restaurant asked me the following week if I wanted to work for him. So I quit and took the job. His restaurant is doing takeout only, and I do mostly prep work. The kitchen is pristine. It’s been such a relief working there.

I drive by my old job often. Some evenings that I expect them to be open, they’re not. Other random times in the middle of the week, there are tons of people inside. I got lucky: Had it not been for my friend, I would still be working there. I’m independent; I need to pay my rent. I have nothing else.

To anyone in a similar situation, I would say to do research. Check your county, city, or state guidelines so that you can specifically point out which rules and regulations a business is violating. If you know somebody who you think can help, you need to reach out to them. Health department websites should be able to accommodate these kinds of issues.

Many of us in the industry were at some point taught to keep our heads down and defer to the authority of chefs, managers, and owners; there is a huge problem with workers not feeling like they have the authority to stand up to their bosses. In the time of COVID-19, however, there has to be a clear and efficient way for us to speak up and report problems when we see them happen. After all, if we’re responsible for serving the public, then whether we like it or not, we’re implicated in the protection of the public’s health and safety.

Miriam Wojtas is a cook and aspiring food writer based in Seattle.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2HrXOk9 https://ift.tt/3325KRr

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Watching the bar fill up, I felt like I’d reached my breaking point. I knew I needed to do something, anything.

This is Eater Voices, where chefs, restaurateurs, writers, and industry insiders share their perspectives about the food world, tackling a range of topics through the lens of personal experience.

I felt guilty, because I knew that my boss was hurting — he and his wife have three children they’re trying to send to college. Not having a reliable flow of customers had been really hard.

I felt conflicted as an employee who was witnessing and working in unsafe conditions, but who also desperately needed to keep her job.

Miriam Wojtas is a cook and aspiring food writer based in Seattle.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2HrXOk9 via Blogger https://ift.tt/3kN6G29

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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dxmedstudent · 8 years ago

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Am I allowed to be a little terrified? In September I start my training to become an adult nurse and I keep seeing news articles about all of the stress placed on the NHS right now. I'm pretty sure this isn't going away. Nothing about my career choice scares me (I'm already a healthcare assistant) but the idea of being thrown into staff shortages, bed shortages and constant political criticism is a little much for me. Is it really as bad out there as the news is making out? Thanks :)

Hello! Congrats on starting nursing school :D The NHS can be a scary, stressful place, and I don’t think the articles are exaggerating that. You’re right, it’s not likely to go away, and I think we’re in for tough times for the forseeable future. Personally, I try not to think too far ahead in terms of where the NHS is headed, because there’s only so much stress one can handle! I can’t tell anyone how best to handle it, but thinking far ahead can get quite overwhelming; I prefer to try to focus on the next step rather than the distant future. You’ll have a lot of things to pick up as you learn your new job, and focusing on what you can do rather than the big stuff beyond your reach may help. Also, make lots of friends and keep in touch with your support network. Look after yourself and carve out time outside of work where you don’t think about work and do things you enjoy. Take time to do small things that make you ‘you’.

As a HCA you’ve no doubt seen a lot of the problems firsthand, and I’m sure your nurse colleagues have shared their experiences with you. Even though we are busy and there are always pressures to get things done, we work together to make things happen.It’s not all bad news; the NHS is like a wonderful little family. We form friendships and bonds of mutual respect with so many people. I honestly consider working in the NHS a huge privilege because of the people I get to work with (many of them nurses!) and without their awesomeness I may well already have jumped ship to a 9-5 gig with less drama. But there’s good in the NHS and good things happen too. You get to be a part of helping so many people, and many of the interactions will nourish you in a way few other things do. Yes, it’s an intimidating place and our jobs have a steep learning curve, but it’s not all bad things, all the time. We may complain about the bad, and the news may focus on it (after all, who ever writes about the majority of cases where people are treated well and quickly? Who writes about times things go to plan? Almost nobody! Yes, we deal with things nobody wants to deal with. But we see good, too. We get to do good and see amazing things. I hope that the good more than makes up for the bad, for you. The political criticism is annoying, but what really irks me personally is the criticism from the public. Criticising care in one’s own experience is one thing ( everybody has a right to reflect on how a doctor or nurse treated them, even if they may be missing some nuances), but writing off all doctors as money-grabbing privateers, or all nurses as rubbish based on what a friend of a friend of a friend said, or what they read in some article written by some rich journalist with no real life healthcare experience is what frustrates me. Now that nurses are being ballotted for industrial action, expect the media to treat you similarly to how it treats us; youll either be deified as angels who sacrifice everything, or else blamed for poor care and systemic failings or the actions of a small minority. I’m afraid when healthcare professionals get political, we become fair game for the media and public’s frustrations. And there will always be a vocal minority that say hurtful or ignorant things. You don’t have to engage with them if you don’t want to. Look after yourself, and leave the trolll fighting to those who find it fulfilling.Politicians may well blame nurses for not trying hard enough or not doing their bit (after all, they questioned doctors’ senses of vocation only about a year ago) rather than admitting to systemic problems. But despite that, many people (most people, arguably) know how hard you work. They know it’s not really your fault. During the whole junior doctor contract thing, when patients did bring up the strikes etc, they were supportive. Although not everyone understands everything that we do, most people understand that we are doing our best, whatever ignorant ‘think pieces’ or politicians may say. Try not to worry about bed shortages. The pressure for bed shortages mostly falls onto the matrons, ward sisters and senior docs, but as junior doctors and nurses we work together to do our bit to discharge people as soon as reasonably possible. That’s all we can do!There’s nothing wrong with gently reminding the doc looking after your patient that they need to go home, and the bed is very much needed; but just remember things can only go as fast as they can go. There will always be a pressure to make more bedspace, but it’s neither your job(nor mine) to police that or make it happen. We work together to keep patients safe, make sure patients aren’t sent home prematurely, and ensure well patients go home as soon as praticably possible. Just do your best. Because that’s all you can do. None of us are perfect, and sometimes we’re put in difficult circumstances. But, you’re much better than you give yourself credit for and you’ll be doing a lot more good than you realise. Good luck and see you out there in the field!

#ask dx #askdx #nursing #nhs #doctor #junior doctorhood #junior doctor

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adri-mari-fabrica · 8 years ago

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Challenge Four

A/N: HEY GUYS! This fic is probably really bad, but school happens, you feel. Thank you @haidenschreave @lizzy-matthews @winter-havilliard, and @avalonbrooks for the RPs! Fic below the cut.

“Hey Lizzy,” I said, leaning against her doorframe. Per usual, the writer had left her door wide open. My fellow Selected was hunched over her desk, writing feverishly. So nothing’s new, I thought to myself, inwardly laughing. She wrapped up whatever she was writing and looked up at me expectantly. “Are you excited for the ball?” I asked her.

“Yeah definitely!” She grinned, “I’ve been wanting to attend a ball for a while. What about you?”

I had been expecting this question. Obviously she would deflect it back at me. Still, I felt myself struggling for the right words. “I guess I’m excited.” I thought about the crazy week ahead, “My maids keep asking what I want to wear and I honestly have no clue.” I said. In all honesty, my dress was probably the least of my problems.

Lizzy looked at me, unsure if I was serious. “I mean…” She started, doing her best to mask her incredulousness at my “problem”. “You could just let them decide on a style they think will look good on you. They’ve been designing clothes for you so long I’m sure they’d pick something great for you.”

I laughed at myself hopelessly, “I guess. I feel I’ll even do that wrong.”

Lizzy sighed, “When did I have to become the voice of motivation for everyone? You can’t get a color wrong. Anything will be fine. Just follow your instincts of what color you want, and everything will be fine.”

“The color was never really the issue. I’m just stressed in general.” Why am I even here? The only person who can help you is yourself, stupid. I told myself.

“Stressed about what?” Lizzy asked carefully. “Meeting the past Selected? Being in the Elite?”

I thought about the root of the growing anxiety in my chest. “The fact that there’s only ten of us left, I think. I feel like everyone’s just waiting for me to slip up.”

“Why would you slip up? How would you slip up?”

“I don’t know,” I said, attempting to clarify, “I could say something stupid in front of the previous Elite. Do something stupid at the ball.” The list is endless.

Lizzy took a deep breath. “The only people at the ball are the past Selected and the people who have been here in the palace for a while, who already know you. We already know how you are, and nothing stupid you say will change our opinions of you. And the previous Elite know how stressful this whole thing is, so they know if you seem too nervous or silly, it's probably because of the selection, and not a negative reflection on you. Listen to me carefully: You. Will. Be. Fine.”

Just drop it, Adri.

“You’re right, of course.” I shook my head, embarrassed, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“It’s fine. It’s just the nerves talking, and you just have to ignore it and keep your head held high,” She sympathized.

“Thanks Lizzy.” I decided to change the subject. “So what are you wearing?”

“Oh ummm,” She paused to think. “There’s a black dress my maids made a while ago that I’m going to wear.” As if struck with inspiration, Lizzy resumed writing with more motivation than before. I took that as a queue to leave.

“Pick a color,” I instructed Erin, my maid.

“For what Miss?”

“Just pick.”

“Oh… uh…” she said, flustered, “Green.”

“Perfect,” I told her, “That’s the color I want my gown. I trust you can take care of picking the style?”

“Yes, Miss” Erin answered confidently.

“Good,” I said, reassured. One less thing to worry about. Now I have to hunt down Haiden. That should be fun.

“Hey Haiden. Excited for the ball?” I asked him. Wow Adri, real original. I scolded myself.

“Um, yeah. I guess so.” He responded, looking slightly uncomfortable. “Are balls a regular occasion here?”

“Unfortunately, yes. And I’m always terribly awkward about it.”

“Do you like dancing?” I asked.

“Depends on the dance.”

“Which do you prefer?” I prompted. Typical Haiden. Sure, just leave it up to me to keep asking questions to keep the conversation going.

Adriana get ahold of yourself. I scolded.

“Ones where I don’t make a fool of myself,” he admitted.

“Wow relatable.” I said, sharing a smile.

“I am a relatable person.” He said. “But hopefully my parents didn’t invest in six years of ballroom dancing lessons for nothing.”

“I would hope not.” Watch me make a fool of myself in front of myself with my dancing. “I’m a little concerned about my own dancing, but I should be alright.

“Don’t worry, I won’t laugh.” He assured me.

“I’m not worried about you,” Haiden would be the least of my concerns. “I’m more worried of making a fool of myself in front of everyone.”

“You're not a fool. No one will think that.” He attempted to console me.

“At this point, anyone’s willing to make fun of the Four. But thanks.”

“Hey, don’t let it get to you.” He instructed.

“I’ll try,” I promised half-heartedly.

“That’s really all you can do.” He said knowingly.

“Come here often?” Haiden asked flirtatiously. I wasn’t sure how the conversation had turned into pick-up lines, but I was loving it.

I rolled my eyes at his silliness. “I’ve kind of been living here for the past few months, of course I come here often.”

“Well, surely you can't give me a better pickup line.” He taunted.

“I bet I can!” I replied indignantly.

“Oh, I doubt that.” He said smugly.

“Are you a camera?” I asked sweetly. “Cause every time I look at you I smile.” I grinned at him.

“If I had to rate you from 1-10,” he began, “I would rate you as a 9 because I am the one that you are missing.”

I giggled at his pick-up line. I had to admit, it was good. Wait. Am I actually… enjoying myself? That’s new.

“Do you have a name? Or can I call you mine?” I asked him.

“Are you religious? Because you're the answer to all my prayers.”

“What do your flaws and Illeas' history books have in common? I can't find a single one.” I said. I thought that one might earn a reaction, but Haiden kept plowing through.

“If it’s true that we are what we eat, then I could be you by morning.” Haiden grinned at me devilishly.

“Oh my god Haiden.” Well that took a turn.

“Do you like bacon?” he asked, “Wanna strip?”

I felt my face turn red.

“Roses are red, Violets are blue, Even if you were a Seven, I'd still want you.” I was proud of my impromptu poem.

“Ouch.” he said, “What about an Eight?”

“Sorry, that wouldn’t flow the same,” I said, “Don’t worry, I’d still want you.” I said, grinning.

“Oh, I’m so flattered.” he said dryly.

“Is that sarcasm?” “Possibly.” he answered indifferently.

“I’m afraid they forgot to teach you manners here at the palace.”

“They must have forgotten to teach you good pick-up lines” He responded smartly.

I returned to my room feeling happier than I had in a while. Our conversation had continued with more teasing and pick-up-lines. Does this mean… that I actually have a shot? It had been quite some time since Haiden and I had spent time like that together. I had, for some reason, assumed it was a fluke that I was in the Elite. But maybe… just maybe… I have a reason to be here. He hasn’t eliminated me yet, right?

The ballroom was at it's most elegant that I had seen it yet. Tables filled with refreshments and delicacies lined the eastern wall. All around the ballroom, everyone was either chatting or dancing. I spotted Princess Winter standing by herself on the other side of the room. I should probably be social.

