A simpler time

 “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

The Buddha

It's not like me to spend a whole lot of time gazing into the rear view mirror.

Yesterday is in the past and for the most part, that's where it should remain.

The wonders of technology and the conveniences we have today can not be compared to life as I remember it growing up.

The world has changed so rapidly.

With that said, I do find myself wondering what we gave up along the way and at what cost?

Specifically this morning, I was thinking about going to the doctor today as compared to when I was a kid.

Our family had a family doctor.

We all went to the same family doctor (although by the time my brother came around he had a pediatrician).

His office was in the lower level of his house, a very nice split level which afforded him a separate entrance to see patients.

He had a waiting room, an office and an examination room.

There was no receptionist, billing clerk or nurse, just the doctor.

His exam room had an x-ray machine, which he operated himself. We didn't have to go to a radiology facility for a sprained ankle.

When we were really sick, the doctor would make what was called a house visit, carrying with him his little black doctor's bag.

Do doctors even have little black bags anymore?

After our visit, on the way out, my father would take out his check book, write a check and the billing process was now complete.

Money was always tight in the Spiegel house and I am sure there were times when the office visit might have been discounted but he always got paid.

And I think he was paid well. My doctor, along with the other doctors in the community all had the nicer homes, drove the nicer cars and their kids wore the nicer clothes.

All of their kids went to summer camp and not just day camp.

Doctors made a good living even back then.

I dare say, better than most.

It was just a whole lot simpler.

I know, medicine has made huge strides in 60 years.

But a cold is still a cold, the flu is still the flu, stitches are still just stiches, an ankle sprain is still, an ankle sprain and an x-ray is still just an x-ray.

Doctors had license plates that said MD on them. I always believed this was so that they could park anywhere they needed to, not just as a sign of vanity.

Today things are quite different.

Things are not quite as simple.

And not just with doctors , so don't think I am picking on them. I'm not.

Try calling a plumber nowadays!

Times were simpler.

Does that mean better?

Maybe.

The World's Greatest Salespeople

“A tree that is unbending, is easily broken.”

Lao Tzu 

In the decades that I have been in the business world, I have met a lot of really great sales people.

Some of them I must add are close relatives and dear friends.

They can sell anything to anyone.

However, none of them compare to veterinarians.

In my humble opinion, vets and the people who work for them, have to be the absolutely greatest sales force I have ever encountered.

On a daily basis, we have customers who come into our store, looking for one of 2 specific brands of dog food sold almost exclusively in vet's offices.

When we tell them we don't carry these brands, they all do a quick about face and leave.

If we have the opportunity to engage them in conversation, they smile politely and then head for the door.

Their devotion to these 2 brands is cult like.

From a nutritional standpoint, both of these brands are akin to feeding your dogs McDonalds every day.

Read the ingredients and you are hard pressed to find anything redeeming about them.

To boot, the vets have sold people on the idea that these are "prescription" diets, specially formulated for dogs with "conditions" like theirs.

Hogwash!

You wouldn't eat a Big Mac ,large fries and chocolate shake everyday , 3 meals a day.

That's what these people are feeding their dogs.

Would these folks ever take the time to do a little research?

Hell no! The vet prescribed this. End of the discussion.

If we followed our own doctor's medical advise as diligently, we would be the healthiest country in the world! (then again....?)

Vets have done an awesome job for these 2 brands who by the way, helped supplement their education, an education that barely spent any time on nutrition.

So today I take my hat off to the veterinary community, the greatest hucksters since P.T. Barnum!

Shavua Tov!

Texting

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."

Winston Churchill 

I'm old enough to remember when there was no such thing as texting.

I am also old enough to remember how offended and turned off I once was to this mode of communication.

Thankfully I am wise enough to have come to realize that like any form of communication it can be a useful tool particularly when used properly.

However, as it is with other forms of communicating, I believe there is an etiquette to texting.

Unanswered texts are for lack of a better word just plain rude!

I'm not talking about the marketing texts that we all get.

They can readily be ignored.

Person to person texts deserve a response.

It's not like a phone call.

You don't have to exchange pleasantries.

A simple "okay" "yes" "no" or "maybe " is often enough.

