Sunday, February 3, 2013
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Reflection
As I watch “Men of a certain age”, I find myself having a self-reflecting moment. I was always proud of my achievements as a licensed realtor and my affiliation with the real estate practice, however; I found myself questioning my business ethics, but not till now years after my affiliation. I remember holding the hands of families as they searched for their new or first home. I helped them negotiate their asking price and would find myself essentially handing them their keys on closing day and congratulating them when I really should have been warning them of their HUGE new debt that would essentially be with them for the next 30 years if they were fortunate enough to avoid multiple mortgages or foreclosure. Back then I would smooth things over in my mind by telling myself that the bank approved them so they must be able to afford it, even if I did see their financial records proving otherwise.
After a few years I left the real estate business, which seemed to be the best timing I have ever had, I was hired as a car salesman for a reputable dealership in Tennessee. I say “salesman” because in this position and in the geographical location I was in it truly was not meant to be a position held by a woman which, if you know me at all, made me want it even more. I have always thrived in a sales position and I thought that it was due to my friendly and honest demeanor, however as I was training for a positions in car sales I found myself picking up on the little tricks of the trade. In reflection I feel as though the training course was a subliminal or brain washing approach to hook, line, and sinker the consumer.
As I began selling new cars I was able to focus on finding the consumer what they wanted in a car. Most times they came knowing what they wanted and since the cars were new on the lot the prices were no secret and listed for the consumer to see. The main objections I had to overcome were with the features of the vehicle. When I was asked to be a part of the used sales team I was thrilled! This was a place that all salesmen wanted to be and there were only 6 slots and one was mine…my own desk and bragging rights. Let’s be honest, I didn’t know much about cars and found myself trying to brush up on my product knowledge every morning but I could never keep up with the different cars that came on the lot. With my first few sales I noticed that people didn’t want to know about the car…we live in the information age where everything is online and the consumers would already know everything about the vehicle.
It didn’t take long for me to become top “saleswoman” (and yes they even started calling me that) in the entire dealership! Not only was I pushing cars off the lot, but I was “making bank” for the company and myself. This entire time I never knew what the company had in each vehicle, this made it easier, they told me how much to sell it for and that is what I did. I am not sure when or why it happened, maybe it was an attempt for my manager to teach me how the business really worked, but he began to inform me of the mark up on cars. It didn’t take long till he was telling me the numbers and I was setting my own price on cars, giving me more room to negotiate. I convinced myself that as long as the client was happy who cared how much I was getting them to pay…right….wrong.
I had so many happy clients sending me thank you cards and referrals; I was winning bonus incentives at work for the first car sold for the day or the most money made in a week. I even won the company seats to the Titans game. I remember feeling guilty for making such a large profit on a car and when I asked my manager if I could cut a deal, knowing that I could do it, he told me, “do you go to their job asking for their paycheck”? For a while that made sense to me, they were paying for my service of selling them a car, but was this ethical? I can’t help but think that I was contributing to a society that has blurred the line of business ethics so much that they have become nonexistent.
As I watch the footage of the Gulf oil spill, I wonder how many unethical decisions were made which led to this tragedy and how one bad decision probably led to many without them even realizing the ramifications of their decisions. I feel that as a society we all need to start actively thinking about the consequences of our actions. I am sure we can all think of a time that we have made a decision based on satisfying our ego, instead of what would benefit the masses. Like most lessons learned in my life, I take the hard way but thankfully have learned a lot from the many employment adventures I have taken. I look forward to taking what I have learned and applying it to my teaching practices.
I guess this is me just “paying it forward” in a sense and hoping that we can all become more aware of what is right and wrong.
After a few years I left the real estate business, which seemed to be the best timing I have ever had, I was hired as a car salesman for a reputable dealership in Tennessee. I say “salesman” because in this position and in the geographical location I was in it truly was not meant to be a position held by a woman which, if you know me at all, made me want it even more. I have always thrived in a sales position and I thought that it was due to my friendly and honest demeanor, however as I was training for a positions in car sales I found myself picking up on the little tricks of the trade. In reflection I feel as though the training course was a subliminal or brain washing approach to hook, line, and sinker the consumer.
