Is it unprofessional to tell your entire company mailing list that one of your managers is an idiot?

Apparently it's not (to some people).

It's amazing how many people fail to practice what they preach. Especially in a professional setting. Despite the fact that I know this, it somehow always surprises me when people make hypocrites of themselves.

For instance, my company is big on providing feedback on performance. If you notice a problem, you address that problem with whoever is responsible for it. This gives her a chance to fix it and to keep doing good things for the company. This is a REALLY BIG DEAL. And it should be. You can't improve if the person rating your performance doesn't tell you how he grades.

That being said, try to imagine my surprise today when I checked my email and found that a VIP sent out an email to the entire company mailing list letting everyone know that Kaila is an idiot and incompetent and people x, y, and z are going to be joining Kaila's project to patch things up.

My immediate thought, "what the fuck?!"

Here's why I had that reaction:

1. To my knowledge, my project was running fine.


2. I asked people x, y, and z (and the whole rest of the company) for feedback on a monthly basis and received close to zero.


3. I integrated the small amount of feedback that I DID get into my project.


4. I specifically asked a specific person in group x, y, z if I could integrate her feedback into my project, and she ignored me. Until today when she responded to the Kaila's an idiot email.


5. The reasoning behind throwing a team of people onto my previously solo project was that my project has "errors."


6. Those errors are still unspecified and have never been communicated to me.

Can you imagine why I might have been surprised?

I'm the kind of person who you can set up for failure, and I'll probably succeed anyway.

So I feel totally justified in feeling unhappy with this situation.

Confrontation (it's good!)

Why is it that so often the person who can fix your problem is the last person you talk to about that problem?

To me, it's logical that if I have a problem with something, I address it with the person who can fix it.

For instance, when the starbucks barista accidentally puts whipped cream on my frozen beverage, I don't storm off in a huff, pissed off that the kids can never seem to get my drink right. I just hand it back and say, "hey, can you scrape that off for me?" Simple, eh? [side note: whipped cream on a frozen drink makes the whipped cream freeze and glue to the top of my mouth and it feels really really weird and gross.]

But apparently this concept isn't so clear to all people.

A couple weeks ago I came home to a notice from animal control on our door. Apparently one of our neighbors was unhappy that one of our chickens got out and into his yard. We found a hole under the fence between our yards, so we blocked it. And we assumed the problem was fixed. The neighbor who filed the complaint never came over to talk to us. How did we know there was a problem?

Today, I get home from work and there's a guy standing on my doorstep. A guy I've never talked to before in my life. He lives next door, and is the same guy who called animal control about our chickens. He has a super defensive, I'm pissed off and gonna blow a gasket stance (which tells me to use my "I'm a super sweet, really nice person" voice).

So, our conversation went something like:

me: hi!
guy: you don't live here do you?
me: I live here.
guy: your chickens keep tearing up my yard! you need to do something about them or I'm gonna sue.
me: well, we're working on keeping them in better. we're filling holes, putting more fencing up, clipping wings, etc.
guy: well, trying isn't good enough. you aren't doing enough and they're tearing up my yard. we're gonna sue if we have to.
me: i'm sorry, we don't want them to tear up your yard. we're trying to keep them in. we don't know that what we've done hasn't worked until they get out again. we always think we've fixed it.
guy: well, they're still getting out. we keep replanting our stuff, and we're gonna sue if we have to.
me: well suing isn't very neighborly.
guy: i know it's not very neighborly, and I don't want to. but can't you keep them in cages or something?
me: keeping them in cages isn't very nice.

At that point i was ready to go inside 'cause he just kept repeating himself over and over and over. Even as I was walking in the door and he was walking back to his house he was still muttering to himself.

He worked himself into a frenzy thinking that he was gonna come over and have a showdown with those asshole chicken keepers. And instead, he got someone willing to help fix the problem. I bet he feels disappointed. When I told him suing isn't very neighborly he looked a little embarrassed, too. :)

So this guy would have been a whole lot less stressed out if he had just come over and said, "hey guys, your chickens just tore out my flowers. Can you please keep them in?"

The guy across from us did that, and my roommate cleaned up the guys flowerbed and brought him some fresh eggs. And we're on super friendly terms with him now.

Why are people so afraid of confrontation? And use it only as a last resort? When really it should be the first step after you identify that there's a problem and you want it to stop.

Oh well. Such is the world, I suppose.

The Oregon Coast - What is it missing?