There are also a plethora of emojis for the more sophisticated texters.

There literally is no excuse for not responding to a text.

Your phone is by your side almost constantly.

A text response takes all of 10 seconds in most cases.

Not responding to texts is tantamount to saying "you don't matter to me".

I'm not saying responses have to be immediate, although there is very little reason why they can't be.

But at some point in our busy days we can all find a minute or two to check and make sure we get back to anyone who reached out to us.

I've been guilty of missing a text now and then.

The thing about texts is that they just sit there and you can always look back and check to see if in fact you did respond.

It's not that difficult.

Unless of course that's exactly what you are trying to be.

Shabbat Shalom!

The truth is.....

 “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Mark Twain

Every day I have the good fortune of receiving a message from the Universe.

Okay , so maybe it's not really from some mystical place in the nether world, however, I often find that these messages help to remind me of my place in the grand scheme of things.

Today was one of those days.

The truth is:

there's never been: 

• A drought that didn't end,
• A storm that didn't clear,
• Lightning that didn't retreat,
• An earthquake that didn't still,
• A flood that didn't recede, or,
• A virus that wasn't eventually, completely, and utterly overwhelmed by the healthy.

I actually had this conversation with myself yesterday.

A dear friend posted something on Facebook about stress.

I shared with her the advise that my mentor Darren Hardy has shared with me on numerous occasions about stress....GET OVER YOURSELF!"

Being stressed out is such a waste of time and energy.

I can say that for most of my life, particularly my adult life, money has been my biggest stress point.

Yet here I am still here alive and well after decades of living with those monetary pressures.

How much energy, how much time how much of my well being was wasted stressing over money, or for that matter anything else.

In the end, it all passes, one way or another.

Eventually it's all in the past.

I am much better today than I ever have been in the past with this.

Not anywhere near perfect, barely on the cusp of being good at it.

I am however, aware of it which in itself has been a great awakening.

I am not one given to quoting scripture however, here's one worth keeping in mind::

"And This Too Shall Pass"

 2 Corinthians 4: 17-18

Have a great day!

Now that was a storm!

 

This is what the building that stood on what is now our current shop looked like after Hurricane Floyd in 1999.This is also why I get so damn annoyed when the today's media gets so hysterical over every single storm that comes our way. This was a storm!

Today, the media reacts to every event as if it was a repeat of this kind of devastation. They do it with everything , not just the weather. and that is why they are referred to as fake. Every skirmish is not the D-Day landing. Every storm is not Hurricane Floyd and every virus is not the Black Plague.

If they had a modicum of perspective when they reported the news maybe we could believe what it is they are reporting on. They just don't. Like braindead sheep , the majority of the public buys into their nonsense. Our leaders and government officials know this all too well and they use it to advance nonsensical agendas that keep them in power and us at each other's throats, those that buy into this crap and those that realize just how fake this fake news is.

I am already hearing warnings about Hurricane Ida, the next supposed storm which has not even begun to develop yet.

Man the life boats!

We all need a little perspective folks.

We can't be afraid of everything, mainly because everything just isn't that scary!

Let's save the panic and hand wringing for a real disaster.

Water Water everywhere

                          “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us.”

Alexander Graham Bell                 

                                               "Water water everywhere nor any drop to drink"

-The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

This line seems to be the story of my life lately.

Last week we were dealing with clogged drains backing up not allowing water to leave the building.

That was repaired on Saturday.

This week, with the storm that dumped quite a bit of rain on the area, we now have a number of roof leaks.

First we couldn't get the water out of the building, now we can't keep the water from coming into the building!

Kind of ironic!

When we took this new space, we knew of the history of flooding in the area.

As a long time resident of Bergen County, I am all to familiar with this spot affectionately nicknamed Lake Lodi due to the way it floods during heavy rains.

This last storm was no exception.

This morning on the way into work, we were greeted by orange road cones and the flashing lights of emergency vehicles.

The road leading to our shop was closed.

The best we could do was park a block away at the funeral home and walk.

I'm not sure when they closed the road.

We got here at around 8:30.

It's now well past noon and it's still closed.

