Children in the workplace

It's fiscal quarter close at my workplace this week. People are on high alert, high stress, high everything. If you don't work in a business that has a fiscal quarter end you might not understand the incredible amount of work that goes along with this. On a normal day my job is high stress, but take that and double it...no triple it and you might have an idea.

We try to make things fun around here. So please don't think I'm a prude who goes to work and type, type, type, finance this, work to the third power that. We've had ugly Tshirt day, potlucks, and today we had a "beef off." We dress up for Halloween. We built (with WOOD and screws and nails) a giant present at Christmas time that you could ENTER. And we don't mind visitors to distract us from our work. Especially when you are a former employee! Old friend! Come sit by the fire and tell me a tale!

BUT.
(You had to know that was coming.)

When you bring your two toddlers in with you who are screaming and yelling and distracting my employees and being so loud people can't be off mute on their conference calls for a mere second, we have an issue. I know there was a blog post recently that caused everyone to go all wonky about some lady who said some snide comment in a grocery store about a screaming child. While I sympathize with parents and I don't necessarily think that woman had any right to make a comment like that to a stranger, I don't disagree.

I don't have children. This is part of the reason WHY I don't have children at this point in my life. I know this will piss some people off. I'm ok with that. I don't mean it personally. I know that you can't ALWAYS control your children. I'm not going to fault you for your child having a fit in the middle of Target (although to be fair, I probably will roll my eyes a bit). I just think maybe we be smart about it? When I'm going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant the last thing I want to hear is your child screaming in the booth next to me. Get a babysitter. If I'm at Applebees? Have at it. When I'm going to see an R rated movie, having your child bouncing in the seat in front of me is not going to make me happy. If I subject myself to seeing the Smurf's by all means, bounce away.

But I especially find fault with you at the workplace. Shame on you for not knowing better. Bring your child for a visit. I like to see little Jimmy's crusty face once in a while and see how you are doing. But ESPECIALLY being a former employee, good god, know the time and the place. And if your child starts acting up, that's your queue to start exiting stage left.

The American Dream

That's what we all want, right? A chance to build a career, make money, live our lives in our grand houses, driving our awesome cars, and to be happy.

I think, if I had the chance, I'd be an entrepreneur. I feel like I have a lot of good ideas, just don't have the cash to fund those ideas, you know? I'd love to start my own business. But it would have to be a business that I know I could live on. I'd love to be a wedding planner or have my own interior design company. But for me to do that, I'd have to know I'd succeed.

So, I guess, I'm not sure if this post is out of jealousy or if I really am kind of wondering what the hell The American Dream is coming down to.

I was alerted to this new "business" starting in Madison. It's a Snuggle House. Yep. A Snuggle House. Nothing inappropriate (allegedly). I had no idea there was a market for such a thing? Sure, touch therapy is a real thing. I was advised by a nurse that when I had anxiety attacks I should have my husband massage my shoulders or legs in a circular motion because touch is proven to help anxiety.

There's even a form of "therapeutic touch" (that isn't actually touching, but a transfer of energy)
that is used in cancer treatment as an alternative therapy.

"Therapeutic Touch (TT) is a technique in which the hands are used to direct human energy for healing purposes. There is usually no actual physical contact.

The practice of Therapeutic Touch is based on the belief that problems in the patient's energy field that cause illness and pain can be identified and rebalanced by a healer. Harmful energy is believed to cause blockages and other problems in the patient's normal energy flow, and proponents of TT claim the treatment removes those blockages. TT is promoted by some to improve conditions such as pain, fever, swelling, infections, wounds, ulcers, thyroid problems, colic, burns, nausea, premenstrual syndrome, diarrhea, and headaches. They also say that TT is useful in treating diseases such as measles, Alzheimer's disease, AIDS, asthma, autism, multiple sclerosis, stroke, comas, and cancer. In practice, TT is generally promoted as a complementary therapy, to be used with standard medical care."

However, I would like to talk to said owner of Snuggle House and ask him how he came up with this idea and his intent. I would also like to talk to said clients of Snuggle House and ask them what makes the idea of being snuggled by complete strangers appealing to them. 

This is America. You can open whatever business you choose. That's why we're America. But, hey Americans? I feel like, you know, just as one American to another, since we're kind of on the outs with the rest of the world, we should bond together against ridiculous things like this and focus on being semi normal. 
I mean it's just a thought, but maybe we could spend our money on making our homeless not homeless. Or feeding our hungry. Or building transit systems across the United States to reduce our carbon footprint. Or maybe you don't even want to help anyone else. That's cool too. Maybe you want to save your hard earned money and travel and see what else is out there! Broaden your horizons, educate, learn about different cultures! 