“Princess Winter.” I curtsied. “What an honor to meet you at last. I’m Adriana.”

“Hey Adriana,” she smiled warmly, “Trust me, it's not an honor. I’m but a lowly soul.”

One of the most influential women in all of Illea was telling me she was a “lowly soul”. Go figure.

“I think most of Illea would disagree with that statement, considering you're a One and all.” Wait I didn’t mean it like tha-

She clicked her tongue disapprovingly, “True, but caste doesn’t determine character.”

There I go being stupid.

“You don't know how much I agree with that statement, but I would argue that you're anything but a lowly soul.” Please don’t be mad.

“Maybe so,” she conceded, “I have a family, a job, and money. My soul is pretty happy.”

“I can only wish for that to be me one day... With Haiden or otherwise” I confided.

She smiled, “How are things with him?”

I don’t know. How are things?

“It's so hard to tell. He seems so guarded one moment and,” I chuckled, “flirtatious the next. I honestly don't know what to think.”

“Little bits of him come out at a time. He may feel more comfortable with you at certain times. He's nervous about all of this too.” Winter assured me.

“I’m sure,” I told her, “I can’t even imagine what it’s like in his place.”

“Sadly, I can never truly explain his feelings. I've only ever been on your side of things.” she said apologetically.

“Yeah. It's so weird how there are perspectives none of us will never know”

“And I can't even say I totally understand your feelings.” she laughed, reminiscing, “Heck, I hardly participated.” She leant in closer, whispering, “I was too busy making heart eyes at the wrong prince.”

“At least there weren't thirty four other girls trying to win him over at the same time.” I teased.

“There was one girl I thought liked Cody while we were in the Selection and it drove me crazy. She didn't. But I'm weird.” She confessed.

“It's easy to create doubts when there's really nothing to worry about. I have firsthand experience.”

“You're telling me.” Winter said, chuckling.

I eventually excused myself to eat food. During this time, I talked to Lady Avalon. She had the similar insights to share as Winter said. I danced with Haiden. I danced with some of the Selected. All in all, the night went a lot better than expected.

Maybe I should have been more excited

#selection oc

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sabrinafuadwrites · 8 years ago

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It’s nearly the end of January and this is long overdue but here it is - the Things I Learnt in 2016 - a list I constantly updated throughout last year

1. You can be so amazing to someone, and they can still take you for granted.

2. Some people will love you so much and do wonders for you. Keep them close, do whatever it takes to never lose them.

3. Your oldest friends aren’t necessarily your best ones. They may be, but not all of them are.

4. If you have haters, don’t blame them. People will hate you, but you have to ask yourself why.

5. Put your phone away. Talk to the people around you instead of the people away from you.

6. Hope you’ll be a multibillionaire. Not only because you will live in the luxury you wish for, but because you want to give more to the people who need it.

7. Stop overthinking when people leave. You lose someone who didn’t love you as much as you loved them, and they lost someone who loved them to bits. You know who’s winning and who’s losing.

8. Maybe to a certain extent you should stop caring about what people think of you. It’s none of your business.

9. Sometimes you should put your relationships with other people above your ego. You’ll let the overthinking eat you up, and you deserve to be at peace & happy – always.

10. Make an effort to stay in someone’s life. Don’t let your ego kill your friendships. Just double, triple, quadruple text them. Just do it.

11. Stop looking for The One. Stop hoping to find him on your way to class when you’re walking alone and have your earphones in. Focus on being The One.

12. No matter what comes in life, bear in mind you’re blessed. Incredibly blessed.

13. People can’t be there for you 24/7 even if they wanted to.

14. Going out of the way and putting in 100% to make someone happy will always be worth it.

15. “But (s)he didn’t do it for me.” is not an excuse.

16. Be good to people. You know it makes you happy.

17. When people talk smack about you, ignore it. You yourself know your true intentions and if they don’t bother finding out, don’t bother stressing. At least now you know you’re relevant enough for them to care what you do.

18. Bear in mind that after everything you’ve done in your life, you deserve the world.

19. Pick yourself up when you fall. You’re independent enough.

20. Give & never hope for anything but a “thank you” and a smile.

21. Not everyone you love will love you the way you love them. You knew this when you were 15, you experienced this when you were 17, and you will remember it when you are 19.

22. Keep it low key. No one needs to know.

23. Some people might say they love you and don’t act like it. Don’t waste your time on these people. It’s easier said than done, but you don’t need toxic in your life.

24. Baby girl, you fell hard for this boy but don’t ever for one second think you need him even slightly.

25. Try your best to not let your mood affect the way you treat people. You’ll regret it.

26. You know best that you find yourself over & over again while you try to fix others. You’re doing a good job.

27. Love without limits. Without a doubt, you’ll get hurt, but only if you overthink things.

28. If you keep coming back to the same thing that hurts you, you better pray to God it’s worth breaking your own heart for.

29. He told you that you’re a strong girl. He may be your ex boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean he’s wrong.

30. You’re an open book but some of your pages are stuck together. It’s okay, a bit of mystery about you won’t hurt anyone.

31. Do what it takes to make other people happy. You’ll be surprised at the outcome.

32. He told you can’t count on anyone but yourself. You were right to believe him.

33. Learn to play with the cards you’re dealt with. Your father has always told you this.

34. People are always going to leave, always going to make mistakes, always going to put you through hell. It’s up to you how you want to react to it.

35. With love, comes commitment. It’s a choice.

36. No one is entitled to the best of you.

37. One of the worst things you’ve been through this year is getting so used to a pain that it no longer hurts you anymore.

38. When someone from your past tells you they miss you, they probably mean it. But you are in no way obliged to tell them the same.

39. The fact that you believe that everything happens for a reason and that most of the time it’s for the best is the reason why you constantly pull through. Faith is important.

40. If you haven’t seen a friend in a long time and can still laugh like idiots together when you finally do meet up, keep them close.

41. When you’re angry with someone, don’t become the person you’re upset with.

42. It hurts to hear someone crying and knowing that you’re the reason behind their tears. You had firsthand experience on this. It broke your heart.

43. Some people would give you every universe that ever existed when all you expected was a single moon.

44. Just because you barely talk, it doesn’t mean you can’t be there for them when they need someone.

45. You never needed him, he’s the one who needs you. You’re surrounded by amazing people who genuinely care about & love you.

46. Nothing sadder than your own teacher saying “you could have done better than this.”

47. Try your best to not be demotivated after every bullshit life has given to you. Don’t quit. Ever.

48. You have to know when it stops being okay to break your own heart. You needed to walk away, baby girl, staying wasn’t good for you. Sometimes you have to be a little selfish, or else all you’re going to do is break yourself.

49. Staying happy is the best revenge.

50. On a Thursday afternoon, you were sitting in your Economics classroom and your teacher was giving the class advice on life. She said don’t get tied down too early, go explore the world & live your life first. You’ll regret it if you settle down too quick.

51. Don’t settle for anything but the best for you. If you yourself aren’t going to believe that you deserve it, no one else would.

52. When you’re feeling a little low, surround yourself with people that love you & you love. They make you laugh over the smallest of things, even when you’re cracking on the inside. Do not give into your negative emotions.

53. When you’re going through a hard time, remember it’s a sign from God that he misses you. Go back to him, always.

54. Make time for God. Put Him above all.

55. Think about all the cells whose very existence is dedicated to keeping you alive. Never give up.

56. In the case of a broken heart, do not allow your heart to grow cold. Love endlessly.

57. How someone treats you reflects more about them than you. Relax.

58. You need to stop thinking that everyone will react to/think of everything the same way you do. It disappoints you when they don’t. Stop it.

59. Even though you would love to think otherwise, your perception of someone does not change the way they are.

60. Drop it, honey. If he’s going to take it for granted then you need to stop trying.

61. Don’t get into relationships too deep, at the end of the day the only real friend you have in life is you.

62. Quality over quantity, always.

63. One day you’re going to get exhausted of your negative feelings and you’re going to forgive. Forgive, but never should you forget.

64. If you’re as important as they tell you, they’ll show you. Actions speak much louder than words, sweetheart.

65. It’s nice to stay on good terms with your past but sometimes the past is better off left alone.

66. You are never an option.

67. Some people will be ungrateful & stupid and it’s okay. Just don’t let yourself go down to their level.

68. Never let a person’s one mistake ruin your friendship. Forgive.

69. Unless they apologise, admit their fault yet do it again & again because they know you will always forgive. Don’t let someone take advantage of you.

70. Sometimes, what it looks like is all anybody can see.

71. You can’t be holding the door for people and being mad when they don’t thank you, no one told you to hold the goddamn door in the first place.

72. It’s okay to get tired of tolerating, of accepting bullshit, of being nice.

73. If someone stops talking to you for no reason and you can’t find a reason why, you have to accept that it was just life taking its course.

74. It’s alright if you want to pretend like nothing happened and continue the friendship from where you left it.

75. You lose some, you win some.

76. People will come to you when they’re sad, you cannot beat yourself up because you don’t know what to do or say. Sometimes the most you can do is just sit and listen.

77. It’s okay to say you’re not okay, despite the people around you telling you that they look up to you for your self confidence and contentment.

78. The bad times don’t last.

79. The little things make you happy. Not everyone sees this side of you.

80. Family is important.

81. It’s okay to keep some things to yourself.

82. You learnt that you can be detached, you can love someone so much one day and want your space another. It’s okay. You were made that way.

83. You let someone dictate your feelings, decide your worth. This is one of your biggest regrets.

84. Buying gifts for people just because is one of your favorite things to do. It’s a win-win situation.

85. You put yourself down too much sometimes. You ARE worth it, you ARE good enough.

86. You make mistakes but you’re only human.

87. People who know you like your hot lattes at the cafes yet you love your teh ais kurang manis at the mamaks are the people who know you best.

88. There is no such thing as ‘too much free space’.

89. You like being alone but you don’t like being lonely, it’s alright.

90. There was a time towards the end of the year a lot of people you knew were getting into relationships and being sappy about it to you, it put you in a horrible mood for a while but you got over it. You decided you only felt that way because you felt like you were being left out of the whole get-into-a-relationship phase, you know yourself and you know you’d rather not.

91. There is absolutely no problem with being blunt with your feelings.

92. Your dad always says, ‘there’s no smoke without fire’

93. Just because you’re of the same blood, it doesn’t mean you have the same principles.

94. Home to you has no address. It isn’t a space confined within four walls nor does it have two eyes and a beating heart.

95. Just because it wasn’t on social media, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

96. At the end of the year, you realised that the year 2016 was one hell of a year - be it the good and the bad. You got through it all, and you will get through all the years to come.

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shenzhenblog · 6 years ago

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5 Entrepreneurs Share How They've Handled Client Disasters

Client disasters don’t have to be catastrophic. When customers go from being satisfied buyers to brand haters, companies should take the opportunity to learn what inspired the change and prevent it from happening in the future — or even turn it around in the moment.

Sometimes, though, clients are bound to stay unhappy. If the company stops offering an unprofitable service that a small group of clients needs, the former buyers will be upset no matter what. Rather than bumble through changes hoping for the best, businesses facing client-related mishaps must learn to anticipate potential strife and recognize when compromise is (or isn’t) possible.

Keeping Client Disasters to a Minimum

It’s imperative to anticipate certain customer issues and train your staff to handle those issues. The more you prepare your team for what it might encounter, the better it will do when faced with a customer service issue. During my time working in the consumer products and retail business, I’ve also learned that, as an owner and manager, I can defuse most customer service situations.

If you elevate a problem to a senior person, people tend to feel more confident that you are taking them seriously and care about their problem. In addition, even if the situation calls for you stepping in, it’s crucial to empower your team to handle customer complaints and to support them in their decisions.

Keeping customers happy isn’t just nice for the company’s reputation — it has a direct effect on the bottom line. Companies that provide great experiences enjoy higher rates of retention, customer satisfaction, and opportunities to upsell. Where price used to be the biggest differentiator between companies, the customer experience has taken the throne. More than four out of five buyers are willing to pay more for exceptional experiences.

Finding Purpose While Walking The Way Of Saint James

No matter how much companies prepare, however, a few client disasters will always slip through the cracks. Someone’s unreasonable expectation will go unfulfilled, an employee will make an unforgivable blunder, or the forces of the universe will simply decide that the relationship needs some strife. When that happens, companies need to know how to handle the situation without losing face — and without letting one customer’s bad day lead to widespread displeasure.

After all, as much as companies love good clients, unhappy customers can do far more damage than happy clients can do good. One study by Dimensional Research found that 95 percent of people who experience bad customer service tell someone else about it, with 54 percent expressing their displeasure to at least five others — compared to just 33 percent who share a good experience.