Susan has been sitting at the bagel store a few blocks up for almost an hour with our dogs (they told her that the road would be opened in 20 minutes and hour ago!).

Such is life in a flood zone.

The good news is that when we parked and walked to the shop this morning, Channel 12 news was in the parking lot. As the owner of the shop, they were eager to interview Becca.

You know the old saying, any publicity is good publicity!

Another day here in paradise!

If you live or work in the area, you are accustomed to this.

It's just part of life.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

All you need is to add water!

Never let a good crisis go to waste

 "You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."

Rahm Emanuel

I couldn't help but to think of this now infamous quote today.

It seems everything nowadays is a crisis, and if it isn't somehow it gets turned into one.

Today's current "crisis" is no different.

The media started revving us up a few days ago.

A tropical storm, or what we used to call rain, Henri, was bearing down on the East Coast.

Immediately, social media was ablaze with messages from concerned friends from across the country with heart emojis and prayers for our safety.

Okay people, calm down....it's going to rain here!

As the weather serviced tracked the oncoming storm (read RAIN), the warnings became more dire as did the underlying message to run for the hills.

Supermarkets of course had the usual onslaught of idiots loading up on toilet paper and life rafts.

By mid afternoon Saturday, NY States criminal governor and NYC's buffoon of a mayor, had both declared a state of emergency further increasing the anxiety level and preying on the fears of millions of people.

Sure enough, late Saturday evening the rain started.

At about 4 in the morning, cell phones started blaring emergency alerts about tornado warnings, every 15 minutes.

I suppose we should all have headed for the root cellar and chained ourselves to the well pipes, unfortunately most of us don't have root cellars anymore and very few of us have wells.

As predicted, it has continued to rain (read drizzle) all day here.

But was there really a need for the manufactured crisis. For God's sake, it's rain.

There was no peril involved.

This however, is how everything is reported and acted upon lately.

Over reacting allows those in power, those who govern, and those in the media, to continue to exploit an already vulnerable population who has become all to accustomed to being told what to do and when to do it instead of thinking for ourselves and living responsible lives.

It doesn't take a genius to see that it's raining outside and you should probably choose to not eat outdoors.

Nope. instead all restaurants were ordered to shut down outside dining.

Ridiculous!

Over reaching!

Overbearing!

Remember the 2 week shut down to flatten the curve?

How well did that work out?

When did we just surrender?

I see it all over, on billboards, social media, television and on the radio.

Fear mongering to control us.

Pretty damn scary this new way of living.

So much for rugged individualism.

The Marlboro man has been replaced by the Marlboro sissy!

Now that's scary to me

Some good things from the quarantine

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Albert Einstein

 I can always find a positive take away from any situation.

This is a truism I have embraced ,particularly over the last decade.

The last 18 months of quarantines, mandates and shutdowns is no exception.

Oh sure, there is plenty to bitch and complain about.

There are have also been many pluses.

For instance, telecommuting.

Well before last March, I had often wondered why more businesses had not embraced having their employees work from home. Commuting is a drag and as we have learned in many cases, completely unnecessary.

A 1 hour commute into NY is actually more like 2 or more hours when you add in getting to and from the bus as well as standing and waiting for it. Just getting out the door each day adds another hour or more.

Working at home does away with all of that. A lunch hour can be more like a lunch 15 minutes and still be more relaxing than gathering your stuff up,going down to the street, finding a place to eat, dealing with the crowded streets.

Instead, at home, you get up from your desk, throw something in the microwave, go sit on your deck or patio for a few minutes and eat a relaxing meal. All in 15 minutes or less.

Another plus for me was becoming an on-line shopper, particularly with groceries.

I now buy most of my non-perishables on line and have them delivered. I have cut my in store shopping by at least 90%.

Curbside pick up.

What a god send!

Home Depot, Lowes, Best Buy just to name a few. Order it on line.

Pull into the parking lot.

Someone brings your order to your car.

What a concept!

Possibly the best thing about this shutdown in regards to relationships.

How often before last March did I see pictures on Facebook of a group of my friends having a get together and realizing "crap, why wasn't I invited?".

How many times did I drive past a friends house and notice a bunch of cars out front and come to find out that I wasn't invited to the bbq.

