Raise The Standards

Do you ever look around you and become discouraged by the standards with which people live their lives either in business, or on a personal level?  I am a people watcher  by nature.  I can’t help it.  It seems to me that as a society we are slipping in the area of personal conduct; we need to raise the standards of acceptable behavior.  Not only do people not treat each other well, they often don’t expect to be treated well themselves.  A lot of that is due to the fact that many people don’t even realize or accept the fact that they deserve to be treated better and everyone else is just going their own way.

It has become a way of life to do what feels good at the moment and not worry about having a high standard of conduct.  Live and let live…don’t make waves…be politically correct at all times; even at the cost of what you believe to be the appropriate conduct, right?  Wrong…lowering the standards of acceptable behavior can lead to… If you would like to finish reading this post click here: Writewhereyouare

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Should Employers Get Dibs On Employees Time 24/7

It appears that some employers are of the mind that, because of the economy, employees should be so grateful to have a job; that they must do whatever it takes to not only get a job, but to keep it.  Some employers are now requiring employees, or even potential employees, to sign an agreement that they are willing to work 24/7; meaning that if and when an employee is needed they must be willing to come in to work; no matter what time of the day, or even what day of the week it is that they work.

It is my understanding that there is nothing against the law about this agreement.  If an employee doesn’t willingly agree to this…they may not be hired; or if they’ve already been hired and refuse to sign this agreement, they can be fired or scheduled for work so little, that an employee is compelled to start looking for a new job.

I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sit right with me.  If you would like to finish reading click here: Writewhereyouare

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Should Twitter Charge Fees?

       Twitter is quickly becoming a way of life for many businesses and folks.  Anytime twitter shows a fail whale…(the symbol a person sees when trying to access Twitter and its service is unavailable) people quickly bemoan the fact that they can’t get on.   🙂  The fail whale doesn’t usually last long…I’ve only seen it a few times; briefly, when it was over capacity with Twitter users.  Twitter is a mini social site that is quickly becoming a large social media site; the idea is to answer in 140 characters or less the question, ” What are you doing?”.   Often, I hear other users say that they quickly become “addicted” to Twitter.   The service has spawned a bunch of books on Twitter etiquette….rules or no rules use.   Reasons for using Twitter is as varied as the number of people you ask…everyone has their own reasons for using it.  Relationships are built online…everyone has equal access to other users…both famous and non-famous users.   The latest controvery of this company which has been in business for approximately 3 years is…should they charge a fee for their services?

         So far, the Twitter service is free.  There is some discussion about whether businesses may be charged to use Twitter in the future.    People are still discovering Twitter and all that it can do.  Many people of course, use Twitter as a social networking service for their personal communication; others, are trying to find ways to use it to brand their businesses.

          Twitter has been uber successful in their goals of creating a mini social networking site.   At the end of 2008, Twitter rejected a bid for purchase by Facebook of $500 million.  To me, that means that they view their value as well over that $500 million; and it means to me that Facebook considers it a huge competitor.  Still, to stay competitive with Facebook as well as other large entities…Twitter will need to make money to stay alive and growing.

           Businesses have to make money somewhere to stay in business and pay their own employees.  Do they raise funds by putting advertising on their service, by charging for upgraded services for business accounts, or maybe charge a membership fee?  What do you think?  Do you use Twitter?  What are your thoughts on this subject?

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Real Life Situation-3 year old Home Alone

        A family from Israel made news over night by leaving their three year old at the airport.  Remember the old movie, Home Alone, where the parents are bustling around trying to catch an airplane with all of their children and belongings?  Well, this case seems to mimic the movie to a degree.

         The family was running behind trying to catch a plane to Paris for a vacation.  The parents and their five children were hustling, they made it…well, most of them anyway.   Eighteen pieces of luggage and four of the five children boarded with the parents; the fifth child was left behind without the parents realizing it.  She had to be full of fear.  A little over half of an hour into their flight they were informed by an airline employee that they left their three year old daughter at the Ben Gurion airport in Israel. 