Good on ya, Snuggle House. You're living The American Dream. Can't hold that against you. Or can I?

How Pink are you?

So, as a habit, I don't normally go around reading obituaries, just so we're clear. One of my dear friends shared this obituary with me today, though, from our local paper and it made me cry and smile and it warmed my heart and it made me want to be a better person all at once.

How does someone, whom you've never met, make an impact like that after she's gone? Because I want to be that person.

Mary aka Pink touched more people than I could ever dream of touching. (For those of you who are too lazy to click the link, shame on you and shame on me for enabling you)

If you're about to throw away an old pair of pantyhose, stop. Consider: Mary Agnes Mullaney (you probably knew her as "Pink") who entered eternal life on Sunday, September 1, 2013. Her spirit is carried on by her six children, 17 grandchildren, three surviving siblings in New "Joisey", and an extended family of relations and friends from every walk of life. We were blessed to learn many valuable lessons from Pink during her 85 years, among them: Never throw away old pantyhose. Use the old ones to tie gutters, child-proof cabinets, tie toilet flappers, or hang Christmas ornaments. Also: If a possum takes up residence in your shed, grab a barbecue brush to coax him out. If he doesn't leave, brush him for twenty minutes and let him stay. Let a dog (or two or three) share your bed. Say the rosary while you walk them. Go to church with a chicken sandwich in your purse. Cry at the consecration, every time. Give the chicken sandwich to your homeless friend after mass. Go to a nursing home and kiss everyone. When you learn someone's name, share their patron saint's story, and their feast day, so they can celebrate. Invite new friends to Thanksgiving dinner. If they are from another country and you have trouble understanding them, learn to "listen with an accent." Never say mean things about anybody; they are "poor souls to pray for." Put picky-eating children in the box at the bottom of the laundry chute, tell them they are hungry lions in a cage, and feed them veggies through the slats. Correspond with the imprisoned and have lunch with the cognitively challenged. Do the Jumble every morning. Keep the car keys under the front seat so they don't get lost. Make the car dance by lightly tapping the brakes to the beat of songs on the radio. Offer rides to people carrying a big load or caught in the rain or summer heat. Believe the hitchhiker you pick up who says he is a landscaper and his name is "Peat Moss." Help anyone struggling to get their kids into a car or shopping cart or across a parking lot. Give to every charity that asks. Choose to believe the best about what they do with your money, no matter what your children say they discovered online. Allow the homeless to keep warm in your car while you are at Mass. Take magazines you've already read to your doctors' office for others to enjoy. Do not tear off the mailing label, "Because if someone wants to contact me, that would be nice." In her lifetime, Pink made contact time after time. Those who've taken her lessons to heart will continue to ensure that a cold drink will be left for the overheated garbage collector and mail carrier, every baby will be kissed, every nursing home resident will be visited, the hungry will have a sandwich, the guest will have a warm bed and soft nightlight, and the encroaching possum will know the soothing sensation of a barbecue brush upon its back. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jsonline/obituary.aspx?n=mary-a-mullaney-pink&pid=166788801&fhid=17777#fbLoggedOut

" If you're about to throw away an old pair of pantyhose, stop. Consider: Mary Agnes Mullaney (you probably knew her as "Pink") who entered eternal life on Sunday, September 1, 2013. Her spirit is carried on by her six children, 17 grandchildren, three surviving siblings in New "Joisey", and an extended family of relations and friends from every walk of life. We were blessed to learn many valuable lessons from Pink during her 85 years, among them: Never throw away old pantyhose. Use the old ones to tie gutters, child-proof cabinets, tie toilet flappers, or hang Christmas ornaments. Also: If a possum takes up residence in your shed, grab a barbecue brush to coax him out. If he doesn't leave, brush him for twenty minutes and let him stay. Let a dog (or two or three) share your bed. Say the rosary while you walk them. Go to church with a chicken sandwich in your purse. Cry at the consecration, every time. Give the chicken sandwich to your homeless friend after mass. Go to a nursing home and kiss everyone. When you learn someone's name, share their patron saint's story, and their feast day, so they can celebrate. Invite new friends to Thanksgiving dinner. If they are from another country and you have trouble understanding them, learn to "listen with an accent." Never say mean things about anybody; they are "poor souls to pray for." Put picky-eating children in the box at the bottom of the laundry chute, tell them they are hungry lions in a cage, and feed them veggies through the slats. Correspond with the imprisoned and have lunch with the cognitively challenged. Do the Jumble every morning. Keep the car keys under the front seat so they don't get lost. Make the car dance by lightly tapping the brakes to the beat of songs on the radio. Offer rides to people carrying a big load or caught in the rain or summer heat. Believe the hitchhiker you pick up who says he is a landscaper and his name is "Peat Moss." Help anyone struggling to get their kids into a car or shopping cart or across a parking lot. Give to every charity that asks. Choose to believe the best about what they do with your money, no matter what your children say they discovered online. Allow the homeless to keep warm in your car while you are at Mass. Take magazines you've already read to your doctors' office for others to enjoy. Do not tear off the mailing label, "Because if someone wants to contact me, that would be nice." In her lifetime, Pink made contact time after time. Those who've taken her lessons to heart will continue to ensure that a cold drink will be left for the overheated garbage collector and mail carrier, every baby will be kissed, every nursing home resident will be visited, the hungry will have a sandwich, the guest will have a warm bed and soft nightlight, and the encroaching possum will know the soothing sensation of a barbecue brush upon its back."