For years this had always haunted me.

I so often felt like the odd man out.

For the past 18 months, there were no such gatherings.

To me that was great.

I didn't have to feel left out.

Lately, as things have returned to pre shut down normal, I am finding myself once all to often on the outside looking in.

This too has it's plus side believe it or not.

I can now stop caring.

During the last 18 months, I have learned that there are really only a handful of people that I am close to or that I can really count on.

I no longer have to care or look elsewhere.

I have become accustomed to not caring.

I don't attend funerals any more.

No more hospital visits.

No social gatherings.

No jumping on planes for business.

No empty promises around "let's do lunch", that never actually happen.

No false narratives of "we should make time to get together".

All pretty much okay with me.

So you see, there are many positives to what we've all been through.

It's just a matter of how you choose to look at things!

Just Do It.........half right

 “No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.”

Helen Keller

Just Do It!

Great slogan.

I must admit, I am no fan of the company and will go out of my way to not support them in any way.

However, it's still a great slogan.

The only thing missing from it, although implied, are the words "right now".

One would think this would be a given.

Just Do It! would seem to imply that sense of urgency to commitment.

All too often though, I find that this is not the case.

I am no exception to this.

I say I will do something and a day or a week or maybe just a few hours pass and somehow , I never completed what I said I would do.

It's annoying.

Besides, we never know the consequences of not following up immediately.

How might this effect something or someone else?

Who is waiting for you to just do it and how does your neglecting to just do it impact others?

Why not take care or "IT" as soon as you say you will.

Follow up emails.

Returned phone calls.

Dirty clothes on the floor.

It shouldn't matter what the task at hand is.

If you say "I'll Do It" ,"Just Do It!".......now!

Committing to Just Do It should not require a follow up query of when?

It's a pretty simple concept.

It makes everything else so much easier. Getting it off of my plate feels good.

I am sure the person waiting on that fax, email text or phone call appreciates also.

Ignoring the "now" is obnoxiously passive aggressive and often really annoying.

I try hard to be aware of my commitments.

I'm not always perfect, and often have to remind myself....NOW!

Shabbat Shalom

Just that simple

"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself!"

William Faulkner

 There are a number of things I thought about writing today.

As I sat down at my computer, I opened the daily Elul message from my Rabbi.

Sometimes it's just as easy as copy and paste!

The Purpose of Life

 

The purpose of life is not to be happy at all.

It is to be useful, to be honorable.

It is to be compassionate.

It is to matter, to have it make some difference that you lived.

 

Leo Rosten

Just that simple!

Have a meaningful day!

Bad Math

“You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough.”

Frank Crane 

Okay, bad math by me!

Going back to yesterday's message, it's only 49 years since I left for college not 50.

I had to clear that up, it was keeping me up at night!

49 years is still a long time!

This morning, while dropping our car off for some repairs, I was standing outside of the mechanics shop.

Our mechanic is located in Fairlawn on Broadway, which is basically an extension of Route 4.

It's a 4 lane highway with a divider that connects Bergen County to Paterson.

Why do I mention these geographic details?

Let me share with you.

While standing outside of the auto repair shop, I heard the unmistakable back beat of rap music blaring from a car across 4 lanes of traffic, sitting at the stop light.

The lyrics ,if you can call theme that, included phrases like Mother F#$Ker this, F#$in' Nigg## that and Suck my D!$k.

Let me be perfectly clear on this.

This is unacceptable.

I don't care what social group you belong to, or what community you were raised in or what your culture finds acceptable.

This is not acceptable under any circumstances anywhere that civilized human beings live.

It's disgusting, abhorrent and beyond unnecessary.

Quite frankly, I'm tired of not speaking out against this.

This along with many other forms of anti- social behavior that have been forced down my throat for the last number of years.

I am also tired of apologizing for living in a community where we value civility and certain normative behavior.

We are a society, a people, with a sense of values, a sense of right and wrong .

And just because you feel entitled, make no mistake.....you're not.

Bad behavior is bad behavior........period.

So learn how to live like normal decent human beings.

Learn to speak properly.

Understand that just because you think it's okay , it may not be so.

