I had a really depressing thought just now. Yesterday (August Bank Holiday) was the last public holiday in the UK before Christmas Day, so not only does this herald the beginning of the end of a summer that never really began, but it’s also the start of four months without a day off work.
It’s pretty much the opposite in the USA of course, with no public holidays for many people before Memorial Day at the end of May, but then after Labor Day (1st Monday in September) there is still a 4-day weekend to look forward to at Thanksgiving.
My wife had six weeks off for the school holidays, and we went to Florida for the first 2 of those (to see my daughters), but since then we have done little apart from fixing up the house and tending to the garden, and next week she too is back at work.
As I said, it’s a really depressing thought, summer is almost over, before it really began for us.
Some years when the weather has been disappointing during the summer we do get an Indian Summer, a nice few hot days later in the year, so fingers crossed we get to enjoy a few days of sunshine in September or October, before Old Man Winter descends on us.
Normally when I return from vacation I like to get straight back in the saddle and to write about our trip, however this time I have just been too busy and too tired to think about it.
It’s been more than a week since we returned from 2 1/2 weeks in Florida, where I was able to spend some good quality time with my daughters, as well as catch up with old friends where I used to live, and also to partake of the wonderful Florida sunshine.
The problem with returning from vacation though is that you often need a break, and in our case we have not only had to get over the stress of the trans-atlantic journey, we have had a lot of work to do in the house to prepare for visitors at the beginning of September. I also find that as I get older, it’s getting harder to motivate myself to do things, and so I often put them off until such time as they become unnecessary. Needless to say it’s not one of my better traits.
So as far as writing goes, I have had precious few opportunities to put any decent articles together, and haven’t felt the motivation to even select the best of the holiday photographs to share with family and friends.
My writing on all sites has taken a hit too, however I have managed to make some minor updates to my Squidoo lenses, and today I jumped back in the saddle and created a new Burst on Netleeks, which I hope will do well.
My next project, before it’s too late and memories fade, has to be of course to write about my trip to Florida, and with luck I will be able to get down to it before the end of the month.
This is an acrostic poem that I wrote for Memorial Day back in 2010 and originally published on Yahoo Voices. I just wanted to share it with a new audience, in honor of all those members of the armed forces who served their country, many of whom lost their lives or came back scarred, either mentally or physically:
Memories of those who gave their lives
Every year we remember them
Mindful of their valor and sacrifice
Older every year, their comrades honor them
Remembering events and friendships
In service of their country
Always remembered, never forgotten
Less history repeat itself
Dedicated this day is
Annually celebrated
Young and old remember those brave souls
I read an article in the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel last night where an up market yacht company rejected an applicant for a job, telling her that she “might not fit in with the clientele because she was black and overweight”.
The woman is now suing the yacht company for racial discrimination, and while the company ought to have been rather more diplomatic in the way that they rejected her, sometimes appearance as well as other factors do count when you are looking to employ someone.
In all honesty, the appearance of front line personnel in a company can make a huge difference in sales and whether they are successful in getting prime business or not. Factors include the looks of the employee, the way that they dress, their personality, and their accent too.
An attractive person is more likely to be employed on the reception desk of a company than a plain or homely one, because when it comes to business, first impressions count, and if employing a good looking receptionist could make a potential difference in whether a company succeeds in getting a new client or not, what would you do if you were that company?
The same rule applies to jobs where a person might be heard but not seen, like a telephone support role. How often have you reacted in a negative way to a company because when you called them you ended up speaking to someone with a thick accent?
Now a thick accent of course does not mean that that person was a foreigner or non-white. It could equally be that they came from a rural area and had a strong local accent, which clients could not understand. That can lose you business, or at least give your company a negative rating.
I have worked in an environment like that, where employees from a small town in rural England were manning a software help desk and had clients in Central and South America. Not only did the clients in Hispanic countries not understand what they were saying and vice versa, the clients in Jamaica, Bahamas and Barbados fared no better.
Sometimes it’s a case of “horses for courses” and looks, appearance, accent, race and even religion can be a factor in whether a person is suitable for a job with a company or not.
In these times of economic doom and gloom, a company sometimes has to make decisions that can affect it’s survival, but obviously it needs to be done in the right way.
Well I have taken one side of the argument. What are your feelings on this and which side of the fence do you sit on?