As I began selling new cars I was able to focus on finding the consumer what they wanted in a car. Most times they came knowing what they wanted and since the cars were new on the lot the prices were no secret and listed for the consumer to see. The main objections I had to overcome were with the features of the vehicle. When I was asked to be a part of the used sales team I was thrilled! This was a place that all salesmen wanted to be and there were only 6 slots and one was mine…my own desk and bragging rights. Let’s be honest, I didn’t know much about cars and found myself trying to brush up on my product knowledge every morning but I could never keep up with the different cars that came on the lot. With my first few sales I noticed that people didn’t want to know about the car…we live in the information age where everything is online and the consumers would already know everything about the vehicle.
It didn’t take long for me to become top “saleswoman” (and yes they even started calling me that) in the entire dealership! Not only was I pushing cars off the lot, but I was “making bank” for the company and myself. This entire time I never knew what the company had in each vehicle, this made it easier, they told me how much to sell it for and that is what I did. I am not sure when or why it happened, maybe it was an attempt for my manager to teach me how the business really worked, but he began to inform me of the mark up on cars. It didn’t take long till he was telling me the numbers and I was setting my own price on cars, giving me more room to negotiate. I convinced myself that as long as the client was happy who cared how much I was getting them to pay…right….wrong.
I had so many happy clients sending me thank you cards and referrals; I was winning bonus incentives at work for the first car sold for the day or the most money made in a week. I even won the company seats to the Titans game. I remember feeling guilty for making such a large profit on a car and when I asked my manager if I could cut a deal, knowing that I could do it, he told me, “do you go to their job asking for their paycheck”? For a while that made sense to me, they were paying for my service of selling them a car, but was this ethical? I can’t help but think that I was contributing to a society that has blurred the line of business ethics so much that they have become nonexistent.
As I watch the footage of the Gulf oil spill, I wonder how many unethical decisions were made which led to this tragedy and how one bad decision probably led to many without them even realizing the ramifications of their decisions. I feel that as a society we all need to start actively thinking about the consequences of our actions. I am sure we can all think of a time that we have made a decision based on satisfying our ego, instead of what would benefit the masses. Like most lessons learned in my life, I take the hard way but thankfully have learned a lot from the many employment adventures I have taken. I look forward to taking what I have learned and applying it to my teaching practices.
I guess this is me just “paying it forward” in a sense and hoping that we can all become more aware of what is right and wrong.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Seoul Survivor
We were invited to meet some of Randy’s co-workers and their kids to go to “Seoul Land” which is equivalent to Great America. The people we were meeting were driving, but being the public transportation pros that we have started to become, we decided that we would take the train…little did we know it would be a LONG day!
We took our time getting out of the door so at about 10:30 am we took the bus to the train station. From there we jumped on the next train which we ended up waiting a half an hour for. While waiting for the train we noticed our seat numbers were in Hangeul so we tried to decode them using Randy’s travel guide…we failed at this attempt so we just waited to ask someone once we got on the train. Apparently the pictures we were trying to decode meant we would be “STANDING”. Randy had a rough night at a Hail and Farwell ceremony which means he had a slight hangover. Being the awesome wife that I am I decided that I would hold Anderson the entire 1 hour train ride to Seoul. Shortly after the train took off, Anderson fell asleep which made it easier to hold him because usually I am fighting to keep him from escaping. About 45 minutes into the trip my back felt as though it was going to give out and thankfully a man was getting off the train so we had one seat. I gave it to Randy and he held Anderson the rest of the way.
Once we arrived at Seoul Station, we had to take the subway. On this particular trip we decided to forego bringing a stroller, since there are usually opportunities to rent one for a reasonable price and it is easier than lugging the stroller around all day. However, we did not anticipate all the walking we would be doing prior to arriving to our final destination. As we stepped on to the subway we were thrilled that in just 7 stops we would be at “Seoul Land”. On our 3rd stop, everyone was ordered to get off the train and I instantly had flashbacks from our trip to Italy when they had a transportation strike. Thankfully, they were just stopping to clean the train and we were able to get on the next one about 10 minutes later…you would think I would be frustrated at this point, but really I was just pleased to find out that they clean the trains.