Faced with these stats, I asked five entrepreneurs and business leaders to share with me what they’ve done in the face of client disasters:

1. Matt Clervi, CEO of Fresh Ideas Management

Growth is great, but it can make longtime customers feel like afterthoughts when personal service becomes less attentive. Matt Clervi knows this all too well. “We were growing fast, and one of our first clients said that our growth had robbed them of our attention,” he said. “They weren’t feeling the love anymore. They threatened to take their business elsewhere.”

Clervi believes that deep listening and hard questions are the key to salvaging damaged relationships. After that client complained, he challenged everyone within his company to slow down. They took time to listen to the challenges of their client and put timelines around a solution. Clervi said it taught his team members to be grateful for growth, but not to allow the rate of growth to lessen the experience they’re able to provide clients.

“When you appreciate the people who helped you grow and consistently listen to them, you put yourself in a position to consistently succeed,” he explained. He added that his company reviewed its culture and hiring practices and implemented techniques to better identify when a candidate is self-aware and able to slow down and ask hard questions.

2. Erik Huberman, CEO of Hawke Media

When small blunders carry massive costs, deciding who foots the bill can be a treacherous prospect. Erik Huberman shared a time when his company had a glitch occur with a client’s email system, which meant a discount email offer intended for a small subset of his client’s customers was sent to a much wider audience. When he recommended that the company retract the discount, the client declined — then decided not to pay its several outstanding bills for Huberman’s company’s services.

“They had asked me to just keep working and the bills would get handled,” he said. “They basically lied and took advantage.” After hearing that they would not be paying, Huberman said he told the company that he could get a lawyer to collect his money. The client’s founder began texting him slurs and threatening to drag his name through the mud.

That’s when Huberman said he made another mistake: “I jabbed back, threatened, sank to the same level. Then I said, ‘Good luck with marketing,’ and not to call me again. Then the other partner in the company called me apologizing and begging us to keep working together.” Huberman said his company ended up making some money back, but it was the beginning of the end for that client relationship. If Huberman could do it again, he said he wouldn’t let emotions guide the way he handled the situation. Customers can afford to get heated, but business leaders cannot.

3. Caroline Santiago, Founder and CEO of Utopia Life Consulting Inc.

Clients will be hesitant to work with a person whom someone else has selected, a phenomenon Caroline Santiago experienced firsthand. When the chief operating officer at one client company hired Santiago to work with the chief technology officer, the CTO felt saddled with an unasked-for partner and wanted nothing to do with her. Santiago arranged a daily 9 a.m. check-in meeting with the CTO, whom she described as an independent thinker and leader, but when she showed up on the first day to meet him, he didn’t show. He then ignored her attempts to meet with him the next several days.

Eager to get started on work the firm was paying her to do, Santiago met with the CTO’s technology department leadership team over the course of three days. After those three days of meetings, the CTO showed up to the scheduled daily check-in meeting with Santiago, but his reaction wasn’t what she was expecting. “The CTO proceeded to yell and scream at me, stating he didn’t want me here and asking what authority I had to schedule meetings and work with his leadership team,” she recalled.

“I told him he should interview me right now for this position, and if he did not think I was a good candidate for the role, I would not show up to work tomorrow.” The CTO’s shock at her proposal showed in his face. That on-the-spot interview went well, and Santiago received the buy-in she needed from the CTO to keep the relationship going. Santiago said that, through this experience, she learned to make sure she is able to speak with all key client stakeholders before signing a client agreement. Clients don’t always want the world. Usually, they just want to feel like they have a choice in the matter.

4. Josh Hudgins, Managing Partner and Director of US Sales at Global Ecom Partners

Every company makes mistakes. But the best ones take responsibility for them, especially when those mishaps occur early in the client relationship. Josh Hudgins learned this lesson when his company onboarded a new client but failed to walk that client through the onboarding process. That omission led to a lag in shipping time to the end customer, which was soon caught and corrected. Unfortunately, Hudgins’ company also failed to realize it had overlooked the part of the onboarding process in which the client’s in-house marketing is moved to its platform. That oversight resulted in zero marketing for all of the client’s products for a month.

“The most significant dilemma was maintaining our client’s confidence in our ability to execute what we had promised and not leave us after such a short honeymoon period,” he said. “Luckily, we had set the expectation that there would be bumps in the transition process but let them know we were committed to resolving any issues quickly.”

Hudgins reminds anyone in his situation that deals are not over at closing. They are a series of commitments, each of which requires appropriate fulfillment — a lesson he learned through this client mishap. The poor onboarding experience and transition led his company to create a new onboarding checklist. “This checklist allows complete transparency and accountability to everyone involved in the new client process, which has resulted in a better client experience,” he said.

5. Krister Ungerboeck, Strategic Planning and Leadership Consulting Expert

Krister Ungerboeck relies on what he calls “the language of license,” meaning that clients need to know when they’re getting in the way of a successful partnership. With this in mind, when one of his clients kept pushing their agreement to the bottom of the list and making his team run behind schedule on a project, Ungerboeck took action.

He and the client’s CEO engineered an agreement to give each other’s teams permission to raise red flags. That way, if a project is running behind schedule, each team feels comfortable enforcing the schedule. Ungerboeck said: “This discussion gave our teams authority to hold one another accountable. I call this move ‘the permission play,’ and it’s imperative to my leadership playbook.”

Businesses should not wait for clients to reach the brink of disaster before getting firm. Clients would much rather have a tough conversation early than missed revenue later. Ungerboeck added: “Be sure to give your team permission as a group rather than individually. Communicating this to the group will have a more powerful impact.”

Not every client relationship can be salvaged, but every business needs to know how to handle things when something goes wrong. By remaining flexible and keeping the lines of communication open, businesses can minimize client disasters and ensure every customer experience is as great as it can be.

Originally posted on Forbes.

Rhett Power

Rhett Power is Best-Selling Author, Executive Coach, Columnist at Forbes, Inc. & Success. Rhett Power co-founded Wild Creations in 2007 and quickly built the startup toy company into the 2010 Fastest Growing Business in South Carolina. Wild Creations was named a Blue Ribbon Top 75 US Company by the US Chamber of Commerce and named as one of Inc. Magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing US Companies two years in a row. He and his team have won over 40 national awards for their innovative toys. He served in the US Peace Corps and is a graduate of the University of South Carolina. He now has a rapidly growing coaching and consulting practice based in Washington DC.

5 Entrepreneurs Share How They’ve Handled Client Disasters was originally published on Shenzhen Blog

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gerardwayisarchive · 6 years ago

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Gerard Way on Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion and the TV Series

https://gerardwayisalive.tumblr.com/post/181689658259

https://www.denofgeek.com/us/books/the-umbrella-academy/278030/gerard-way-umbrella-academy

John Saavedra Jan 3, 2019

This article contains Umbrella Academy spoilers.

Gerard Way is a bit tired on the third day of New York Comic Con. He'd stayed up late for a Netflix cast dinner the night before (he's in bed by 9:45 most nights) and had overslept this morning. Worst of all, he'd been forced to skip his morning meditation.

"It's kind of throwing my whole day off," Way tells me as we sit together in a corner of the Dark Horse booth at the Javits Center, hidden from the masses. The writer/musician is dressed in a big fatigue jacket, hair long and shaggy. He's starting to show hints of a shiny gray. Once impeccably clean-shaven, he now sports a mustache and beard.

Gone are the days of bleached hair, marching bands, and eyeliner. The force of nature who belted out songs about wasted youth, love lost, and doom as the frontman of My Chemical Romance is dead (like the Black Parade itself). Three cheers for the next life of Gerard Way, one of the best comic book writers currently working.

In October, following his excellent work on DC's Doom Patrol with artist Nick Derington, Way finally returned to his original comic book creation, The Umbrella Academy, after an almost ten-year hiatus. The new story arc, Hotel Oblivion, is a grand return for the series as well as for Way and the brilliant Brazilian artist Gabriel Ba, who first collaborated on the series in 2007 and won an Eisner for Best Limited Series in 2008.

The Umbrella Academy is the story of an estranged family of superheroes, years past their prime, who must navigate a nightmarish family reunion, prevent the end of the world, and deal with their traumatic pasts at the hands of their cold (and sometimes abusive) father. In the series' first arc, Apocalypse Suite, the team must stop one of their siblings, a classically trained violinist, from bringing about the end of the world with her evil orchestra. The follow-up, Dallas, is the story of Number Five, a time-traveling assassin who's hired to go back to 1963 and kill John F. Kennedy. It's up to his siblings to either help him or thwart the assassination from ever taking place.

Just three issues into Hotel Oblivion, Way and Ba have laid the foundation for another epic story, this time spanning not only time but also space. At the center of this tale is the titular hotel, a purgatorial prison located in an alternate dimension meant to house the world's worst criminals. The secrets of this hotel and the family's connection to it are the focus of the arc, but there are also plenty of other strange shenanigans along the way.

You have to read it to believe it: 43 superpowered orphans are born around the world at the same time to women whom just seconds before hadn't been pregnant. This is the big bang of Way and Ba's outrageous comic book universe, an alternate version of our reality where Kennedy wasn't assassinated and wrestlers wage war against giant space monsters in the ring. Seven of these orphans are adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, a rich scientist who also happens to be an undercover alien, and turned into the world's most famous superhero team, the Umbrella Academy. Together, these extraordinary kids have stopped the Eiffel Tower from taking over the world, defeated a rampaging Lincoln Memorial, and put all manner of costumed villains behind bars.

But those were the good old days.

By the start of the story, one of the orphans is already dead. You quickly find out he was the lucky one because the remaining six siblings are seriously fucked up, thanks to their manipulative and emotionally unavailable father, who's very good at saving the world but terrible at giving the kids what they need the most: love and support.

When the remaining members of the team -- Luther aka Spaceboy, Diego aka the Kraken, Allison aka the Rumor, Klaus aka the Seance, Number Five, and Vanya aka the White Violin (but only after discovering her apocalyptic powers as an adult) -- return home for Sir Reginald's funeral, things only get more complicated. Spaceboy struggles with depression, Kraken is unable to get close to anyone, Rumor's marriage is breaking down, Seance falls deeper into drug addiction, and Number Five...well, he's actually doing alright...

By the end of Dallas, the team is more broken than ever before and it seems that only distance from each other can help mend these characters. Well, a decade was plenty of distance, a lot of time for Way to consider what came next for his children. By the time Way started working on Umbrella Academy again in 2014, he found that the way he thought about these characters had changed.

"I think I understand them in different ways now," Way says. "I think I'm less hard on them. I think I've found more compassion in dealing with them. I've put them through some really hard things and sometimes I feel bad about it."

These days, Way is interested in really digging into the trauma these characters have faced and maybe even giving them some space to heal.

"Trauma is a very intense thing and a very real thing and everybody experiences it in some way. I obviously did not have a childhood like these kids. But I did have a childhood in which I needed to escape a lot."

Hotel Oblivion certainly feels like an escape for the Hargreeves siblings, who are spread out all over the globe (and in the afterlife because that's how the Seance rolls). The first four issues are a sort of exhale for these characters, who are still recovering from major losses, heartbreak, and the whole JFK business.

After all the blood, explosions, betrayals, and deaths, Hotel Oblivion is meant to be cathartic, according to Way: "It's about the past. It's about mistakes. It's about fathers. It's about redemption. It's definitely a therapeutic series."

At the center of the story is still the concept of family. The Rumor is trying to help Vanya recover from the injuries she suffered in Apocalypse Suitewhile also trying to reconnect with her civilian family and working with the ultra-violent Number Five on his latest gambit.

Most surprising is the mending relationship between the Kraken and the team's former leader, Spaceboy. While stuck in an eternal sibling rivalry in the first two arcs -- Kraken challenges Spaceboy's leadership, Spaceboy condemns Kraken's impulsivity -- these scarred heroes start to reach out to each other in Hotel Oblivion. It's a change in the dynamic of the team that didn't seem possible back in 2009.

"Kraken's interesting and his relationship with Spaceboy changes in this series," Way explains. "A lot of it had to do with the fact that I was tired of writing that type of character, that rebellious fool, that Wolverine kind who always gives the leader shit. I never saw Kraken always being that way. I thought he was gonna be that way in the beginning and then he would grow."

Kraken, the loner who most resembles the "Batman" of the group, is actually the one trying to reunite the superhero team. Meanwhile, an overweight Spaceboy, who fled to Tokyo after the events of Dallas, is dealing with an existential crisis and no longer interested in leading his siblings.

"He's searching," Way says of Spaceboy. "I like the idea of a lost leader. A leader that doesn't have the answers anymore. Who's maybe not even a leader anymore. So I loved exploring that with Spaceboy."

Spaceboy isn't the only leader in need of redemption, though. Even Sir Reginald deserves a re-examination, according to Way.