What do you say about a woman like this? I wish I had known her. It makes me a little sad because day after day you see the news stories about women being kidnapped or guns being shot or children being caught in a cross fire. That's the world we live in, but that's not the world Pink lived in. She lived in a world where you trusted and you helped others and you gave of yourself no matter what the circumstances.

This blog is leaving me doing a lot of wondering...I wonder what would happen if we all lived in Pink's world. Would we improve the lives of the people around us and as a result of that stop some of the bad things that are continuously happening? Would we change one person, who changed another, who stopped someone from being that person that did an inherently evil thing and change the course of many lives?

It's an interesting thought isn't it?
How Pink are you?

If you're about to throw away an old pair of pantyhose, stop. Consider: Mary Agnes Mullaney (you probably knew her as "Pink") who entered eternal life on Sunday, September 1, 2013. Her spirit is carried on by her six children, 17 grandchildren, three surviving siblings in New "Joisey", and an extended family of relations and friends from every walk of life. We were blessed to learn many valuable lessons from Pink during her 85 years, among them: Never throw away old pantyhose. Use the old ones to tie gutters, child-proof cabinets, tie toilet flappers, or hang Christmas ornaments. Also: If a possum takes up residence in your shed, grab a barbecue brush to coax him out. If he doesn't leave, brush him for twenty minutes and let him stay. Let a dog (or two or three) share your bed. Say the rosary while you walk them. Go to church with a chicken sandwich in your purse. Cry at the consecration, every time. Give the chicken sandwich to your homeless friend after mass. Go to a nursing home and kiss everyone. When you learn someone's name, share their patron saint's story, and their feast day, so they can celebrate. Invite new friends to Thanksgiving dinner. If they are from another country and you have trouble understanding them, learn to "listen with an accent." Never say mean things about anybody; they are "poor souls to pray for." Put picky-eating children in the box at the bottom of the laundry chute, tell them they are hungry lions in a cage, and feed them veggies through the slats. Correspond with the imprisoned and have lunch with the cognitively challenged. Do the Jumble every morning. Keep the car keys under the front seat so they don't get lost. Make the car dance by lightly tapping the brakes to the beat of songs on the radio. Offer rides to people carrying a big load or caught in the rain or summer heat. Believe the hitchhiker you pick up who says he is a landscaper and his name is "Peat Moss." Help anyone struggling to get their kids into a car or shopping cart or across a parking lot. Give to every charity that asks. Choose to believe the best about what they do with your money, no matter what your children say they discovered online. Allow the homeless to keep warm in your car while you are at Mass. Take magazines you've already read to your doctors' office for others to enjoy. Do not tear off the mailing label, "Because if someone wants to contact me, that would be nice." In her lifetime, Pink made contact time after time. Those who've taken her lessons to heart will continue to ensure that a cold drink will be left for the overheated garbage collector and mail carrier, every baby will be kissed, every nursing home resident will be visited, the hungry will have a sandwich, the guest will have a warm bed and soft nightlight, and the encroaching possum will know the soothing sensation of a barbecue brush upon its back. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jsonline/obituary.aspx?n=mary-a-mullaney-pink&pid=166788801&fhid=17777#fbLoggedOut