We arrived at Seoul Land and after walking about a mile to get to the stroller rental office we were spent and the day was almost over. It was past 2pm and we had left the house at 10:30am! Anderson loved eating dippin dots and playing in the Children’s play area. There was a huge ball pit, slides, ropes to climb, jump houses, and much more. We also took Anderson on his first carnival ride which we soon decided would be the last for a while. As the ride was spinning and lifting higher and higher off the ground, we both thought we were going to lose our lunch. Anderson seemed to enjoy it for 10 seconds then he wanted off! His favorite part was the battery operated animal that he was able to drive around. Around 6pm we decided to start our long journey home….yep just read this post backwards to get the rest of the story….subway….train…..bus oh wait…we took a taxi instead of the bus home. We walked through our front door at just about midnight!!! We were all exhausted and took the rest of the weekend to rest!!!
Anderson Update
We finally got down to only having one chuchie so we decided that we would start the process of eliminating it all together. In fear that we would lose our only one we decided that it would be a good idea to keep it in a safe place and only allow him to have it when he was sleeping. When I say we, you must understand…Anderson did not agree to this at all. It has been 6 days and it seems to be going well. Every 2 hours he has a meltdown wining and requesting his chuchie, but I just give him a snack or some ice (he loves ice) to take his mind off of it. I think I had an easier time quitting smoking! I am pretty glad we decided to do this now; I could not imagine what it would be like when he is talking more and trying to reason with me. Since we took the chuchie, he has been talking a lot more….still don’t know what he is saying but he is talking.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Anderson Update
Anderson Update:
So Anderson’s new word is Ball…and everything round is now a ball! He threw a fit in the grocery store when I would not let him throw a honeydew melon on the floor. I would let him hold it and he would try to chuck it over the side of the cart and I would have to grab it…this went on for a long time till he yelled at me and said “ball” and pointed to the ground. I had to keep telling him that it would not bounce but he didn’t care. I think we may have to buy a cantaloupe and let him smash it on the ground in order to figure it out!
So Anderson’s new word is Ball…and everything round is now a ball! He threw a fit in the grocery store when I would not let him throw a honeydew melon on the floor. I would let him hold it and he would try to chuck it over the side of the cart and I would have to grab it…this went on for a long time till he yelled at me and said “ball” and pointed to the ground. I had to keep telling him that it would not bounce but he didn’t care. I think we may have to buy a cantaloupe and let him smash it on the ground in order to figure it out!
MOTHER'S DAY BEAT DOWN
Mother’s Day Weekend
My Mother’s Day weekend was great! I woke up Saturday morning after sleeping in a bit and I found two cards for me…one from Randy and one from Anderson! They got me a day at the spa…Anderson got my manicure and pedicure and Daddy got my facial and massage. I left for my 2pm appointment in utter bliss…so I thought!
The manicure and pedicure was pretty typical to what I would get back in the states, however my facial and massage was more than interesting….
As I am directed to lay in a chair at the corner of the salon the facial began…in front of everyone getting their hair done which I thought was weird. As my facial proceeds I am beginning to feel relaxed and clean…and then it starts…the woman begins to slap me in the face and dig her knuckles into my forehead. As she presses on my temples I fear that my skull will crack…at one point I swore I heard it pop. I laid there wondering if Randy knew about this procedure and if this facial was payback for something. ..I was glad that it ended and ready for a relaxing massage…so I thought.
I was instructed to flip over on the chair and that is when it all started…My Korean “beat down”. Mind you I am still on the salon floor where all clients can see and hear me. Blankets were placed over my body and then a woman began to rub my back. Then a man started rubbing on my legs…which was all really relaxing, I could have fallen to sleep. Just as I am about to drift into sleep, the woman starts to pound on my shoulders and the man is using his elbows to put pressure on my butt. As this goes on, another woman joins the team and takes over my lower back…pounding, beating, kneading, slapping, and tugging my body in all directions. At this point I was praying that one of the clients getting their hair done would come save me, but this was not the case! Just as I feel I can no longer take it...about an hour….the woman near my head begins to chant and they all pat and pound my back and as they count to 3 in Korean I fear my life may end. One, Two, Three…one pulls my arms, while the other pulls my legs. I am a human tug of war……………..and finally done! I flip over feeling as though I just got jumped and look at everyone looking at me and simply say, “that was interesting”. Although it was painful, I think they know what they are doing because walking out of that place I felt really good!
