Earlier this month, an entire cadre of interns was fired for submitting a petition to their employer asking for a more relaxed dress code. The Internet got hold of the story, and all kinds of people decided to weigh in. “Kids these days,” said Jason Chalker, whoever that is. “Real life can be brutal,” Glenn…
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Recently my wife and I had a disagreement about how to wash the dishes. She’s a big fan of throwing every single thing into the dishwasher, which I largely applaud. But occasionally there’s an exceptionally dirty pot that needs more vigorous attention than our meager dishwasher can provide, and so I’ve argued to have those…
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Normally I write about generational issues each month; however, I had an interesting customer service experience this past week I simply had to share. No matter the job title or industry, we’re all in some sort of customer experience field. Every handshake, every business deal, and every conference call is an interaction which leaves an…
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Hello, and welcome to the Olympics! As many of you already know, I have decided not to participate this year. It was a difficult decision, but in the end my complete lack of talent won the day. Just once in my life I’d like to pit myself against any Olympic athlete in any sport –…
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Leadership is an art. And, as with any art form, some people are better at it than others. In painting, for example, some people create breathtaking masterpieces, scenes of sweeping beauty and poignant emotion capable of evoking rapture in the viewer. Others paint reasonably well, good enough to admire but not quite deserving of the…
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Wow! Today is an awesome day to have no idea what I was going to write until 10 minutes ago. When I woke up this morning I had absolutely no useful thoughts. I couldn’t even decide what I wanted to eat for breakfast; I merely stared at my various boxes of cereal, trying to remember…
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Hi everyone! We’re almost the halfway point of summer! By now, parents across this country are running out of activities (or money) to keep their kids engaged and are counting down the minutes until school resumes and their lives can return to normal. For some lucky parents, their kids have snagged an internship. Or maybe…
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Hello, and welcome to summer! More than that, welcome to a short workweek! There’s a good chance that you think today is Tuesday, and if that’s the case then it’s quite possible you’re still drunk from the weekend. Your clothes might smell vaguely of barbecue sauce and charcoal, and your nose is probably peeling. You’ve…
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I worked for seven years as a waiter, through high school and college. I did this because it was the best money I knew how to make that didn’t involve selling drugs. And for the most part I liked it, even though I once worked at a breakfast place and always always came up smelling…
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First off, I’m sorry nobody respects you. It’s bad enough to need employees in the first place, since all they seem to do is ask for money you would much rather spend on nicer things for yourself. But to have to deal with that and their lack of respect is really more than any human…
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