"I learned more about him. I learned more about his history in working through this stuff, and I can't reveal any of that, obviously. But I've learned to find even compassion for him. Like there's a reason he is the way he is. Over the course of the series, you discover that reason of why he is this kind of ruthless person."

For these heroes, their father remains the catalyst for their problems. Will these characters ultimately find peace (and maybe even love) where it previously eluded them? It's too early to say, but at the very least, the search for the Hotel Oblivion gives them a new place to inevitably find and help each other.

"The story at one point was gonna be a little bit less about the people that live in the hotel, but over time I found that I really wanted to tell their stories, so there are a lot more characters in Hotel Oblivion than there were nine years ago."

The Hotel Oblivion, with its faceless bellhops and cockroach entrees, might remind one of Captain Willard's stay in Saigon in the opening minutes of Apocalypse Now. Willard's hotel room is a sort of purgatory before his journey back to hell, a way station where he's left to relive his trauma over and over until he's lying naked on the dirty carpet, crying, bleeding, and a bit mad.

Way's prison isn't quite as dramatic as that, but it's doubly as terrifying. When Sir Reginald sends the villainous Murder Magician to the hotel, we get to see firsthand the lengths to which Sir Reginald will go to "save the world," letting the bad guys rot in a TripAdvisor hellscape without a trial.

"The concept of Hotel Oblivion deals a little bit with capital punishment," Way explains. "I think in terms of current events and the state of our world right now, in future Umbrella Academy volumes, we'll see a little more of that creep its way into the book. But right now I really wanted to explore capital punishment because we know what a super prison is."

Watching the villain watch a grotesque Lynchian cartoon about mice on the hotel television with nowhere else to go for the rest of eternity, you even start to feel for him. In one panel, he looks out his window at the desert beyond the hotel, surrounded on all sides by desolation and the bony carcasses of animals. This place could break him, the villain's face seems to say (Ba's pencils bring depth and emotion beautifully to this book).

"You don't really see mainstream comics exploring the ramifications of somebody having to live in Arkham Asylum and what that does to somebody psychologically. Or if the Phantom Zone is ethical punishment. So it deals a lot with that."

Way took inspiration from his real-life travels when creating the titular hotel, which he based on the Benson Hotel in Portland, Oregon where he stayed while working on the original Umbrella Academy stories.

"It's a very old hotel and it's kinda classy, but it's also a little bit old. From the outside, it kinda looks like the Hotel Oblivion," Way recalls. "I would be really isolated in that room just writing. I started to become inspired by the environment that I was in."

There was a time in Way's life when the writing didn't come so easy, though. Way told EW back in October that writing Umbrella Academy while on the road with My Chemical Romance became more difficult, describing the twilight of the band during that final tour as "really taxing." The band broke up in 2013 and Way jumped straight into a solo album, Hesitant Alien, soon after, further delaying his comic book work.

Way has a steady place to work now, a studio separate from his house. That's where the magic happens.

"I wake up really early, I hang out with my daughter, get her ready for school, I take her to school, I come back, I meditate, and then I start writing. And that takes up most of my time. I only make music on Fridays."

Since our chat, Way has released two groovy new songs, "Baby, You're a Haunted House" and "Getting Down the Germs," which show the artist moving away from both his emo pop roots and Britpop revival sensibilities to a more psychedelic sound. "Germs" even has a flute solo courtesy of renowned flutist Sara Andon. A third song, "Dasher," is a lovely Christmas ballad about a girl who falls in love with a reindeer, with backup vocals by Lydia Night of The Regrettes. Yeah, this is Way like we've never heard him before.

Way is also working on the upcoming Umbrella Academy Netflix series. The first season, which is set to debut on Feb. 15, will adapt both Apocalypse Suite and Dallas. That's quite a bit of ground to cover (across at least three different time periods), but Way, who has spent a lot of time on set as an executive producer, says that the series is going deeper into certain parts of the story than the comics did.

"Since they have more time, they can get deeper into things that may only be like two pages in the comic. And that's been really cool. They explore the characters a lot more." Way teases that both arcs "were expanded for the TV show. There are new elements in there. They've kind of enhanced the experience of those two graphic novels."

Beyond Hotel Oblivion and the Netflix show are more comics. In fact, Way is already developing the fourth arc with Ba.

"I'm putting all my notes together. So basically I know that there are eight volumes of Umbrella and I know what happens in each of them. I know what happens in the fourth. We're basically gonna take about three months between Hotel and when we start series four."

What can Way tease about series four? The arc will explore the biggest mystery at the center of their superhero universe, according to Way.

"We're finally gonna get to see some more of the 43 individuals." But he won't say any more about that.

Don't worry, though. The writer knows that you've been waiting a long time to learn more about these characters, to spend more time in their world. At the end of our chat, he opens up about how much it means to him that fans continue to ask for The Umbrella Academy.

"I just really appreciate them sticking around," Way says. "If people didn't care about it, I don't know, maybe I would have moved on to something else. But they still really want to know the whole story and so it's my duty to tell that story. I'm gonna give them what they want."

The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion #1-4 are out now. Issue #5 is out on Feb. 6. The Netflix series premieres on Feb. 15.

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9.

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therealestatesparkblog · 6 years ago

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How One 30-Year-Old Built $40,000/Year Passive Income in a Few Years

When Brady Hanna turned 30, he decided it was time to start building passive income. That was six years ago. Today, he has 12 doors, which gross him around $7,700/month. Granted, thats not all profit. His net profit in a given year? Around $40,000. Thats higher than the median personal income in the United States! Heres exactly what hes done over the last few years, to build that portfolio. In the Beginning I had stumbled across BiggerPockets and started absorbing as much information as possible. I asked questions on the forums and started listening to the podcasts every chance I could, Brady explained to me. How seriously did he take his real estate investing education? I installed a Bluetooth speaker in my shower and bathroom, so I could listen to the podcast when I was taking a shower and getting around in the morning.Over the years, I have listened to every podcast multiple times and get fired up every time I hear a new episode. Thats dedication. For my first property, I wanted to follow all of the things I had learned and was looking for properties that hit the 2% Rule. Now, its worth mentioning that not everyone agrees with following the 2% Rule. I have my own bones to pick with it, but thats another story. Or article. Whatever. Brady located a move-in-ready duplex for sale in Grandview, MO (which is south of Kansas City). Estimating gross rents at $1,100/month, he paid $55,000 for it. To finance it, Brady secured a loan from a local community bank, using money saved from his 9-5 job for the down payment. I put down a 20% down payment and was off and running.

Early Lessons in Property Management I thought I was smarter than the system and figured I would self-manage to save the property managers fees. Any time you catch a case of the smug and think youre beating the system, thats a good time to pause for some good ol fashioned self-reflection. Not that I would ever discourage anyone from managing their own rentalsif theyre prepared to put in the time and learn the skills necessary to do it. Brady advertised the units for rent, then promptly left town for two days for a trade show through his day job. Over those two busy workdays, he received no fewer than 60 phone calls from prospective renters. After the first week of driving out to the property multiple times for showings, I saw a property management company off the side of the highway and quickly pulled over, walked in, and hired them on the spot. Does it strike you that he skipped an important step there? It should. I didnt vet this property management company. I just assumed that since they were close to my rental property, they would do a good job. If youve ever wondered about the first sign that a property management company needs replacing, pay attention here. Communication was a struggle. It was like pulling teeth just getting information out of them and trying to stay in the loop about what was going on with the property. Thats the sound of foreshadowing, for all you non-English majors. Related: Sorry, But Passive Income is a Myth for Most Investors. Heres Why. Property #2, Property #3 After a few months of collecting rents, Brady decided that being a landlord was everything he thought it would be. I took out a $50,000 home equity line of credit (HELOC) against my personal residence, using my local bank. I used $36,000 to buy a single-family property through a short sale in South Kansas City. The property needed $7,000 in repairs. If youve ever bought a property with cash, you know how much easier it is to negotiate a good deal. Better yet, Brady avoided paying hefty hard money loan fees to buy and renovate the property. He knocked out the repairs quickly and rented the house for $850/month. From there, it was simple to secure a long-term mortgage, which he used to pay back his HELOC. House #3 I bought off an online auction website for $23,000 cash (again, using my HELOC). I put $27,000 into the property over a matter of three months. I thought, man, this rental business thing is easy! All Chickens Come Home to Roost If there was ever a cue for something to go wrong, that must be it. Around this time, I started running into a lot of problems with my property management company. Not exactly a plot twist, is it? His out-to-lunch property manager was starting to cost him serious money. A tenant at his original property, the duplex, skipped town in the middle of the night. That left him with two vacant units (out of four), as his most recent property was still under renovation. He called the owner of the property management company and fired them. Armed with firsthand experience that he needed to do a better job screening property managers, he went back to the drawing board. I asked for recommendations on BiggerPockets for a reputable property manager. I interviewed a couple candidates and hired our new property manager a few weeks later and havent turned back. The new company filled his vacant unit in the duplex, then rented his newly-finished single-family for $875. From there, it was a simple matter of getting a mortgage on the property and paying off his HELOC once again.

Building a Portfolio and an Evolving Strategy Brady has used the same strategy to finance the next seven properties in his portfolio: buy and renovate with cash from his HELOC and savings, rent it out, get a mortgage. Or not get a mortgage, if he can help it. Ive taken the income from the rentals and just put it all back into the business, paying down principal on the houses.I now have a total of 12 units, and only have debt on three properties, using this technique. When I asked Brady what hes changed over the last few years, as hes accrued experience, he didnt hesitate. Originally, I invested in B- and C class neighborhoods. They are not in war zones and have relatively low crime; theyre working class neighborhoods. But as my portfolio has grown, Ive been focusing on B+ neighborhoods, as they are less transient and there is less turnover. Why? Because turnovers are ROI-killers, which is why tenant retention is so important for landlords. Related: 3 Real Estate Investing Strategies That Arent So Passive (& 4 That Are) Landlord Cash Cushions I asked Brady what advice and takeaways he would offer for other rental investors. I highly recommend having a reserve fund in place, as you never know when a bad month or couple months is going to hit your portfolio. All too true. It turns out Brady hasnt just paid off most of his mortgage debt, but hes also set aside strong cash reserves. A recent example? He had not one, not two, but three furnaces fail in November. At an average replacement cost of $2,000 apiece, that would have been a desperate blow to someone without a liquid cash cushion. Heres another example: One of our rental properties had a small undetectable leak behind the sink for an extended period of time, causing mold to build up behind the wall. We ended up letting the tenants out of the lease, hiring a mold remediation company who also found asbestos behind the wall, hiring an asbestos abatement company, and then rebuilding the kitchen wall. That set of repairs, which started with a tiny leak, cost Brady$10,800 and four months of lost rents. Final Advice: Network! Brady explained that as the Kansas City real estate market has heated up, hes had to increasingly rely on his network to find deals, rather than the MLS. Go on Facebook, and search for investor groups in your area.In Kansas City alone, there are over five local real estate investor groups that I have joined where people are posting deals all the time at a discount. Network with fellow investors at meetup groups, REI clubs, and talk to people you know about real estate, because you never know where your next deal is going to come from! You know what they sayyour net worth is directly correlated to your network. Grow your network in the real estate industry, and your opportunities will grow right alongside it. What Comes Next In the meantime, Brady is in no rush to retire from his day job. I plan on retiring from my full-time job when I am 50 years old. I enjoy what I do at my job but want to retire when I am still young enough to enjoy being active in my retirement. Any financial targets before then, Brady? I am looking to build a passive income of at least $10,000/month so that I can use my abilities to help others. I plan to take a year off working, spending time with my family, church, fishing, golfing, and working out. Once I am going stir-crazy, I plan on helping others invest in real estate and focus on larger scale real estate investments while spending time helping out in my church. I dont know about you, but I think Bradys onto something here, with this whole invest-in-rentals-and-retire-young, strategy. Were republishing this article to help out our newer readers.

Whats your strategy for building passive income? How are you planning to reach financial independence? Any tips or tidbits to share? Weigh in below! https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/zero-to-40000-year-passive-income-in-a-few-years

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ourmrmel · 6 years ago

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Mel Feller Gives Business Writing Tips

One of the most common mistakes in business writing is being too verbose. The question to ask yourself when composing a business letter is, "Why say something in 100 words, when I can say the same thing and do it more concisely with 75 words?" Keep in mind that the intended recipient of your business letter is probably busy, being pulled in eight different directions at once, and has a limited attention span.

In business writing, one also has to be careful about using jargon, technical words, or acronyms that not everyone will be familiar with. If you confuse or bore the person you are writing to, then your business communication will have been ineffective -- or worse, ignored.

Business letters, in order to get their point across and produce the desired response, should be well organized, broken up into plenty of paragraphs, and should transition logically from one thought to another.

Whether you are sending the business letter to one or thousands of people, it's important in business writing to convey an image of professionalism. You'll be taken more seriously and convey more credibility if your business letter is clear, tactful, and free from typographical errors... as well as any blatant abuse of the English language.