I'm spending this weekend in Manzanita, on the Oregon coast. I like this town because it's like a giant dog park. The beach is off leash, there are pooper-scooper stations all over town, and every other person I see has a dog. And it's not uncommon to see dogs off leash in public. It's a great place for me and my dog to come and hang out without having to worry about all the "not dog people" you seem to encounter everywhere else.

The place that I like to stay is called the San Dune Inn. It's run by a super friendly guy named Brian, it's dog friendly, and it has tons of complementary stuff (mostly just to borrow) for staying here. For instance, doggie towels, bicycles, movies, books, popcorn, candy, sand toys, beach chairs, etc.

If you've never been to Manzanita before, Brian will give you a map and tell you all the good places to go and the places to stay away from. Inside the room is a binder with menus for all the restaurants in town. I think each room has a mini-fridge and microwave (which is good, because the grocery stores are insanely expensive here). It's great.

However, the town of Manzanita does have its draw backs. And every time I come here, I think, "wow, this town could do so much better!" It's almost like stepping back in time by 10 years. Here's where the town could improve:

Accept plastic without fees or grumpy faces
The only places that accept anything plastic, without a minimum, are the ones that have super high price points. Most places don't accept plastic at all, and some accept it with a minimum purchase only. For the most part, if you pull out a credit/debit card here, people look at you like you have something contagious and give you a wide berth. The only places where my credit card has been accepted with no strings attached is the San Dune Inn and a place called Parinamah where I got a massage the last time I stayed here.

Lighten up, service industry
Almost everyone who works in the service industry here has an, "I hate tourists" attitude. Despite the fact that without tourists, a lot of these places probably wouldn't even exist. These are my impressions from a handful of places I've been here:

San Dune Pub
Last night, I went out to find somewhere to eat dinner. First, I went to the San Dune Pub. They had good food for reasonable prices (and portions) when I was here last. The atmosphere is that kind of gross, bar on the coast atmosphere, so it's not really ideal, but they have patio seating, and I figured I'd sit outside. I stood at the not-busy bar for 3 minutes, directly in front of 4 employees, and each one failed to even make eye contact with me. I left.

Manzanita Grocery and Deli
Next, I tried the grocery and deli. The deli case was your typical pasta salad, macaroni salad, etc, crap that I've never liked. It looked like they had sandwiches, but I didn't really want a deli sandwich. I figured a good backup dinner would be tuna and crackers. Until I saw the prices. $4 for a box of crackers, and $3 for a can of tuna. A tuna and crackers dinner would be $7! It would probably be more cost effective to go out to eat. And who eats canned tuna at the coast anyway?

Left Coast Siesta
Next, I tried a new Mexican food place. I walked in the door, stood at the front counter, and there was no one there to help me. I didn't even see anyone who looked like they worked there. I stood there for a couple minutes looking at the menu that was sitting on the counter. Still I didn't see anyone who looked like an employee, and no one came to help me. I left.

Manzanita Seafood and Chowder House
Last, I tried the Manzanita Seafood and Chowder House, despite the fact that Brian warned me he had heard lots of complaints about the place. I walked in, seated myself (as the sign told me to do) and within 30 seconds someone came over to say hi to me and talk to me about their specials. I stayed. The menu was on the table, along with the dessert menu (this is where I think most restaurants fail. Not leaving the dessert menu on the table. Who wants to ask for the dessert menu after they've already gotten their check?). Anyway, I ordered a 2 piece fish and chips and the lady gave me 3 'cause the portions were kind of small. :) My food came out super fast. I think I have pretty high standards on eating out, and I have no complaints, so this place is fine by me. I'll probably go back for dinner tonight.

News and Espresso
This morning I went to get a coffee at a place called News and Espresso, and I encountered the same, "I hate tourists, here's your mocha go to hell" sort of attitude. And the mocha was probably the most disgusting mocha I've had in my life. Think, microwaved milk with powdered chocolate and maybe some super weak coffee. Then pour it in a cup and don't stir the chocolate very well. Then slosh the sticky coffee mixture over the side of the cup when you hand it out, and don't wipe it off.

When I got to the bottom of my coffee, there was packed-in, unstirred, powdered chocolate mix stuck in the crevice between the bottom and the side of the cup. I had to go get a spoon and spend 30 seconds stirring it in to the little bit of remaining coffee. It felt like I was drinking mildly sweet mud water. It might be the worst coffee I've ever purchased in my life. But I came to this place because the last time I was here the girl who helped me was super enthusiastic and nice and took the time to walk me through all the pastries they had, and the coffee was good. I guess it's hit and miss.