If you're about to throw away an old pair of pantyhose, stop. Consider: Mary Agnes Mullaney (you probably knew her as "Pink") who entered eternal life on Sunday, September 1, 2013. Her spirit is carried on by her six children, 17 grandchildren, three surviving siblings in New "Joisey", and an extended family of relations and friends from every walk of life. We were blessed to learn many valuable lessons from Pink during her 85 years, among them: Never throw away old pantyhose. Use the old ones to tie gutters, child-proof cabinets, tie toilet flappers, or hang Christmas ornaments. Also: If a possum takes up residence in your shed, grab a barbecue brush to coax him out. If he doesn't leave, brush him for twenty minutes and let him stay. Let a dog (or two or three) share your bed. Say the rosary while you walk them. Go to church with a chicken sandwich in your purse. Cry at the consecration, every time. Give the chicken sandwich to your homeless friend after mass. Go to a nursing home and kiss everyone. When you learn someone's name, share their patron saint's story, and their feast day, so they can celebrate. Invite new friends to Thanksgiving dinner. If they are from another country and you have trouble understanding them, learn to "listen with an accent." Never say mean things about anybody; they are "poor souls to pray for." Put picky-eating children in the box at the bottom of the laundry chute, tell them they are hungry lions in a cage, and feed them veggies through the slats. Correspond with the imprisoned and have lunch with the cognitively challenged. Do the Jumble every morning. Keep the car keys under the front seat so they don't get lost. Make the car dance by lightly tapping the brakes to the beat of songs on the radio. Offer rides to people carrying a big load or caught in the rain or summer heat. Believe the hitchhiker you pick up who says he is a landscaper and his name is "Peat Moss." Help anyone struggling to get their kids into a car or shopping cart or across a parking lot. Give to every charity that asks. Choose to believe the best about what they do with your money, no matter what your children say they discovered online. Allow the homeless to keep warm in your car while you are at Mass. Take magazines you've already read to your doctors' office for others to enjoy. Do not tear off the mailing label, "Because if someone wants to contact me, that would be nice." In her lifetime, Pink made contact time after time. Those who've taken her lessons to heart will continue to ensure that a cold drink will be left for the overheated garbage collector and mail carrier, every baby will be kissed, every nursing home resident will be visited, the hungry will have a sandwich, the guest will have a warm bed and soft nightlight, and the encroaching possum will know the soothing sensation of a barbecue brush upon its back. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jsonline/obituary.aspx?n=mary-a-mullaney-pink&pid=166788801&fhid=17777#fbLoggedOut

If you're about to throw away an old pair of pantyhose, stop. Consider: Mary Agnes Mullaney (you probably knew her as "Pink") who entered eternal life on Sunday, September 1, 2013. Her spirit is carried on by her six children, 17 grandchildren, three surviving siblings in New "Joisey", and an extended family of relations and friends from every walk of life. We were blessed to learn many valuable lessons from Pink during her 85 years, among them: Never throw away old pantyhose. Use the old ones to tie gutters, child-proof cabinets, tie toilet flappers, or hang Christmas ornaments. Also: If a possum takes up residence in your shed, grab a barbecue brush to coax him out. If he doesn't leave, brush him for twenty minutes and let him stay. Let a dog (or two or three) share your bed. Say the rosary while you walk them. Go to church with a chicken sandwich in your purse. Cry at the consecration, every time. Give the chicken sandwich to your homeless friend after mass. Go to a nursing home and kiss everyone. When you learn someone's name, share their patron saint's story, and their feast day, so they can celebrate. Invite new friends to Thanksgiving dinner. If they are from another country and you have trouble understanding them, learn to "listen with an accent." Never say mean things about anybody; they are "poor souls to pray for." Put picky-eating children in the box at the bottom of the laundry chute, tell them they are hungry lions in a cage, and feed them veggies through the slats. Correspond with the imprisoned and have lunch with the cognitively challenged. Do the Jumble every morning. Keep the car keys under the front seat so they don't get lost. Make the car dance by lightly tapping the brakes to the beat of songs on the radio. Offer rides to people carrying a big load or caught in the rain or summer heat. Believe the hitchhiker you pick up who says he is a landscaper and his name is "Peat Moss." Help anyone struggling to get their kids into a car or shopping cart or across a parking lot. Give to every charity that asks. Choose to believe the best about what they do with your money, no matter what your children say they discovered online. Allow the homeless to keep warm in your car while you are at Mass. Take magazines you've already read to your doctors' office for others to enjoy. Do not tear off the mailing label, "Because if someone wants to contact me, that would be nice." In her lifetime, Pink made contact time after time. Those who've taken her lessons to heart will continue to ensure that a cold drink will be left for the overheated garbage collector and mail carrier, every baby will be kissed, every nursing home resident will be visited, the hungry will have a sandwich, the guest will have a warm bed and soft nightlight, and the encroaching possum will know the soothing sensation of a barbecue brush upon its back. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jsonline/obituary.aspx?n=mary-a-mullaney-pink&pid=166788801&fhid=17777#fbLoggedOut