If it is an especially important business letter, or if it concerns a sensitive topic, you might want to do one of two things (or both):

After you have written the first draft, step away from it for an hour (give or take), and then return to it with a fresh outlook. Sometimes people lose their objectivity, when doing business writing, and need to revisit the business letter in a different state of mind. After taking a second look, you might find yourself wondering, "How could I have said that?" or realize that unless you reword the business letter; the recipient may be offended or take it the wrong way.

An alternative to stepping away from the business letter for a fresh perspective is getting a second opinion. Ask a co-worker, boss, or associate what they think of the business letter and whether you are overlooking something. Ask them (in your own words) if the business letter is clear, easy to understand, and business-like without being too stuffy and impersonal.

Obviously, a collection letter or a complaint letter would have a completely different tone than a congratulatory letter or a sales letter, but generally the objective of any business communication is to get your point across clearly, concisely, and, in many cases, persuasively. If some type of action on the part of the recipient is desired, it should be clearly stated exactly what you want the person to do. Sometimes imposing a deadline -- either artificial or actual -- will help motivate the person to respond in a timely way.

Mel Feller Career Highlights

Mel Feller offers career and leadership coaching to executives, entrepreneurs, and other coaches. Mel is also a life coach and usually advises his career & leadership-coaching clients on work/ life balance and other issues. Mel actively coaches other coaches one-on-one, in groups, or through Master Minds and laser coaching.

His coaching specialty is helping high-performing people to accelerate their progress by gaining clarity, alignment with their talents, and focusing on what is meaningful to them. He also works with people who feel stuck at work or in life and helps them create momentum to get into the work they dream of and feel good about their lives overall.

Mel Feller Loving What He Does

He also offers business-consulting services to entrepreneurs who are visioning, launching, or trying to scale their businesses for profitable growth.

Mel is a motivational speaker who makes several appearances a year and will speak to large and small groups. He will also offer to customize a speech or workshop/ retreat for your organization. He is also a newspaper contributor and blogger; blogs under several blogs he owns and contributes to several more.

As a certified coach, Mel has studied with Franklin-Covey Institute, The Financial Institute for Life Transformation; Coaching For Success Elite Coaching; and is a member of several Boards and ��Associations. Mel also has an MA in Human Resources, marketing and strategy/ policy and a MA in Public Administration from Utah State University and a BA in Political Science, Accounting and Legal Studies with High Honors from Weber State University. Previously, Mel worked as a Chief of Staff for a United States Senator.

What distinguishes Mel is that he has been a high-powered executive; a stay-at-home/ work at home single dad at one time; and an entrepreneur so he understands what the challenges are for C-Suite executives and what they are for Stay-At-Home parents’ thinking about re-entering the workforce. He has done it and he gets it!

Most coaches do not have the level of business experience that Mel does so it gives he a helpful vantage point to coach CEOs, senior management teams, C-Suite level and middle management level executives. He personally worked with senior managements, CEOs, and Board of Directors on business strategy issues so he understands what it takes to thrive and persuade in that environment firsthand.

Mel understands how to help people create momentum for change in their life and how to break through the barriers holding them back. He is a big believer in taking concrete steps forward every day. Mel was stuck and more than once and so he knows firsthand how hard it can be to change your life to pursue your dreams, but he is living proof that it can be done.

It is his mission to help you get into the life you dream about, to convince you that you can make a living doing what it is you want to be doing, to help you feel like you are living your purpose and in congruency with your values.

“Truth telling, honesty, and candor: I loved you Mel Feller! You have so much energy and knowledge! I truly hope I get another opportunity to be coached by you. I see myself a little clearer now, and it’s not so bad.”

Lisa Mathews

“Mel Feller you added more value than we can possibly see right now. Mel Feller, you are warm, inviting, and accommodating. Thank you for coming alongside us in this transition!”

Vanessa Cavanaugh

“Mel Feller the best education session that we have attended in many years! Thank you so much — I am very excited to put everything you have taught us into practice!”

Michael Randolph

“Mr. Mel Feller, Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving a marvelous keynote at our Symposium! While we have not yet collected the official feedback, the unofficial feedback was that You Were a Hit! I heard nothing but compliments regarding your presentations. Thank you for making such a positive impact on our attendees! ”

Lyle Cunningham VP

"Mel Feller uses his humor, compassion, and direct nature to help bring out the best in me. Mel Feller is committed to helping me live...I mean, really live, life to its fullest."

Jose Rodriguez

Mel Feller Links

https://www.instagram.com/mel.feller

https://ourmrmel.tumblr.com/

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thoughts-in-harbor · 6 years ago

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call me by your name notes

just some notes i had while call me by your name last week: The way they eat that egg is ughhhh.

The dance disco part put a smile to my face.

Beautiful piano piece at 38 m.

lmao the dude (elio) just put his (oliver) shorts on his head.

the young knight and the princess. is it better to speak or to die?

"unless you have more important business going on?" lol idk why i laughed when elio mocked oliver by repeating this.

because i wanted you to know.

52 min nice piano piece.

one thing i'm not quite sure is when they started being gay or at least the indication that oliver was. (oliver explains it later in the film but it probs goes into more depth in the book)

wow everyone is so carefree.

nice song at 64 min mark.

79 min nice piano piece

105 min nice song

i guess what marzia says (that she’s afraid he’ll hurt her) reflected what elio was feeling/ too bad he's still young and horny i guess using the poor girl

i love the part where they’re just yelling their names while running in the mountains as if to say hi world here we are and we are happy. how the young want to leave their mark on the world.

they said goodbye without saying anything i love that for some reason

i also love how whimsical and non-intense this movie is like there's no evil antagonist or anything. just them and their selves/inner demons and desires and failures

i love how chill these parents are. i want to be a parent like them. dad is cool kinda like robin williams

ohh that last 10 minutes gets you right where it hurts p.s. also that peach scene sent my mine to american pie. god i guess when you’re young and horny you’ll always find a way. as it true as before and as true today and as true in the future.

review and final thoughts/reflections took me two viewings to finish the movie. watched one hour then stopped and finished it the day after. i guess in that way it’s a slow burn of a movie i.e. kind of boring in the beginning. but the second half is very enjoyable. i initially gave it a 9/10 but didn’t feel like it was good enough for a 5/5 so gave it 4/5 for a final score/verdict. i think this is the first gay romance movie I’ve ever seen. it was good. how does it apply to my life or what did you take away from it? -hmmm there were some parts here i really loved. the story of the young knight and princess. is it better to speak or die? my take away from this is whether or not two friends/people should break the status quo of their relationship and risk to see if it can bloom into something more or break into something that cannot be reforged. my own answer is that is is better to speak. i guess i’m braver (or more foolish) than i give myself credit for. in my own experience i’ve always chosen to speak because what is there to lose? the reward always far outweighed the risks and even if didn’t pan out you’ll be surprised by what you gain from loss and sorrow. so yes it is always better to try and struggle because a life where everything is freely given is not much of a life lived at all. the beauty of life comes from the struggle. -and that quasi confession scene “because i wanted you to know” kinda came out of nowhere. i guess confessing comes naturally for some people. i just can’t see myself ever being that open and vulnerable at the same time. it’s always one or the other for me. either i’m open and confident or just amiable and privately vulnerable. feelings? it gave me feelings but i don’t think it can really compare to something i’ve already/or can experience firsthand. so while i sympathized with the characters i could not cry for them. Wednesday October 3 2018 12:08am

#call me by your name #diary #text

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years ago

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Shutterstock Watching the bar fill up, I felt like I’d reached my breaking point. I knew I needed to do something, anything. This is Eater Voices, where chefs, restaurateurs, writers, and industry insiders share their perspectives about the food world, tackling a range of topics through the lens of personal experience. It was a Friday in August, about 9 p.m., and I was working one of my regular shifts as a line cook at a bar in Seattle’s University District. The bar up the street had closed a full hour before COVID-19 restrictions required it to, sending us a flood of customers. As they filed in, I felt completely overwhelmed. A couple of months earlier there had been a coronavirus outbreak in the nearby University of Washington’s Greek system. A lot of the customers coming into the bar now were wearing Greek-lettered shirts. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, but the day before I’d run out of gloves, and when I’d told my boss he just said it was too bad and shrugged it off. So watching the bar fill up, I felt like I’d reached my breaking point. I knew I needed to do something, anything. But I had no idea what; nobody offered information about what to do if you, as a worker, need to tell on your workplace. Not King County, not the city of Seattle, not the state of Washington. I needed to tell someone, but carefully. I felt guilty, because I knew that my boss was hurting — he and his wife have three children they’re trying to send to college. Not having a reliable flow of customers had been really hard. Still, I couldn’t reconcile my desire for him to do well with my concern for my own safety, and the safety of diners in the bar. Everyone can make their own decisions about whether or not they want to go out, but as an employee, I knew firsthand how poorly managed the bar’s sanitation was. When I’d run out of gloves the day before, it wasn’t the first time, and running out of soap and paper towels had also been a recurring issue. And in the dining area, night after night, groups were being seated one after the other without the table being wiped down. Meanwhile, my boss seemed very unconcerned with whether or not he would become infected with COVID-19. His goal every night was to get as many people as possible in the door, and he often said that he’d stay open later if he could. He also said it wasn’t his business if people came in and wanted to have a good time. If all the tables were seated, he encouraged people at the door to wait for five or 10 more minutes. Our seating capacity was around 50 (and COVID restrictions halved that), but a lot of people would just crowd around, so often there would be 60 or more in the bar at a time, in very close proximity to each other. At the tables, which were limited to five seats, there were parties of six, seven, or eight. It was infuriating to see so many people drinking, yelling over the noise and loud music, eating and sharing finger foods, while I thought, “Oh my God, this is not okay.” I had started working at the bar in June, three months after I’d lost my previous job as a host at another restaurant. I needed money, and so many people had told me what a mess it was to get unemployment; I had industry friends who waited three months to get paid. I only have a couple years of experience, so it was kind of a miracle when the bar’s owner wanted to hire me. I was surprised, but then I realized that he hired someone he could pay a low rate. He couldn’t afford to pay somebody with 10 or 20 years of experience what they deserve. I felt very low in the bar’s hierarchy, and I believed that I should just shut up and be grateful to have a job in pandemic times. It seemed out of place to be stern about my needs. There is an order to the way that things are done: who can speak, who can make changes, who makes certain decisions. I put the hours in, but I still didn’t feel as though I had any right to speak up to the boss. Still, I expressed my concern to him when I realized there were no gloves. He’d never provided them when he trained me, and I’d previously worked with chefs who didn’t wear them. I figured, surely, in light of the pandemic and safety and hygiene issues, that everybody would be wearing gloves and washing their hands a lot. But my boss didn’t wear gloves at all. And when I asked for them, I could tell it was a confusing request for him. “Why do you need so many gloves?” he asked. “Why are you going through them so quickly?” He gave me a box that he had, but I went through them pretty fast. I had to be sparing with how I used them, and that didn’t make me feel particularly good. I was freaking out. I was very concerned for my health, but also about my job. I felt conflicted as an employee who was witnessing and working in unsafe conditions, but who also desperately needed to keep her job. I didn’t want to be responsible for shutting down my workplace altogether, because that’s a lot of pressure, and I felt horrible for snitching because that’s not a good look for anyone. And because I was the only employee, aside from the bar back who had been working for my boss for 30 years, I was really anxious about anonymity. I felt conflicted as an employee who was witnessing and working in unsafe conditions, but who also desperately needed to keep her job. So I looked for some kind of anonymous complaint phone number, website, or email address to air my grievances with somebody who would then have the authority to come and do something. I went to the OSHA website, scrolled for a few minutes, and just panicked. I needed an actual human person to tell me what to do, to talk to someone whom I felt I could trust to not get me or my job in trouble. If there were somebody else working there with me, maybe it would have been different. We would have had more power in that situation, and the ability to organize with coworkers. Being able to withhold our labor until we got what we needed, even if it was a freaking stupid box of gloves, would have been huge. I ended up filing an anonymous complaint with the county health department’s online form. They asked for a name and contact information, but I didn’t fill them in. I wrote it as if I were a customer at the restaurant: “Today I came in and this and this happened, I observed this many people sitting and this kind of behavior.” I’m not sure if anybody from the health department actually showed up. Normally, my boss would call each day I was scheduled to tell me when to come in, but the week after I filed the complaint, I mysteriously wasn’t called to come in at all. Thankfully, a good friend who was opening a restaurant asked me the following week if I wanted to work for him. So I quit and took the job. His restaurant is doing takeout only, and I do mostly prep work. The kitchen is pristine. It’s been such a relief working there. I drive by my old job often. Some evenings that I expect them to be open, they’re not. Other random times in the middle of the week, there are tons of people inside. I got lucky: Had it not been for my friend, I would still be working there. I’m independent; I need to pay my rent. I have nothing else. To anyone in a similar situation, I would say to do research. Check your county, city, or state guidelines so that you can specifically point out which rules and regulations a business is violating. If you know somebody who you think can help, you need to reach out to them. Health department websites should be able to accommodate these kinds of issues. Many of us in the industry were at some point taught to keep our heads down and defer to the authority of chefs, managers, and owners; there is a huge problem with workers not feeling like they have the authority to stand up to their bosses. In the time of COVID-19, however, there has to be a clear and efficient way for us to speak up and report problems when we see them happen. After all, if we’re responsible for serving the public, then whether we like it or not, we’re implicated in the protection of the public’s health and safety. Miriam Wojtas is a cook and aspiring food writer based in Seattle. from Eater - All https://ift.tt/2HrXOk9

http://easyfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/2020/09/my-boss-kept-breaking-covid-19-rules-i.html

#EasyFoodNetwork #ComfortFoodRecipes #EasyRecipes #GoodFood #BestComfortFoodRecipes #TastyFoodv

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theedinburghreporter · 7 years ago

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The good thing about Tartan Week is that there’s lots to do. The bad thing about Tartan Week is that there’s lots to do, meaning that somewhere along the line something has to give.