And by the way, pull up your pants and put on a shirt!

The Present

“Patience, persistence, and perseverance. A little more each day, a little better each day.”

Jonathan Lockwood Huie 

A dear friend made her way back to New jersey this weekend to celebrate her mom's 90th birthday.

She sent me 3 pictures yesterday.

Mom looks great!

Her sons are grown men.

And she said of her own picture "damn we're getting old!".

It got me to thinking.

Next month will be our anniversary.

We met as freshmen in college 50 years ago this September.

50 years!

Hell yeah we got older....it's 50 freakin' years!

50 years of friendship.

That's a long time.

True , there were a couple of decades where we didn't keep in touch.

That was unacceptable to me.

About 15 years ago, I reached out and restoked that friendship.

It was the best gift I could ever have given myself.

Since then we have seen each other a few times.

We speak every once in a while.

We reach out via text, messenger and on Facebook.

The bottom line is we still share in each other's lives.

I was scrolling through my "friends" on Facebook the other day.

I remarked to Susan "I have a lot of dead friends!".

It made me a little sad.

It also made me think.

Saying good bye is not always a possibility.

Life is funny that way.

Saying hello however is always a choice.

Just pick up the phone!

Send a text.

Write a letter.

Send an email.

Make plans for lunch.

Just drop in....announced or not!

I have truly fond memories of each time I have made that phone call, that visit, that outreach.

I remember each and every hello, much more than any good bye.

I look forward to hello.

I cherish them.

I am pretty certain that the feeling is mutual with those I reach out to.

Reaching out.

There is no time like the present.

And there is no better present than that!

Shavua Tov!

Land of the Free?

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."

Vince Lombardi 

As I was driving home from my weekly Sunday morning coffee catch up with my cousin, I found myself once again stooped at a traffic light facing a park.

It's a very small playground, maybe the size of a large single home property, with a jungle gym set up for kids.

It has 7 different signs posted by the town.

One sign reads "welcome to the Teaneck Park system". and then goes on to list about 15 different rules to adhere to when visiting this tiny parcel of land.

As if this isn't enough, there are as I said,6 more signs, each one emphasizing all of the "don'ts" associated with this patch of grass.

One sign was specific to ball playing.

It listed every imaginable form of ball playing that is prohibited.

It wasn't good enough to just say "no ball playing".

Nope, they went to great lengths to list everything from baseball to bocce ball to golf and any other game that used a round (or not so round) object that can be tossed, kicked, hit or otherwise had fun with.

Did I mention that this park was tiny?

As if you could even want to throw a ball there.

7 signs!

No dogs.

No smoking.

No food or drink.

No ball playing.

No fun of any kind (okay maybe I made that one up).

But seriously, 7 different signs?

It would take a parent longer to read the signs than there kids would ever want to play there.

And are they all really necessary?

It just seemed to be a bit of overkill to me.

I won't be surprised if soon there isn't an eighth sign specific to mask wearing and vaccinations.

Yep, that's exactly what this park needs.....another list of don'ts.

And maybe a fence with a gate and a guard.

Now there's a novel new idea.

I think I'll reach out to the town council on that!

Shavua Tov!

Flashback

“Not what we have, but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.”

Epicurus 

On my way into work this morning I drove past The Garden State Plaza.

There were a number of cars in the parking lot already, bringing me back to my days of setting up Halloween stores.

It's now mid-August, which would have meant that we would just about be hitting our stride.

Each season, the first couple of stores were all about getting familiar with that year's offering and regaining the muscle memory of the grind of opening 30 stores in 45 days.

I couldn't help to reflect on why I enjoyed that madness.

For me, it was about being the best at doing what very few others are capable of doing at all.

It was about having the opportunity to create 30 new spaces, each in a very short period of time.

Start a store, finish a store and move on to the next store without any down time.

It was truly organized chaos for under 2 months.

And it wasn't good enough to achieve good enough.

Excellence (not perfection) was the rule of thumb.

Attention to detail was every bit as important as getting the job done.

Often these 2 things were contrary to each other.

No matter though.

One could not be sacrificed for the other.

These were exhausting times.