I walked home from my appointment and took my time walking in and out of the little shops in the Ville. Since some of them are too small for a stroller or for Anderson’s grabby hands I am unable to go when we go on our walks.
Randy cooked an amazing meal: Cajun pork chops with fresh green beans.
We took Anderson to his new babysitter’s house where he met Aida. It was nice being able to walk to the babysitter’s house and to the bars that we were going to for our night out. Anderson seemed excited that Aida had a small dog but sat on my lap knowing that we were leaving him there. Aida being the professional that she is,
took Anders out of my lap and told us to be on our way he will be fine. With that we snuck out of the door and as I waited to hear if Anderson would cry, I began to cry…and not a peep out of Anderson!
It was nice to hit up the night life in our town and play some darts with Randy. We decided to hit up Randy’s old stomping ground the “Drunk Bus” where he was greeted by the owner Chang! He seemed to miss him quite a bit as well as the bartender and his poker friends. We sat and had a few drinks until we left before midnight to go and get our sleeping baby! I thought that I paced myself pretty good, but then the next morning told me otherwise…what a headache.
All of Mother’s Day, I was in recovery mode! We pulled out the bed in the couch and Anderson, Randy, and I watched movies and read stories all day!!! Anderson was pretty excited that there was a bed in the couch.
We did have a minor injury on Mother’s Day, Anderson cut his big toe on a sharp piece of glass on our table that we were unaware of. After a lot of bleeding and a make-shift band aid we were able to get a good look at it and it was the size of a deep paper cut. He healed quickly and we invested in a good first aid kit.
Note: Make a Bandaid
So my homemade bandaid was a piece of an Always pad…it worked great …super absorbent…go figure
My Mother’s Day weekend was great! I woke up Saturday morning after sleeping in a bit and I found two cards for me…one from Randy and one from Anderson! They got me a day at the spa…Anderson got my manicure and pedicure and Daddy got my facial and massage. I left for my 2pm appointment in utter bliss…so I thought!
The manicure and pedicure was pretty typical to what I would get back in the states, however my facial and massage was more than interesting….
As I am directed to lay in a chair at the corner of the salon the facial began…in front of everyone getting their hair done which I thought was weird. As my facial proceeds I am beginning to feel relaxed and clean…and then it starts…the woman begins to slap me in the face and dig her knuckles into my forehead. As she presses on my temples I fear that my skull will crack…at one point I swore I heard it pop. I laid there wondering if Randy knew about this procedure and if this facial was payback for something. ..I was glad that it ended and ready for a relaxing massage…so I thought.
I was instructed to flip over on the chair and that is when it all started…My Korean “beat down”. Mind you I am still on the salon floor where all clients can see and hear me. Blankets were placed over my body and then a woman began to rub my back. Then a man started rubbing on my legs…which was all really relaxing, I could have fallen to sleep. Just as I am about to drift into sleep, the woman starts to pound on my shoulders and the man is using his elbows to put pressure on my butt. As this goes on, another woman joins the team and takes over my lower back…pounding, beating, kneading, slapping, and tugging my body in all directions. At this point I was praying that one of the clients getting their hair done would come save me, but this was not the case! Just as I feel I can no longer take it...about an hour….the woman near my head begins to chant and they all pat and pound my back and as they count to 3 in Korean I fear my life may end. One, Two, Three…one pulls my arms, while the other pulls my legs. I am a human tug of war……………..and finally done! I flip over feeling as though I just got jumped and look at everyone looking at me and simply say, “that was interesting”. Although it was painful, I think they know what they are doing because walking out of that place I felt really good!
I walked home from my appointment and took my time walking in and out of the little shops in the Ville. Since some of them are too small for a stroller or for Anderson’s grabby hands I am unable to go when we go on our walks.
Randy cooked an amazing meal: Cajun pork chops with fresh green beans.
We took Anderson to his new babysitter’s house where he met Aida. It was nice being able to walk to the babysitter’s house and to the bars that we were going to for our night out. Anderson seemed excited that Aida had a small dog but sat on my lap knowing that we were leaving him there. Aida being the professional that she is,
took Anders out of my lap and told us to be on our way he will be fine. With that we snuck out of the door and as I waited to hear if Anderson would cry, I began to cry…and not a peep out of Anderson!