We arrived in Stewart International on Wednesday night on a Norwegian Airlines flight direct from Edinburgh full of pipers, dancers and musicians excited about the opportunities the next few days would present. One piper, Donald Ban who is the instructor for the Sgoil Lionacleit Pipe Band, even gave us a few tunes at 36,000 feet.

This was the first time that a band from the Western Isles had gone to Tartan Week, and they won a prize for the biggest overseas contingent. When they performed at Ellis Island, they played Maid of Barra, a tune specially written to commemorate their former band member, Eilidh MacLeod, who died last year in the Manchester bombing.

Sgoil Lionacleit from Benbecula, South Uist attending the Tartan Day Parade in New York with Cabinet Secretary Keith Brown, (centre).

As a spectacle there is nothing quite like a pipe band striding down Sixth Avenue with drummers following, all colourful in their kilts and marching to the beat. Yes, we can listen to pipers on Princes Street or the Royal Mile any day of the week, but there is something quite magical about traditional Scots music of all kinds played to a backdrop of skyscrapers.

On Saturday there was nothing quite like the Grand Marshal, Scottish singer songwriter KT Tunstall clad in red James Hare tartan silk from head to toe, and rocking the occasion from start to finish. It was inspirational of her to choose King the retired greyhound to accompany her.

KT Tunstall the Grand Marshal at the Tartan Parade in NYC with her rescue greyhound, King.

She told me that looking at some old historical Scottish paintings had given her the idea. The decision by the committee to choose her as the first female Grand Marshal was unanimous. She made New York her own for the day, and her enthusiasm was entirely genuine.

Dogs are already a big part of the parade, with dog competitions before the main parade.

Leading up to the day itself there are many chances to meet up with fellow Scots whether they are part of the diaspora or visitors like us. The presence of some high level politicians and public figures makes this more than just an exercise in tartan tat.

Lord Thurso, Chair of VisitScotland, attending the Tartan Day Parade in New York

We met the Chair of VisitScotland, Lord Thurso, who was on a trip to the US dealing with the business of bringing Americans to Scotland to see what we have to offer. He told me : “America is our biggest overseas market and the overseas tourists who come to Scotland outspend domestic tourists by a factor of 2 or 3 to one. About 80% of the Americans who come to Scotland live in this Tri-State area. This week is a fabulous opportunity to get a large number of them in one place. ”

The Economy Secretary Keith Brown was also in the US talking business with the Americans. He spoke at Bryant Park just off Broadway where the Declaration of Arbroath was read out at an Observance Service. He talked of Andrew Carnegie saying, “After he had become extremely wealthy in the steel production industry he changed course and became a generous philanthropist for education and the arts. You will know his name from Carnegie Hall just a few blocks up the road and the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

“Then there was John Muir who created the Sierra Club and the father of the US National Parks.”

Standing with the New York Public Library just behind him, Mr Brown explained that it was another building made possible by Andrews Carnegie. He said : “Scottish -Americans are woven into the fabric of American culture, and all of you here are part of that rich tapestry. It reminds me that every time I have been at this event in New York we seem to attract Scots who are just walking by. It’s amazing the draw of the pipes. ”

Mr Brown wore a tie that the World Fair Trade Tartan delegation from Edinburgh had given him. . He concluded : “It is a real honour to be here firsthand to witness the Scottish passion and pride on display. It is a strong reminder of the enduring relationship and friendship between our two countries. It is a truly humbling experience to see the close affinity which many people here in the US have with Scotland. Being here today makes me very proud to be Scottish.”

This was simply awesome. @Lou_piper playing on Sixth Avenue #NYCTW pic.twitter.com/LpC5puevOB

— Edinburgh Reporter (@EdinReporter) April 9, 2018

The Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh was not in New York, but his official piper Louise Marshall was there with the World Fair Trade tartan clan. We met The Rt Hon Lord Provost of Glasgow, Eva Bolander, (wearing a fabulous tartan coat which showed off the Lord Provost’s chain beautifully) who told us as she passed by : “Its fantastic to be here. I am so enjoying it.”

Former Lord Provost Eric Milligan and his wife Janice

Our own former Lord Provost Eric Milligan was there resplendent in his tartan trews, invited to be guest speaker at the Edinburgh Napier University brunch hosted by its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Andrea Nolan at the Harvard Club New York.

Andrea Nolan FRSE MRCVS OBE is Professor of Veterinary Pharmacology and Principal and Vice Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University.

Professor Nolan told me :”It is important for me to be here in New York to connect with the wonderful alumni who live here on the East Coast of the USA. All of them have spent time with us in Edinburgh and they are all hugely enthusiastic about the education they got at Napier.

“We are also launching the New York chapter for alumni, so for Edinburgh Napier that’s a first, and a tremendous occasion

“The second reason I am here is to support Scottish Higher Education with the help of The Scottish Government as they celebrate Tartan Week. It is a truly brilliant occasion from the moment you turn the corner into Sixth Avenue to the end of the parade.”

The Scottish Parliament was represented by Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh. accompanied by Johann Lamont MSP and Clare Haughey MSP.

The sights were many and varied, from three people dressed up as Nessie to the fabulous pipe band outfits.

NYPD Mounted Police on 6th avenue leading the Tartan Day Parade.

KT Tunstall and the Up Helly Aa Jarl Squad Tartan Day in New York City, 2018

A member of the Up Helly Aa Jarl Squad 2018 participating in Tartan Day in New York.

Enjoying Tartan Day in New York.

The Highland Divas attending the Tartan Day Parade in New York, wearing the World Peace Tartan.

Enjoying the Tartan Day Parade in New York

Louise Mitchell (Centre) wearing the fair trad tartan with friends in New York at the Tartan Day Parade.

On Friday at the Observance Ceremony on National Tartan Day, The Declaration of Arbroath was read out and its significance explained by a young American whose parents are both Scottish..

April 6th was the day chosen to be the day to salute Scots and Scots-Americans because it is the anniversary of the Treaty of Arbroath, a petition signed in 1320 by Scottish nobles addressed to the Pope asking for his assistance in pressuring England to recognise Scottish independence and to bring about a lasting peace.

He explained : “David Ross in his book On the Trail of Robert the Bruce wrote : “Its not only one of the most outstanding documents in Scottish history, but of world history too. It is the epitome of all that is admirable in patriotism. It speaks of a mans right to freedom and his right to defend it. It speaks of Scotland, that wee country on the edge of the world, and of its people who desire nothing but the chance to live in peace. It is a lengthy document but some of it must be quoted here.”

Flower of Scotland was sung in the park during which the whole audience stood and sang along. It wasn’t perhaps as rousing as at Murrayfield on a Calcutta Cup day but it was beautiful and quite moving.

President of New York City Tartan Week

Elsewhere the fact that this was the twentieth anniversary meant that the American organisers had some tricks up their sleeves. President of NYC Tartan Week, Kyle Dawson, rang the opening bell at Nasdaq on Friday morning, National Tartan Day. The Empire State Building was lit up blue and white especially.

Howie Nicholsby was doing a roaring trade in kilts in an Irish bar called Blooms which had turned Scottish for the week Belhaven provided beer for Happy Hour and the two singletons flown over by the Tartan Week committee were provided with other single people to meet. (There was a preponderance of women however.)

Alex Salmond was sitting on a bar stool in Blooms chatting to anybody and awbody while waiting for his film crew to arrive. He was recording some packages for his RT show both in New York and Washington which you will be able to see next week. He didn’t think The Donald would be one of his interviewees, however he was good enough to slot in a brief interview with me, when he revealed that he will interview the former Catalan minister Professor Carla Ponsati, on his touring show in Edinburgh and Dundee at the end of the month.

A selection of young Scottish musicians entertained the audience in Bryant Park, including Hannah Read & Friends, Craig Weir, The Highland Divas, Forest Legion Pipe Band, Canada and Lisa Kowalski.

Craig Weir is a much feted young Scottish musician particularly during Tartan Week. He sang in Bryant Park and was booked to play at Club Cumming too. The lyrics in one of his own songs are pretty apt: ‘Nae man can tether time or tide…..’

No truer word was spoken. Soon it was all over – hopefully we will be back next year!

We flew to New York City Stewart courtesy of Norwegian Airlines

Norwegian offers the UK’s only direct flights to Stewart, New York from Edinburgh Airport with fares from £159 one-way in brand-new Boeing 737 aircraft. Stewart Intl. Airport is a gateway to New York State’s key attractions and offers a 90 minute express shuttle service direct to New York City. Book now at www.norwegian.com/uk or dial 0330 8280854 (opt. 1)

#NYCTW 2018 Tartan Week 2018 – a good time was had by all The good thing about Tartan Week is that there's lots to do. The bad thing about Tartan Week is that there's lots to do, meaning that somewhere along the line something has to give.

#New York City #Scotland #Tartan Week #USA

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fashiontrendin-blog · 7 years ago

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These Women's Lives Changed After They Gave Hillary Clinton The Blazers Off Their Backs

http://fashion-trendin.com/these-womens-lives-changed-after-they-gave-hillary-clinton-the-blazers-off-their-backs/

These Women's Lives Changed After They Gave Hillary Clinton The Blazers Off Their Backs

Hillary Clinton’s affection for pantsuits is as familiar in politics and pop culture as the iconic politician herself.

Throughout her time in public life, Clinton’s wardrobe has been judged ruthlessly. Her clothing choices once again made waves when she accepted the “Champion of the Century” award at the Planned Parenthood 100th Anniversary Gala in May 2017. But that time, it was because she had embraced a refreshingly and decidedly chic new vibe.

It set off a lot of questions: Who designed this fashionable piece? And did it signal Clinton was turning over a new leaf, style-wise?

Clothing line Argent, which bills itself as selling “functional workwear with attitude,” is the brainchild of Sali Christeson and Eleanor Turner. Christeson began her career in finance and switched gears when she noticed a pocket-sized hole in the market when it came to practical, chic workwear for women; Turner is a designer whose 10-year career in fashion includes work at J. Crew and Tommy Hilfiger.

They met through mutual friends and bonded over a shared frustration with the lack of stylish wardrobe options for women with lots to do and lots to carry. Together, they hoped they could change the conversation about and improve options for a new generation of professional women.

Clinton attended the Professional Women of California Conference in March 2017. Argent held a pop-up show at the conference, and Christeson and Turner saw the opportunity to get on her radar. They wore items from their line that they thought the former secretary of state might like. It worked.

HuffPost chatted with Christeson and Turner about that first meeting, how it changed their lives and what’s next for their brand.

What was it like to meet Hillary Clinton?

SC: She came out with this new attitude and amazing energy, and you could feel it. The biggest takeaway for us was like, “Oh my god, she’s not stopping. She’s ready to go to again.” We had chills ― it was incredible. [The 2016 election] was still so raw for everyone. It was healing. She just came out with power. People actually stormed the stage after.

ET: Oh, yeah. And she was so polite, signing and smiling. Meanwhile, Secret Service is coming in like scrambling to get everyone away from her.

Did you just go up to her?

SC: We get herded into a freight elevator, we don’t really know what’s in store. We got up there so fast. It went from us strategizing what we were going to say in line to us being there in front of her so fast.

That must have been nerve-wracking! Did you always plan to lead with the clothes?

ET: Yes. We knew we had to. We planned our outfits. I wore the blazer she ended up wearing to Planned Parenthood. I knew she might like that one. And I knew Sali would look really streamlined next to me in hunter green and it would just be a good balance of what we offer. [Clinton] was behind this screen, and we just saw people running in, taking a photo and running out. Not even saying anything to her. We were like, “OK, we don’t have too much time, so we have to keep it short and impactful.”