But, I like the atmosphere of News and Espresso. They have a bar area in front of big windows, outdoor seating, a big fountain/bird bath, complementary reading glasses(!), and a hitching post for your dog. So you can tie him up outside, go order your coffee, and go sit outside with him. :) I think the business idea and concept is right, just the service needs a serious makeover (and the coffee, yech).

I'll probably give this place another try since I had such a good experience the time before. But I might stick with drip coffee next time.

Mother Nature's Natural Foods
This is another place that I tried for coffee the last time I stayed in Manzanita. It's a natural grocery store with an espresso machine. I was looking for coffee and a pastry, but the pastry selection consisted of maybe 3 tiny, overpriced brownies. The girl who made my coffee was nice and helpful, and I thought I had found a place I would like. And then an old woman came to ring me up and looked at me like I was a coke-addicted-hooker when I pulled out my credit card. She was actively unfriendly, but I gave her my cash money anyway. Then I discovered that there is no good seating for sitting and enjoying my coffee. Fail. I will not return.

What's missing?
So what is the coast missing anyway?

Friendly people in the service industry!

I bet that if someone like me were running the News and Espresso place, it would make some serious money. If you're going to be an espresso place, you should probably make decent coffee. You know, the foam from your milk should stick to the side of the cup as you drink it, and you should use good quality beans, and you should use good (not f***ing powdered!) chocolate. And if you slosh sticky drink onto the side of the cup, wipe it off! Also, they have a really really good selection of delicious looking pastries. If the girl had asked me if I wanted to get an Apricot Tart (or whatever) for only X dollars with my coffee, I probably would have bought one. And most of the tourists who are on vacation and have a lax budget (and are stressed out from taking 5 kids and the dog to the beach) would probably say yes, too.

I don't understand why having nice people working in the service industry isn't more common? When you're nice to people, people are nice to you (99% of the time) and the whole world is happy. Really, it's in your own best interest. (Especially in food service, where you get tips!)

From my perspective, I think, it's not like when you live on the coast you live in an asphalt and concrete jungle, battle traffic and crowds daily, live in apartment complexes, or have to deal with a shit ton of extra taxes, emissions tests, etc. Really, you get to live next to the ocean, the worst you experience when driving is rain and construction, and you get to meet people from all over the place. But I'm sure the perspective of a local is different.

What a little empathy can do for your business

I want to start by saying that I love T-Mobile, and I've found that it's surprisingly difficult for a company to earn my love. So that's saying a lot. The truth, though, is that it's really not that difficult for a company to make me fall in love with it. All it takes is a few things.


http://63.134.213.17/_media/imgs/articles/a342_pillow.jpg


The first thing is, whatever the company is offering has to be valuable to me. This should be a given. I don't care about a $200 53 and a half piece tupperware set. It's not relevant to me. Zero value. On the other hand, google products are nothing but relevant for me, and they're entirely free for me to use. Excellent value.

The second thing is, the employees have to act like real people and they have to interact with me like I'm a real person. This is why I love Aerie. And the Seattle's Best Coffee near where I work. And my hairdresser. Sure, these people are employed to be nice, but if they weren't genuinely nice people, they wouldn't be able to pull it off. You would get people like... Comcast customer service. Reading a script, don't care what your problem is, it's almost lunch time, bye bye. The businesses that do it right make me look forward to coming back. Just the anticipation of going to Aerie to buy some new underwear makes me feel happy.

The third thing is, the company has to empathize with me, the average customer. The company knows what a hassle it is to deal with its competitors, so they make it easy for me to do business with them. It always takes forever to grab a coffee at the Starbucks near where I work. And 90% of the time, they make a mistake with my drink and I end up having to wait for it to be remade (and really, asking them to leave the whipped cream off is not a complicated request). It's not uncommon for me to wait close to 10 minutes for a non-drip coffee. The Seattle's Best Coffee on the other hand is super fast, super friendly, and if I have to wait more than 60 seconds for my drink I don't even notice. I don't mind lingering.

Aerie does a cool thing where you get a little card that gives you a free gift every month. With no strings attached at all. You bring it into the store, they punch it, they give you something cool (like lip gloss, body shimmer, a candle, etc). They also give you a birthday gift during the month of your birthday. They of course also use that as an opportunity tell you all about the special underwear deals they have going on, too, but I don't fault them for that. They have a seriously awesome product, so if they're having a sale, I'm interested.

T-Mobile recently did something amazingly awesome for me, also. My phone was on the fritz, constantly restarting itself over and over and over and over and over. And I couldn't really use it. So I called the customer care number and the super friendly, very much human customer service rep walked me through a couple troubleshooting steps. It was still restarting, so they said they were out of troubleshooting steps in the customer care department, but they'd call technical support and tell them what was happening and then connect me.

