stefr.net

Have you ever known someone who,  if you took them out to eat, and they knew YOU were paying for their meal… they would order something different than they would if they were paying for their own? (Does that make sense? That feels like a really big run-on sentence.)
Anyway, I’m not sure I’ve ever known someone like this… but it makes you wonder sometimes.
Now, my father-in-law always says You should always order what you want. And yes, I agree. You should eat what you like. But… let’s say you are at McDonald’s – and you love, love, love their $1 cheeseburger… but on this particular day – someone has offered to treat you for lunch – so you order a Big Mac value meal upsized. This is obviously going to cost quite a bit more than that $1 cheeseburger that you would normally eat.
Let’s just imagine there are people in this world that would change their normal order because someone else is paying – real nice. Pig.

On a semi-unrelated note… but kind of…
A few months ago, at work… our boss offered to buy the staff some snacks. He said that way, we’d always have a little something to eat in the afternoons… and it would give us more energy to continue working.
(Side note –> I do have to throw in, that a few years ago… we all agreed to take a small percentage pay cut in order to help out the company – and contribute to paying for supplies, utilities, etc… whatever… we, of course, didn’t really willing agree – but I suppose there’s really nothing we can do about it.)
Okay – the office kitchen is always stocked with Cokes, Bottled Water and Coffee for our employees. And then the snacks… at first, it was some individual bags of crackers or cookies… maybe some popcorn… just nice little pick-me-up snacks.
Lately, it’s becoming somewhat ridiculous, in my opinion – as we now have popcorn, cookies, chips, dip, cracker jacks, fruit snacks, donuts, grits, oatmeal, candy bars, crackers, peanuts, cashews… the list goes on….
I understand that us employees, in a roundabout way, are paying for these snacks – but when does it end? And of course, there are some employees who have maybe one snack a day – maybe one snack every other day… but there are other employees who have a snack every hour – just because it’s there.
They are turning into little piglets, who have to eat all the time. (And of course, some little piglets eat all the “good” snacks first… and the crumbs, or “unpopular” snacks are left for weeks.) I am truly surprised that they boss hasn’t put a stop to this – or at least put a limit on the amount of purchases every week.

I know I’m (mostly) wrong on my opinion… but I feel like taking advantage of someone is not cool. We are here to work – make a living – not to eat.
(By the way – the boss doesn’t personally make these snack purchases – they are made by a trusted source with the company credit card.)
File this under: I’m Just Saying

Facebook’s ‘like’ button is pretty cool – it’s a great way to ‘comment’ on a friend’s without really commenting.
Sometimes, it’s just the perfect way to say, “I really don’t know what to say.”

BUT.
I want to tell you a story.
SB and I have a good friend who lost his mother to breast cancer several years ago. He was only 15 or 16 years old at the time… we didn’t know her very well, but our hearts went out to him - no one should have to lose a parent that young.
Our friend has grown up to be a great person – he works hard and gives his all to everything he does. He’ll be 26 next month (which makes me feel really old, because I’ve known him since he was 14). We still keep in touch, and when he can, he comes to visit us.
For the past several years, our friend has participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, in honor of his mom. SB and I are proud of him, and try to give what we can to help him.

Oh. Here’s where I’m going to get mean.
Yesterday, our friend posted his donation link on his Facebook page.
He writes, “For those of you who know me and knew my mom, you know this hits home and means a lot to me. I would appreciate your help in raising money toward my goal. Thank you!”

When SB and I saw the post, we noticed 4 people ‘like’ it.
We clicked the link so we could make a donation… and noticed our friend has a goal of $500. At that moment, he had raised $25. – which he donated himself.
Really?!
Let me tell you something – ‘liking’ his post doesn’t help this organization. If the 4 people who ‘like’ that post would give just $5… our friend would have $20 toward his goal. FIVE bucks. One Starbucks coffee. One pack of cigarettes. One lunch at McDonald’s.
Never think that your donation is too small to help!
Please remember what I’ve said next time you think about clicking the ‘like’ button.

(If you’d like to give a small donation to our friend, please leave a comment and I’ll be happy to pass on his link.)

Um, yah. I think I owe you all a post. Or three.

You know when your parents or teacher told you that There are no stupid questions?
They lied.
When you’re a customer emailing me an order… it would be a great idea to have your company name in your signature line. Especially if you’re a new contact, and have never emailed me before. Yep, that would be helpful.
And, most (if not all) states have 10 digit phone numbers now – use all 10 digits please! If your state still only uses 7 digits, wow. For future reference, though – either way… use all 10. It’s also helpful in figuring out who you are… just in case you forget to include your company name in your email.
Morons.

I hate that couponing has gotten so popular.
About 6 years ago, when SB and I lived in Tennessee… we received the paper every Sunday, and always clipped out coupons for things we would use. Our friends pretty much laughed at us… because we were so young, and so interested in saving any money we could.
And now, we still clip coupons sometimes… but now it’s so freaking popular. It’s annoying. But I do love that we were ‘cool’ before cool was cool.

I hate the word ‘bestie.’ You sound like an idiot.
Seriously, it’s worse than B-F-F … which oddly has made a comeback recently. Whatever just happened to calling someone your best friend?
It ranks up there with referring to your husband as “your boo.” Really?!

I hate that running marathons is trendy – or something.
You’ll see me running when someone is chasing me. With a knife.
I hate those stupid stickers on the back of cars – 13.1 and 26.2 - who cares? Oooh and a 5K – why are we using kilometers? Why not miles – this is America, after all?

Okay. I promise I’ll be nicer next time… I do have some nicer ideas in my head, which I hope to have up soon… but for now, it’s just quicker (and easier) to write hates.

This is what I saw as I walked into work today… I couldn’t resist capturing the moment to share with you.