What did you do when you got to the front of the line?

SC: We literally walked up, holding our blazers open. I said, “I quit my job two years ago at Cisco, she quit her job at J. Crew.” El jumped in and was like, “We make pantsuits,” and Clinton’s jaw just dropped. It was a physical reaction. It’s the worst photo I’ve ever taken because I was talking to her. I was like, “You would wear this? On stage? This is amazing.”

We’ve experienced sexism from both male and female at every level. We’re young, we’re female, we’re targeting women with our product ― that makes it harder. Sali Christeson

ET: Then she started asking a ton of questions. “What is this brand? What is it called? Do we have your contact? How come I didn’t know about this sooner?”

SC: We were showing her the functionality of the clothing. El had me rip off my jacket to show her the band in the sleeves we actually filed a patent on.

ET: There’s a band in the cuffs of our blouses so when you roll the sleeves up, it stays.

SC: It’s surreal. Words come out of your mouth, but I’m not sure which words they were.

Is that where you met Clinton aide Huma Abedin, too?

SC: We were talking to [Clinton] and she was signaling to her staff that she was interested in staying connected. We were hugging every stranger we saw, and then Huma just popped out of nowhere and talked to us for a few minutes.

EL: She was like, “What are these amazing clothes? Where can I find them?”

SC: It’s just been such an obvious gap for so long and not every woman wants to wear a dress. Women like that especially find their power in suiting. So we ran back to our booth and grabbed everything we could in their sizes.

But they did ask for your contact information. Did you think they’d get in touch?

ET: We were like, “Oh my god. We lost our chance.” It was pretty deflating. Her staff had said from behind us in line that they were in touch with us and knew where to find us, so we maybe knew they knew how to get in touch. But we were like, how many times have they said that? These are really busy people. How can they even think to follow up?

SC: They did. Her chief of staff/executive assistant/doer of all things called us at 9:30 that night.

And how long after that call did Clinton wear one of the pieces?

ET: It was about a month later. They never confirmed, but we knew there was a chance. We did sort of get a heads up that we should be watching for her at the Planned Parenthood 100th Anniversary Gala. We started following the hashtags, that’s when she hit the step-and-repeat wearing the Basketweave Tie Blazer. I was out to dinner in New York and I fell out of my chair. I was just on the floor at Rubirosa.

SC: I did something similar, and I don’t normally react this way to things. I was walking down the street in San Francisco and just sort of collapsed. I just fell to my knees.

That’s such a huge moment for any brand, let alone a start-up still getting its footing. How did it change your lives?

SC: I think when you’re building a start-up, something people constantly ask is: How do you stay positive? How do you keep going? That moment was really good for our team, just to validate what we were building. Morale shot up and just hasn’t gone back. I feel like there are these little wins that you really latch on to and it keeps you moving forward.

ET: To have someone of that caliber ― who can literally wear whatever they want, whenever they want, choose to wear our stuff ― it gives us a lot of credibility in terms of the quality of the product and just speaking to it.

Sali, you quit your job and left a path you created for 10 years to pursue this clothing line. Were you scared? What advice would you give someone who might be thinking about pursuing their own passion project?

SC: That decade of experience I had working and pursuing my MBA is pretty invaluable in terms of managing up and down, not being above any task, really being able to get your hands dirty and just learning firsthand. Coupling that with experience across a couple of industries, I think that helped improve my chances of actually starting something.

ET: Learning is the biggest thing. I think people want to do this but they don’t have some of the key learnings you get from being in the workforce. I worked at Tommy Hilfiger, J. Crew, Tory Burch ― all those companies showed me different facets of the industry and different things that informed my experience at Argent and helped for this company. Get some experience. And then be prepared to be so scrappy.

How were you guys scrappy in the beginning?

SC: We’re still scrappy. (laughs) You’re going to be disappointed, beat up, let down, question it and be questioned. It’s a form of sexism neither of us have every experienced for sure.

SC: The start-up world is like the Wild Wild West, it’s not like a protected organization where you have HR. We’ve experienced sexism from both male and female at every level. We’re young, we’re female, we’re targeting women with our product ― that makes it harder.

Any specifically bad moments?

ET: We had one potential investor ― we did not take money from him ― tell us that we had just gotten our initial raise because we were just two pretty faces.

What kept you going through moments like that?

ET: Conviction. Knowing this was a problem for women that we could solve and never wavering. People will waver, but you can’t.

Your price point is more reasonable compared to some of the other items at, say, Clinton’s disposal, but they are a splurge for a young woman starting out in her career. What is the argument for investing in something from Argent?

ET: You’re judged by what you wear. Invest in what you wear.

SC: Another piece of it is we’ve heard from customers who are moving away from fast fashion for environmental purposes. We’re offering pieces intended to be in your closet for decades. They’re season-less, they’re high quality. You don’t see this price point for such high-quality pieces. There are studies now that quantify what you’re wearing with your bottom line over the course of your career, so the investment is going to pay off. One of my favorite things about Hillary is that she has reworn some of the jackets we’ve given her within a week. You wear and rewear, and that’s such a great example we should be setting. Shifting the mindset to just investing in a couple of staples is important.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Argent clothing (which, by the way, can totally also be worn outside of the workplace) can be found at various pop-ups around the country, but you can schedule an appointment with the brand, too. Head to the Argent website to learn more.

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aventuresderin · 7 years ago

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Vacances de Toussaint: Ireland and Northern Ireland

I knew my family was of Irish descent but seeing all the road and business names here, I’m really grasping the extent of it. Erin’s and Joan’s and Luke’s and Sullivan’s and (a lot) of Murphy’s

Seeing as I still haven’t written down the happenings of the whole second half of my trip in my proper travel journal, I’m going to summarize some of the highlights and include some photos on here. To know more, pls contact me for further information via facebook or over Christmas dinner @myfamily.

Basically, I flew in and out of Dublin, so I spent one day and night in Dublin, then 2-4 days each in Cork, Galway, and Belfast before the last few once again in Dublin before my flight.

Dublin: My arrival day brought with it wind and rain, so after dropping my stuff at my hostel, I went to O’ Neills pub for a nice sandwich to fill me up after another crap French breakfast of coffee and pastries. Waited there until the rain let up and did some wandering around the city. In the evening, I went on the “new Dublin pubcrawl” which went to 3 pubs and a club. Had a blast!

Cork: Stayed in a hostel above a pub and got upgraded from a 6-bed to a 4-bed room (and ended up having it all to myself the first night). Got chatting with two Australian girls over breakfast and went with them to see Blarney castle and kiss the stone, then went out for probably the best pulled pork sandwich of my life. They headed off to their next stop, and I spent the afternoon shopping like the lazy tourist I am.

*PEI encounter 1/3: matched with someone I went to elementary and junior high school with on Tinder and met him for a drink to catch up on all the island gossip. He’s studying at University College Cork.

Galway: Met up with Ingram, fellow language assistant, and explored the town a bit. Had a pint and seafood pie for dinner (can’t not have a pint) and then went to another pub that had live music. Got chatting with the girls sitting beside us (one Canadian, one American), bringing us to..

**PEI encounter 2/3: The Canadian girl dated someone who went on my bus for 6 years and who I did my high school musical with. Small frickin world!

- Day 2 in Galway was actually not in Galway, but in Westport, Newport, Mulranny and Achill Island via bicycle. I stopped midway between Newport and Mulranny (I was happy with my 22km after not riding a bike in 10 years) but Ingram completed it. We rented bikes at a bike shop in Westport, and part of the price we paid was a pickup/roadside assistance so there wasn’t pressure to do the whole thing. It was such an awesome way to see the countryside: sheep and cows along the way, sheep actually blocking the paths until we got pretty close to them, and rivers to go over and woods to go through. We went out for pints and fish and chips that evening, and then went to Matt Malloy’s pub to see the grammys in person and get (another) pint. We stayed at a little B&B in Westport (St. Anthony’s Riverside B&B) which was beautiful, had comfortable beds, luxurious bathrooms, and a delicious full Irish breakfast the next morning! I’m super glad we decided to splurge a little bit and do a B&B one night because it’s a typical Irish visitor experience, and it was a very welcome break from hostel beds, showers, and breakfasts.

- Day 3 in Galway was also technically not in Galway, but out to the burren, the cliffs of Moher, and a couple other 10 minute stops along the wild Atlantic way. We got back into Galway in the evening, had a delicious €2 veggie curry and then did the pubcrawl that the hostel puts on. It was lots of fun - met the most Canadians I’ve come across the whole trip, two of which had rented a car and were also headed back to Dublin the next day so we got a free ride from them.

Belfast: There’s no direct way to get from Galway up to Belfast, so we went back to Dublin then caught a bus up. We got settled at our hostel, met up with our third language assistant, Corinne, and our roommates (5 other language assistants from France, Germany, Austria, and Spain working in Ireland for the year - what’re the chances) and headed out for some food and drink. 1st stop: Boojum (burritos). 2nd stop: Kellys Cellars - Belfast’s oldest traditional pub. 3rd stop: The Harp Bar - where we met an old irishman who lived up to the rep of being v drunk. 4th stop: Lavery’s, where we met up with our language assistant roommates, and some Australians also at our hostel.

- Day 2: We did a day tour up to the Northern coast where we saw Carrickfergus castle, the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, Giant’s Causeway, and the dark hedges. Once we arrived back in Belfast, we pulled together some last minute costumes (since it was October 28th - the Saturday night before Halloween) and headed out on the town as 3 lumberjacks. That night, we went to The Points pub, where they had traditional Irish music and traditional Irish dancers, and then Lavery’s, where a lot of the University-aged crowd seemed to be. We were very glad we decided at the last minute to dress up, because we would have stuck out like sore thumbs in normal attire there!

- Day 3: We did a Black Taxi Tour in the morning, which was unreal and possibly my favourite part of the trip. Since it was before my time, I had no idea of the Troubles that occurred in Northern Ireland from the 60′s to the 90′s, and to hear about it firsthand from the taxi driver who lived it was really humbling. I’m now on the hunt for a book to learn more about it. After that, we all split up and I headed to the Titanic museum which was really interesting.

Dublin: Finally, back to Dublin! We arrived about 2 PM and I immediately did laundry at the hostel because my jeans had been worn about 3 too many times by this point, 9 days into the trip. This is where we met up with our 4th French language assistant, Nicole. We picked up some pasta, sauce, veggies, and wine for dinner and cooked at the hostel, then headed out on the town (once again). We had attempted to see a Halloween parade of some kind but weren’t ready in time and missed it. Then, we did a pubcrawl - the same one as the first night because we already had the bracelets.

- Day 2: Halloween. Guinness Storehouse, dinner, and (once again) out on the town. The storehouse was neat, but I’m not sure it was worth €18. It’s self-guided and they don’t actually brew beer there so you don’t get to see any of the actual process in realtime. Also, I probably should have known it wouldn’t be overly exciting for me because I’ve worked at a brewery and given tours in the past. That being said, it was cool to learn to pour a Guinness correctly, the food was great, and the view of the city from the top of the building was amazing. Stopped on the way back to the hostel to pick up last-minute costume stuff and some food for dinner, then ate, got ready, and (surprise surprise) headed out on the town. I went with Nicole to her friend’s school event which was at a pub/club. The college is apparently like 95% non-Irish people but I did manage to find an Irish guy to chat with. Did I mention I’m in love with the Irish accent?

- Day 3: Late start to the day, I mostly walked around and checked out some shops and took it easy. In the evening, Ingram, Nicole and I (Bye Corinne - off to England) went to a teeny little hole in the wall restaurant/pub where we got tapas and a pint.

- Day 4: Last day. Ventured out to buy a gourmet donut, did a walking tour, and went to EPIC Ireland - the museum of Irish emigration. I highly recommend doing both a walking tour and hitting this museum. They were both really well done and really informative. Apparently the population of Ireland is ~4 million and there are 70 million people worldwide claiming to be of Irish descent.

That’s about it! Information omitted from this post include the exact number of pints that were consumed, the number of convenience store sandwiches that were eaten, the names of pubs I don’t remember, the amount of times my heart broke while spending British pounds (the exchange is 0.60.. and I thought the euro was bad), and the names of any Irish men I basically fell in love with for short periods while listening to them talk. Photo post and reflection post to come about this trip, which I have a feeling is going to be pretty hard to beat in my upcoming travels this year :)

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itsiotrecords-blog · 8 years ago

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They say that “the customer is always right” but this is a rule that can surely be broken when dealing with asshole customers. Some customers can be very wrong indeed and make life a living hell for the serving staff. For the sake of tips and keeping their job, most servers will grit their teeth and let a rude customer walk all over them, but then there are the waiters who take matters into their own hands – and these guys are my heroes. As someone who worked as a waitress after university, I know firsthand that people in the service industry are routinely treated like crap. Most of the time, customers are friendly and polite, but every so often, you’ll come across a customer that makes you want to spit in their burger. While I was tempted, I never acted out any epic revenge on my asshole customers (apart from cursing them under my breath), but man how I wish I’d had the guts to try some of these pranks! Forget simply spitting in their food, these pissed off waiters had far colder and more devious forms of revenge up their sleeves. There’s the usual tampering with food type of revenge here, as well as trashing personal possessions and humiliating the customers. You might think these waiters went too far, but personally, I think these jerk diners got what they deserved. Some of these stories weren’t even premeditated acts of revenge – just karma being a bitch! Here are 15 delightful times that serving staff got their sweet payback on rude customers!