It was nice to hit up the night life in our town and play some darts with Randy. We decided to hit up Randy’s old stomping ground the “Drunk Bus” where he was greeted by the owner Chang! He seemed to miss him quite a bit as well as the bartender and his poker friends. We sat and had a few drinks until we left before midnight to go and get our sleeping baby! I thought that I paced myself pretty good, but then the next morning told me otherwise…what a headache.
All of Mother’s Day, I was in recovery mode! We pulled out the bed in the couch and Anderson, Randy, and I watched movies and read stories all day!!! Anderson was pretty excited that there was a bed in the couch.
We did have a minor injury on Mother’s Day, Anderson cut his big toe on a sharp piece of glass on our table that we were unaware of. After a lot of bleeding and a make-shift band aid we were able to get a good look at it and it was the size of a deep paper cut. He healed quickly and we invested in a good first aid kit.
Note: Make a Bandaid
So my homemade bandaid was a piece of an Always pad…it worked great …super absorbent…go figure
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Ceramic Festival in Yeoju, South Korea
Sunday May 2nd:
Despite the fact that my body was stiff as a board from the 5K and me, Randy, and Anderson were so cozy in bed….we woke up and got dressed after the alarm went off. Randy and I kept saying, “should we just stay home today?”…well we didn’t and we were so glad that we got out of the house. To the Ceramic Festival!!!
We treated Anderson to a Burger King Breakfast picnic as we waiting for the bus that would be taking us on our 1.5 hour ride to Yeoju…”the Ceramic Capital of South Korea”. Anderson did great on the bus, he played and then slept the rest of the way. Again the sun was shining and it was the best day to be walking around shopping for pottery and soaking up some culture! On this trip Anderson was able to make a coaster out of clay! I was hoping to be able to spin my own vase on the wheel, but there was a long line of children ahead of me and Anderson was losing his patience so I settled at watching the demonstration. The Festival allowed children (and adults) to paint pottery and make pottery for purchase…we mostly watched since the tables were really full and Anderson was more interested in watching the other kids instead.
Part of the trip was supposed to include a ride on a sailboat! If you know Randy, you know that this is how I sold him on the idea of taking the trip, however; after viewing this so-called “sailboat” we decided against the ride. The sailboat looked like a ferry with one sail and a motor. Supposedly, it was depicted from some of the early designs of a sailboat ever made. We decided to make our way to the Buddhist Temple instead. Here we had to be quiet since there were people praying. I thought it was so interesting to see how they pray. Some of the woman laid with their heads down, while others were more active posing in a kneeling position and then to a standing position almost resembling a form of Yoga. At the Temple, Anderson loved seeing all the colorful lanterns hanging!
A sketch artist asked if he could sketch Anderson, informing us that it would only take 10 minutes. Twenty minutes later after trying to keep Anderson still and looking at the artist, with a bunch of bystanders staring and offering Anderson candy, the portrait was complete. We paid 30,000 won for a portrait that looked like Anderson with some Korean flair, but I figured it would make a great keepsake in his baby book.
Shopping in all the pottery shops, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much my mom would have loved it there! Some of the pottery was really expensive…the green ceramic pots and vases as well as the handmade china sets they were in the 200,000won range which is just under $200. Randy and I settled for a piece for our office since he is always collecting things from our travels. I wanted to load up on so many gifts but knowing that we would have to carry them as well as Anderson, I quickly decided against stocking up!
Anderson found refuge in the windmill park. They had a display of windmills of all different colors and sizes that the kids could run through…he loved it! A group of young girls came over to give him a sucker and take pictures with him…Anderson thanked them by blowing kisses! When Randy took Anderson’s hat off the girls reacted as if he was a male stripper ripping off his pants…something about his blond curls gets them hooting and hollering…Randy and I were cracking up!
At lunch, as we devoured some chicken on a stick, a young man kept bringing us free food. He was excited that we were from Chicago so he must have been there before! I was not impressed with the food but it is impolite to turn it down so I was glad Randy was there to eat it! He was chasing it with the chicken and a coke.
Things learned: Corn on the cob looks good but feels like wax and tastes like fishy water…yuk! Try to avoid eye contact near food tents in hopes that a friendly Korea doesn’t offer you free food you may not enjoy but are forced to eat! And when spending the day eating things that seem less than satisfying…a coke becomes your best friend and is easy comfort food!
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