Embarrassment will get you somewhere

Some people get embarrassed easier than others. Some don't mind walking around naked in public (usually in places like the Cote D'Azur), or don't mind being in the immediate vicinity of one. Some people will gladly try everything once, likely fail and fall flat on their faces, and get a great story out of it. Others take offense to everything that is uncomfortable to them, and get embarrassed just by you walking into their home with your shoes on.

It seems to me people who don't fell embarrassment at all are the ones with the greatest stories, and often the greatest successes. They just seem to take so many more actions, that others would simply not do. These are the opportunists, the positivists. But if you lean towards the other end of the scale, that's great too. People who are easily embarrassed are also people who tend to do what you ask, for risk of losing face. They will also not stab you in the back, for fear of getting caught.

In a sense, when I have to assign a financial post to someone in my team, I pick the person whose culture endures the most shame, and who is most easily embarrassed.

The right to complain

You know the people who just incessantly complain for the sake of it? That they have not enough money to take far away trips, that they have too many meetings, that they don't get the promotions they desire, that traffic is terrible, that the neighbour's cat is pooping all over the place...

Complaining does have a point. At some point you need to make clear what you think about a situation. And you can do it once. Maybe twice. But after the third time it just becomes a repetitive record player. The point of giving out the signal, is that something is done about it. Otherwise, complaining is just for the sake of it, irritating the hell out of everyone else.

If you've done nothing to improve upon a situation to complain about, if you didn't fix the car you've broken; if you were basically underperforming, so you didn't earn that promotion; if you complain about you fitness, but didn't exercise... you have not earned the right to complain about it. Complaining should be justified.

However, in the absence of complaining, it should not be inferred that you like the situation. It is merely tolerable. Last time I checked, tolerance does not equal love, want or even interest. I don't complain about the weather. That doesn't mean I want to be a weatherman, or that I wouldn't prefer the climate in the tropics. Not complaining doesn't equal liking.

Tell The Truth And Run

Funny how that works. You know what's wrong, and at some point you have to own up and bring the bad news to the fore. Unfortunately that means you play the bearer of bad news. And you know what happens to that messenger...

The answer to all your problems...

So apparently the way these employees are dealing with tough times in their company... is actually not dealing with them at all. Just fling yourself off the balcony from a ten story building.

It did however give pause to management of France Telecom, and its drive to push forward with reorganizations, layoffs and cutbacks. In short, if you don't agree with how things are going, then slit your own wrists in the company toilet. The downside of course then is, that you're dead.

Don't Touch My Stuff!!

What's with the hate (here and here for example) all of a sudden? Did women start using their men's razors to shave their armpit hair or something?

There's bound to be something in the water (or in this case, the "energy drinks"), otherwise I can't imagine these 6-foot plus, 250 pound guys suddenly putting the hurt on sub-5-foot, sub-100 pound girls, for seemingly no good reason.

Rearranging rationales

Funny observation.

Sometimes stuff happens. Natural disasters. Robberies. Missed promotions. The economy. Playoff losses. Cancer.

When it occurs to you, you have to deal with it. However, few people have a thought or an opinion about negative things happening to them. So when those things actually occur, you tend to rationalize these after the fact, you know, after the emotions have died down.

The more time passes, the more socially acceptable the rationalizations become. At first you're like: "Bitch quarterback couldn't throw a dent in a pack of butter." Later you're more like: "The Patriots gameplan for the defense did account for his off-pace passing game." And even more later, "It's just a game. There's more important things in life than a Super Bowl..."

And yet, this line of reasoning isn't really how we feel. We deserve the right to be angry or upset. We reserve the right to be unhappy. That's how the best songs get written.