I dare say, there is no way I could do that kind of work again.

Somehow, in that time and space, it seemed perfectly normal to me.

I can't say that I miss it.

I do know that it played a huge part in making me who I am and how I think.

It's probably why the thought of retiring and chasing a golf ball around for a few hours each day is so foreign to me.

It helps explain my need for constantly searching for my next challenge.

Shabbat Shalom!

Empathy

"One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity."

Albert Schweitzer

 Lately I have been semi-binge watching the tv series Ozarks.

Maybe not for everyone, however, I seem to be more than just liking it.

For some reason, I find myself connecting with the lead character Marty Byrde.

Marty launders money for a Mexican drug cartel.

On what seems like a daily basis, Marty finds himself making choices all in attempt to keep his family safe and secure.

Always juts one step ahead of the next pitfall, he seems to be destined to never being able to just relax, breath and feel at ease.

Instead of feeling anxious while I watch this, I actually empathize with Marty.

It's how I feel about my life, always just 1 step away from the next pitfall.

And always trying to keep those around me out of harm's way.

It's exhausting!

Like Marty, I rarely have to look over my shoulder.

Innately I know the dangers that lurk behind me.

Not moving forward at all times will inevitably bring about unwanted consequences.

Planning and acting are the only way to stay ahead of the dangers that surely will be my demise if I don't act.

Act, not react.

Like Marty, I never seem to be able to find peace.

I suppose this should concern me.

It actually doesn't.

Mostly because I have been doing it for so long, I really don't know how to be any other way.

Comfort in being uncomfortable.

Kind of weird, but kind of me.

Personal Growth

 “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”

Thomas Jefferson.

During the Hebrew month of Elul, our Rabbi sends out a daily message.

Yesterday's message struck a chord with me.

He shared a story and then this quote from Leo Tolstoy;

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

Rarely has a truer statement ever been made.

A number of years ago, I made personal growth a priority in my life.

I started reading as much as I could from a number of different leaders in this field.

Not so coincidentally, it was also when I began writing.

I read books, listened to audio books, subscribed to magazines and followed the best of the best on social media.

I even began developing my meditation practice, dedicating myself to a daily routine.

It was a marvelously transformative time for me.

and then, just like that, I stopped.

I stopped reading, listening, meditating and eventually even writing.

I can't tell you why, I just did.

I knew better than to let that happen.

Still, one by one, these good practices all went by the wayside.

Again, not so coincidentally, a couple of pounds came back.

And then a couple more.

And a couple more.

I still wanted to change the world.

I still was searching for how I could leave my significant mark on this orb before I was done.

But somehow, I stopped doing the work on myself .

The work that is the gateway to all good things in my life.

"Most people want to change the world to improve their lives, but the world they need to change first is the one inside themselves." 

Rabbi Benjamin Blech

I'm grateful that I have once again begun to write.

As we all know, the Journey begins with 1 single step.

Why 40?

“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”

George Bernard Shaw 

Now we settle in to being shopkeepers.

7 days a week,52 weeks a year.

You know what they say about entrepreneurs; someone who works 80 hours a week to avoid working for a 40 hour a week paycheck.

Just to be clear, the grand plan does not include us being here every waking hour of every one of those days.

Nor does it mean that we will all be here every minute this place is open.

For now, in the early stages of this new venture's infancy, we are following the W.I.T. program.....Whatever It Takes.

Eventually, like water, scheduling will find it's own level.

However, all of this work and effort has me wondering, why a 40 hour work week?

When did that become the model for success?

Getting ahead in life takes more than that.

Somewhere along the way, people have bought into this complacency and believe that 40 hours a week is good enough.

It never was and it never will be.

I hear a lot lately about raising the minimum wage.

How about raising the minimum work out put?

There are plenty of jobs to be had.

I believe in supply and demand.

If there are more jobs than there are people to fill them, business owners have hard choices to make.

Wages like any other commodity will find their appropriate level naturally.

I hear the argument "how do you expect someone to raise a family on minimum wage?"

I don't.

I expect people to wait until they can afford to have that family before staring one.

I believe that if you have a family, you get with the W.I.T. program.

Nothing in life is a given....you want more, go get more.