         I can’t begin to imagine the terror of that.  Anytime i leave home for an extended period of time…i torture myself going over the thousands of things that i imagine that  have been forgotten!  Their daughter was found by a policeman; but, it was too late…the parents and siblings had left on the plane.

       The family reunited when an airline employee and the child took another plane to Paris.  No doubt that when they return the family members will be questioned about the incident…they could even face charges of neglect or abandonment. As long as it was an accident and not a purposeful child endangerment; hopefully, further trauma will be avoided by not pressing charges. Thank God the child is safe.  I would imagine that when they fly home they will have some sort of safety, buddy system procedure in place to prevent another terribly scary incident.

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Cutting Retirement Benefits-Should Be Illegal

     I don’t know about you…but it really upsets me to hear about companies that keep cutting retirement benefits for those who have worked all those years for those benefits.  I really believe it should be illegal to change the benefits, due to a retiree.  I think whatever benefits were in the contract at the time of the worker’s retirement should be enforced until death.  A retired worker lives on a fixed income provided by the pension and benefits afforded them at the time of their retirement…taking that away or lessoning what they receive is at the very least immoral in a world that we all know is getting harder and harder to make ends meet.  Reducing the income of a person who based their decision to retire on what they were promised at the time of the retirement just feels wrong.  How can we expect them to survive in a world that the cost of living is rising disproportionately to the amount of money they receive on a monthly basis; reducing that amount should be considered criminal.

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Do You Have Enough Money?

      Do you have enough money?  How much is enough?  If you are like most Americans then you; are in debt, struggling to pay for your child’s college education, rotating your bills, borrowing against your retirement benefits when in a bind,  and you have little or no savings for an emergency; and, maybe you wrestle with providing care for your aging parents as well.  Times are tough for alot of people…there are very few jobs that have real security for the employees these days.  Employers are picking up and moving out of local areas and many are even setting up shop, out of the country. 

      It is hard to find stability in the job market. The economy is rocky and that filters down to everyday people, like you and I; many of whom are facing foreclosure on their homes because of their financial situations.  

          Do you have enough money to provide yourself with all that you need to survive?  Do you have enough money to live comfortably now; AND, in the future?  If not, you are not alone in your struggles.  There is a system that can help you to place yourself in a better position, so that your future doesn’t depend on some corporate administrator’s latest, cost cutting measure.  http://www.layoffyourboss2.com/

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Microsoft wants to Yahoo…or does it?

        It depends on what time of the day you were able to catch up on the news today.  Microsoft wants to buy Yahoo; then it doesn’t.  In an ever winding path, Microsoft has been trying to purchase Yahoo.  Those on the board keep rejecting the bids. The bid has been raised and still…Yahoo board members have turned their backs on the idea. 

         There have been rumors that Microsoft will take the next step to try to force the purchase with a hostile takeover by trying to get the board members replaced by 10 friendlier members who would be more “open” to the takeover idea.

        This evening, word is that Microsoft has withdrawn it’s bid.  So,  does this mean that the world of, behind the scenes, business manuevering will take over to try to create a more effective environment for purchasing?  You have to wonder if that is even wise; the workers who are still on the job, if and, when a takeover happens will not necessarily be the most accomodating employees. 

           Fear takes over in those types of situations and employees get a little jumpy. They start to feel a sense of divided loyalties.   What if Yahoo’s crucial employees, who have the skills that Microsoft is looking for in their attempt to become more competitive with Google, decide to head for a more stable work environment?  It is a bit of a gamble to pick up a hostile company to add to your companies holdings.

       What about the customers…how will we benefit; or, suffer if they merge two mega internet superstars?  Each company is successful in it’s own right.   What will they have to offer us, the potential customers by joining together.    Will we start to see better services and more creativity?  Or will we be held hostage to a monopoly of providers?   The power that they would wield over the internet, as we know it, would be mindboggling.   What do you think about this?

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