#1 A Very Ballsy Margarita Every once in a while, a customer will want something sent back – it’s all part of working in the catering industry. But there are some people who take this prerogative a little too far. Fair enough if you found an actual hair or insect in your food, but asking to have your dish or drink replaced more than once starts to look pretty arrogant and makes the customer come across like a self-entitled a-hole. One bartender named Ryan had this experience with a stuck-up customer who demanded to have her margarita sent back not once, but three times! Customers who abuse this right are often wanting to find some bullshit excuse to avoid paying and 9 times out of 10, it doesn’t work. So, when the lady asked to have her margarita sent back a third time, Ryan decided to dip his “olives” into the drink before sending it out to her. She must’ve have been pleased with the new secret ingredient, ’cause she didn’t ask for another!

#2 Lemons That Were Extra Sour The only thing more bitter than a lemon was one customer’s horrendously bad attitude during one restaurant rush hour. While rushing around attending to multiple tables during a busy shift, a waiter (referring to himself only as Justin) was rudely assaulted by one diner desperate for more lemons. Justin had apparently already served the guy enough lemons, as he put it, “to cure a small nation of scurvy,” but the customer wasn’t satisfied. After repeatedly shouting across the restaurant for “extra lemons” and humiliating Justin, the guy soon got his wish. Seeing red, Justin went back into the kitchen especially to serve up a bowl full of extra lemon slices for the whiny little bitch outside – only this time, they had the added ingredient of floor dirt. Burn! The insufferable diner was served all the lemon slices that had fallen onto the kitchen floor. Ah, the extra tang of bacteria!

#3 A Dirty Dollar After serving a super rude family, one waitress saw an opportunity to get them back in an amazingly gross manner. A waitress named Marisa worked at a busy family diner and would always get a rude regular table on Sundays. A family of 7 would come in for the lobster special and each and every member would always treat her like dirt – but the father of the family was the worst. The dad trained all 5 of his kids to snap their fingers to get Marisa’s attention. Annoying AF. Admirably, Marisa could brush this off and even deal with the condescending finger snapping. What really got her goat was how lousy a tipper the family was. The family only ever tipped one dollar for a family meal for 7! Knowing that the father only ever paid in cash, Marisa spotted an opportunity for revenge. After working one Sunday, she kept one of the dollars, went home and literally wiped her ass with it. She then gave it back to the jerkwad father in change the following Sunday!

#4 Salad Served With Dishwater Sauce In an another epic tale of food tampering, one bitchy customer got what was coming to her after treating a bartender like crap. The woman ordered a steak salad and was going out of her way to be really condescending and rude towards a super kind and shy member of the bar staff at the restaurant. The other waiters and restaurant staff noticed how unnecessarily bratty the diner was being and decided, for the barman’s sake, to do something about it. The diner’s steak was going to be served with a side salad and salad often comes with a dressing – but what kind of dressing could that be? Deciding that urine soaked salad would probably be too noticeable and get them all fired, they spotted the next best thing – dirty, grease-filled dishwater! One of the waiters filled up a ramekin with filthy dishwater and poured it over the entire side salad dish. The cherry on top was hearing the customer say that it “tasted great” with every bite!

#5 iPhone Wallet Dumped In A Trash Can While working at a casual diner in Brooklyn, a waitress named Kezwick was tending to her regular table when the diner started complaining incessantly about her meal. She also started to whine about her life too (did she get the diner mixed up with a psychiatrist’s office?). Anyway, while poor Kezwick was dealing with her as best as she could, the diner openly called her a “bitch” among other words. Kezwick let her insults slide and got on with her waiting duties and the rude woman soon paid up and left. When Kezwick went over to clean the lady’s table, she noticed an iPhone wallet and case had been left behind. There was no iPhone but plenty of credit cards, money and ID cards. While most people would be tempted to keep the cash and return it, Kezwick did one better and dumped the lady’s phone wallet into a nearby trash can! She hoped a homeless person might find it and have an awesome day!

#6 Creepy Subway Flasher 15-year-old Subway worker Sandra remembers a regular creepy guy who would flash her if she didn’t give him free food. She tried calling the cops on him a few times but they couldn’t ever do anything about it because the guy would flash and leave. (She was told that the perv needed to be caught “in the act” to be arrested). What makes things even more infuriating is that Sandra was told by her manager to “get over it.” Okay with old men flashing teenage girls? Nice policy, Subway. Anyhoo, one time, Sandra was working alone when the creepy guy walked in and started making disgusting “grunting” noises. Sandra was taking cookie sheets out of the oven at the time, so the perv demanded he has some free cookies. She turned around to see that he had started to unbutton his pants. She told him she’d give him some free cookies. “Really?” he said. He got them, alright. Sandra threw the hot cookie sheet at him, chocolate chips and nuts flying everywhere. He never came back.

#7 Milkshakes On The House While working at a hot dog stand in Chicago in the early 90s, high school student Greg remembers one awful day that finally caused him to snap. The hot dog stand was the only one for miles and had recently had a drive-thru section built in due to its popularity. One Saturday, the place had cars backed up the entire length of the drive-thru lane and Greg was the only guy in charge of receiving orders. One car ordered bags worth of food (which took ages to prepare) but they decided they wanted to go to McDonald’s instead and drove off. At this point, cars were honking impatiently and drivers were even getting outside to yell at Greg for the hold-up. A while later, Greg hears a familiar voice over the drive-thru intercom – it’s the same guys who ran out on their order for McD’s instead. This time, they placed an even bigger order, including eight large milkshakes. When their order is finally done after 20 minutes, the driver arrives at the window and says “I forgot my wallet. Just cancel the order.” Greg picked up the tray of chocolate shakes and hurled it into their car window, exploding everywhere.

#8 12 Checks And A Parking Ticket It’s not unheard of that some diners wish to pay in separate checks, but how about 12? One very difficult diner wanted the bill spilt 12 separate ways! Insane. Writing out more than two separate checks can be stressful enough, particularly on a busy night. But the customer wants what they want, so the poor waitress (referred to only as Michelle here) obliged and went ahead dividing the bill 12 ways. As Michelle was preparing the checks for her, the petty lady diner got more and more impatient and started yelling at her for taking so long. At this point, anyone would be tempted to throw the checks in her face and let someone else deal with her, but karma had other ideas. While the lady was busy bitching about getting her 12 checks, her car was slapped with a ticket for parking in a handicapped zone. Michelle said it was her best workday ever.

#9 Soaked In Sangria 15-year-old waitress Kelli was minutes from closing up when a party of 6 strolled in. At this point in the day, the restaurant was still serving food, but a more watered down version of the full menu to allow cooks and cleaners to prepare something quick and finish up. All but one member of the group were fine with the more modest Tapas menu, which featured homemade dishes that could be plated quickly. The loud-mouthed leader of the group not only demanded the full set menu from Kelli but began swearing loudly, calling her “a little bitch” before hocking a huge globule of spit on Kelli’s shoe. The teen walked back to the kitchen and started to cry when the angry customer came bounding into the kitchen to order a pitcher of sangria. The head chef obliged and gave her the set menu which seemed to shut her up. A moment later, one of the waitresses approached the table with the sangria and poured the entire jug over the woman’s head!

#10 “Buttering Up” Asshole Customers The act of buttering up rude customers would usually mean that you bend over backwards to make sure a table is completely satisfied and leaves you a nice tip – a free refill, an extra bread basket etc. But not in this case. One waiter named Matteo worked with a waitress who taught him everything he knows about “buttering up” customers, and it’s pretty genius. This fellow waitress taught Matteo a clever move which involved putting a blob of warm butter on the fleshy part of your hand between your thumb and forefinger and walking over to the rude table. Waiters always have to check on a table every 10 minutes or so, so you would walk over, lean your butter hand on the back of the diner’s chair and lean in with a “twist and release” move. All the better if you work in an upscale restaurant, ’cause butter could really ruin a dress or dinner jacket!

#11 Sexting Revenge On One Ludicrous Family One very demanding couple got a hell of a surprise after going to pathetic lengths to avoid paying for their meal. The mother and father of a family of four were being rude as hell to one waiter (who wants to remain anonymous). On top of this, they were keeping a restaurant coupon aside to present at the end of their meal. There’s nothing wrong with this, but the family had run up a huge tab and the coupon only covered $75 worth. When the father of the table was presented with the bill, he lost his sh*t and couldn’t understand why gratuity had also been added to the check. The couple bitched about it until the manager suggested they would only have to pay 10% of the bill! The anonymous waiter took down their phone number in the reservation book and placed it in the “hookups” section of Craigslist! He also made sure the family was inundated with porn pics and texts, placing the ad in 7 different states on the ad site!

#12 The Demanding Subway Jerk Another asshole customer at Subway – this time, a patronizing rich guy who expected to be treated like royalty. During a busy lunchtime rush, Subway worker Sharron and just one other assistant were dealing with a queue of about 15 people. One customer, parked outside in a yellow convertible, came strolling in ahead of everyone in the queue and ordered a sub right at the cash register. He slapped a five dollar bill on the counter and asked that they bring the sandwich straight to his car (he was on his cell phone the whole time). Sharron and her co-worker explained to him that he needed to queue up like everybody else as they were in the middle of serving someone. The jerk responded in the most patronizing way possible, saying that “It’s not my fault you chose to work in fast food. Put the sub in a bag when you’re done.” (The guy ordered his sub to have “tons of onion” sauce, btw). Sharron went out to the car with a bowl full of onion sauce with his sub marinading in it, dropped it in his car and said: “Sorry, we were out of bags.”

#13 Tossing A $200 ID Card A waitress named Andrea worked regular graveyard shifts at a snobby diner in downtown LA when her boss asked her to work a Monday morning shift. Knowing she’d be paid double her hourly wage, she agreed, but it didn’t seem worth it for the table she was about to serve. A group of executive types walked in with their office IDs and lanyards around their neck and the head of the group was a pushy woman Andrea simply dubbed “Ms. Important.” Ms. Important of the group demanded a side salad, despite this not being part of the breakfast special menu. Andrea kindly explained that all salads were made fresh and only served after 11 am on the lunch menu. Ms. Important couldn’t accept it and asked to see the manager (who the hell wants salad for breakfast anyway?). The staff made her a salad and the group paid (no tips) and left. When Andrea returned to clean the table, she noticed the woman’s ID had been left. She kept it until the end of her shift and dumped it in the trash. The ID card apparently cost $200 to replace. Ouch!

#14 First Ever Shift From Hell Technically, this revenge was acted out on employees rather than customers, but they can be just as bad and we had to include this story for sheer bad ass quality. So, 16-year-old Eddie was working in his first ever job as a dishwasher in a busy seafood restaurant. His first ever shift got off to a bad start since the other dishwasher had called in sick and his first day at work was a busy Friday night. The restaurant was packed and Eddie knew he’d be in for a long, long night. Already stressed and nervous about the prospect of cleaning a mountain of dishes (for a restaurant that served around 200 people), Eddie’s co-workers thought it would be funny to make it more difficult for him by piling up all the griddles and kitchen equipment on top of the customer dishes. He stared at the Everest of dishes he’d be cleaning until 4 am and said f**k it. He ripped his apron off, flushed it down the toilet and climbed out the bathroom window! Best exit ever.

#15 Pizza With A Side Of Karma Revenge took a more karmic turn for this asshole. While working at a pizza take-out place, counter worker, Larry, took regular phone orders and on weekends, the lines were inevitably crazy busy. To deal with each order, Larry had to routinely tell customers the usual “Thanks for calling, please hold!” Most customers were fine with this, except for one impatient guy who loudly shouted “NO!” when asked to hold. After calling back 3 times and getting the same response, the impatient guy actually showed up to the pizza joint and threw an epic tantrum about not getting his pizza on time. Larry and other staff members placed his order and assured him that it will be ready in no longer than 20 minutes. The dumbass asked where his pizza was every 5 minutes until it was finally ready to be delivered to his car, but the guy was too enraged to listen and slammed the door. He gets his pizza and puts it on his car roof all the while yelling and cursing the staff inside. Larry and the staff watch as he gets into his car (forgetting the pizza on top) and starts to drive away – pizza sauce and toppings smeared across the trunk and onto the floor!

Source: TheRichest

#IoTRecords

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