I would love a getaway home.

I just wouldn't buy one and expect to just get a wage to allow me to have it.

IF I work hard enough, maybe that will happen.

I am the only one who can make that happen.

One thing I know for sure, it will take more than 40 hours a week to get there.

Shavua Tov!

Where have all the flowers gone?

 "Training yourself to live in the present - without regretting the past or fearing the future - is a recipe for a happy life."

JIM LOCKWOOD HUIE

A number of years ago, a friend and colleague and I were having a conversation. It was around the time when reality shows were exploding onto the scene. In case after case, these shows promoted the worst behavior imaginable. And people were eating this stuff up.

It was like a new form of crack. Viewers couldn't get enough of ill mannered boorish behavior.

I remember commenting that I believed there would be a push back.

As a society, we couldn't possibly continue to support such offensive trash and eventually there was sure to be a righting of the ship.

We were bound to get back on course.

Boy was I wrong.

Chivalry and all other forms of sensibility are in fact dead.

Today we celebrate all of the wrong things and we do it with gusto,

splashing it out over any medium that will carry it.

TV, Social media, film, and in our educational systems.

Words like respect and humility have no meaning any more.

Dress codes?

Unheard of.

Proper etiquette?

There is none.

Common decency ?

Gone.

All have been replaced by self indulgent bad behavior.

There is no such thing as rude anymore. It's common place.

Back in the day, Rudy Giuliani instituted what became know as the Broken Windows campaign in NYC.

Start by cleaning up the small stuff, like broken windows and work your way up the ladder until eventually we can tackle the bigger problems.

Today, all of the windows are broken!

Trash lines our streets. Not only literally, but figuratively.

I fear that I was wrong when I predicted that there would be a course correction, that common decency would eventually win out.

It's a damn shame.

Truly a damn shame.

Shabbat Shalom!

Creativity

 "Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures."

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

When we opened The Grooming Shoppe over 5 years ago, one of the highlights of Becca's day was when a new customer would walk in and remark "this place is so cute!".

It was a huge testament to how hard we had worked to create the look and feel of the place.

This new venture, The Petcare Market, dos not elicit the same response from people.

What I hear now from the other side of my office wall is "WOW".

There is a big difference between "this place is so cute" and "WOW".

"This place is so cute" always made Becca smile with pride.

"WOW" makes her well up with satisfaction.

The other day I heard a customer ask her "are you happy?"

Her answer was "this is a dream come true".

My friend and fraternity brother Doug Smith posted in his blog the other day " given a choice between creative and selective, go with creative every time".

Doug who coaches leaders, hit the nail on the head.

The new shop is a result of creativity.

One does select WOW....one creates WOW!

The question I find myself asking is now that we enter the mundane world of being shop keepers, where will I find my next avenue for creativity?

It's only a matter of time until I start getting itchy!

Customer Service?

"When we seek to discover the best in others, we somehow bring out the best in ourselves."

William Arthur Ward

 Over the last few weeks, I have found myself having to deal with either the sales department or the customer service department of a number of companies.

I have to tell you, the good ones are few and far between.

It just never ceases to amaze me just how bad these supposedly successful companies are when it comes to replying or responding to customers.

From multi-national global companies to mom and pop operations, I have found myself being frustrated more times than I should be.

In the last month I found that I have had to drop a number of vendors simply because communicating with them is wearisome.

I know, I am just a little nobody company in nowhere'sville NJ, however, they can't possibly know that until someone at least picks up my call!

You can't get anyone on the phone.

It's just more and more voicemail hell."

"Send us an email".

I do and I get an auto-response if I am lucky.

Chat on line often takes me to a robo-responder advising me that someone will get back to me.

(They rarely do!).

It's getting so bad, I kind of worry what would happen if I ever had to call 9-1-1.

"Suicide hot-line.......please hold!"

It's very frustrating and quite frankly, I don't care how successful a business is, it's no way to do business.

Maybe it's just me.

Maybe I'm too "old school".

I don't believe so. There is still a right way and a wrong way.

Accepting less opens the door to more bad behavior.

But this just seems to be the way of the world lately isn't it.

It's a damn shame!