(I love that T-Mobile does this. I hate spending 10 minutes explaining and troubleshooting with one customer service rep only to be transferred to someone else who has no background info on my problem and I have to spend 10 minutes repeating myself and all the same troubleshooting steps from before).

So the customer service rep came back on the phone and said something like, "it looks like there's gonna be a 20 minute wait with technical support. They're pretty busy tonight." I inwardly groaned and started feeling sulky, but then she said, "so, I'm gonna go ahead and send you a new phone." What? "You're just going to send me a new phone?" "Yeah, your phone's still under warranty, so we'll just send you a new one." Wow!

Free shipping, free replacement, all I have to do is return the old phone with the pre-paid shipping label provided. She offered expedited shipping if I wanted to pay for it, so I stuck with the free shipping. Which, as it turns out, was 3 day shipping. I called around 8 o'clock on Monday night, my phone got here before 3 pm on Thursday. That's faster than my student loan company, ACS-Education, replies to email!

The moral of this story? Use T-Mobile, Aerie, Seattle's Best Coffee, and my hairdresser if you want to be happy.

What can $1.50 do for your business?

The Subway near where I work has up a $5 for any regular foot long sign. I eat a half a sandwich at at time, so I thought, "Sweet $2.50 a meal for two meals!"

I don't want to piss off Subway by stealing a picture of their advertising, so if you want to see examples of what I'm talking about, go here.

So a couple weeks ago, around my lunch time, I picked out a regular, foot long veggie patty sandwich and ordered. (Previously, one of my coworkers also ordered the veggie patty and paid $5. ) But when I got to the cash register, my total was $6.50. So I asked the cashier, "I thought it was $5 for a foot long." "Not for the veggie patty." What?! There's nothing on the sign that says otherwise! The cashier (who looks like someone you'd see rocking a smoldering pipe at the Tool concert) says, "is that okay?" Am I going to freak out and cause a scene when I have 15 minutes left on my lunch break and I'm standing in my work clothes with my company logo visible in 3 different place? No!

So I pay an extra $1.50 for my sandwich and leave.

And I write a email to Subway's customer service complaining about the misleading advertising. I don't blame this mishap on the cashier, or the store owners, but on the people in charge of marketing (who, I'm sure, don't ever see anything from the feedback forms).

Beyond the auto-responder email, I have received no response. Nothing. Total silence. And I emailed them two and a half weeks ago.

There are at least 12 other food places surrounding this Subway that I can easily walk to on my lunch break. Do you think I'll chose Subway next time? And do you think I'll encourage any of my coworkers to eat there on their lunch breaks? And if I'm having lunch with a friend, and we're trying to decide where to go, will I let my friend decide on Subway? The answers are all No.

I vote with my dollars, and probably for the rest of my life, this place will never again receive my vote.

Sad for Subway, the effect of that $1.50.


Just for fun, when I was looking for a picture of a sandwich, I found this (it's only funny if you use linux).



From http://physicsgeek.mu.nu/archives/sudo%20sandwich.png

I am your boss!

"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." -Margaret Thatcher

I love it! It makes me think of a time when someone yelled at me, "I am your boss, Kaila!"

Obviously she wasn't doing a very good job of it.

Hedging against the socialist health care system

Socialized health care is going to happen in the US, and I am scared.  

If it takes me 2 months to schedule a routine exam in our current system, what will this look like for me in 5 years when it's free for everyone?

The scenario that plays out in my head is this:
The tax payers pay for health care for everyone in the country, including all the non tax payers. The hospitals and doctors' offices will become over crowded and understaffed. Medical personnel will lose any incentive to care or work harder because they will all become government employees.

If I have a medical problem, it'll be like going to the department of licensing. Take a number, have a seat, wait 30 minutes, it's my turn, wait, you didn't bring this form, fill it out and wait in line again, etc. 3 hours later, my tabs are renewed. Except maybe this time 8 hours later my compound fracture is finally being crammed back into my body.

So basically I'll need to arrange my life in such a way that I will need medical care as absolutely little as possible. (I'm sure that with children that becomes complicated, but I'm not planning for that right now).

So really, the best option for me is to stay really healthy and never get sick and never break any bones. And make sure I don't get hit by any crazy drivers.

Imagine what the waiting rooms in hospitals would look like if everybody ate good food and exercised and paid attention while driving. I bet there'd be a lot fewer medical issues, overall better quality of life, and a much happier population.