A writer writes!
You forcefully took people away from their homes, their family, their freedom, their lives. You took them for your economic benefit. You took them not acknowledging that they had the right to live just as you. You didn't care. You proclaimed yourself supreme with the right to play God and transform the futures of others into a system of slavery. You raped African women as you were unable to control your sexual desires and lusts. You found yourself to not be the Christian you thought you were. Later you railed against inter racial marriages forgetting your rapist actions against African women whom you forced into slavery. You forget that you are responsible for the same things you railed against.
You annihilated an entire race native to the land you now call home. You destroyed a culture rich in history, so you could selfishly establish your own domain. You chose not to share, instead you took what you proclaimed as yours. You established selfishness, uncaring attitudes and a class society in the new world. You put materialism over God. You lied to God every day and told God that the people he created who did not look like you were lesser than you. You spewed endless hatred from your mouth and through your actions against other people, just because their skin color was different from yours. You murdered innocent people as if they were evil, when it was you who was possessed with an evil soul.
You did all of these things because you could. Choices that you knowingly made. But, you have forgotten all of the negatives of your past. You now basque in the glow of your materialistic lives. You hide behind your four walls of "success". You only look forward, not to the sins of the past.
True greatness is acknowledging your mistakes and committing to actions that set a course to reverse the wrongs of the past. Humble yourself and acknowledge your Creator who awaits the positive actions that show you care about your fellow human beings.
Just because you can.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Monday, June 30, 2014
Reparations? Too Late for that!
A writer writes!
I read an opinion article the other day that supported reparations being given African American families. The idea may have been a good one a hundred years ago, but now it's too late. A hundred years ago a reparations payment to an African American family to help send children to college, or to fully pay for a home would have been a building block for the future for African American families. At this point the systematic roadblocks that have prevented African American families from achieving positive events for 200 plus years can't be overcome through just a one time reparations payment.
In some ways the affirmative action policies of the 1970s and beyond were a form of reparations. In the 1970s Opportunities were made available and doors opened to African Americans which had been bolted shut before. Those opportunities included admissions to colleges where African Americans had been barred from entering. Selection of African Americans for jobs and special job programs also provided opportunities for breaking down barriers and walls that had prevented African American children from achieving elements of prosperity in America.
Simply handing a family a reparations check along with an apology no longer is an answer. Opportunity is what African Americans still need. When those opportunities are presented it is then up to that person to fully take advantage of a door being opened.
I would rather live in a society where opportunities are continually given a person regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or physical limitations. Opportunities today can help to overcome the crimes of the past committed in this country against minorities, Native Americans and whomever else those people feared and hated, just because they could.
Reparations. No thank you.
I read an opinion article the other day that supported reparations being given African American families. The idea may have been a good one a hundred years ago, but now it's too late. A hundred years ago a reparations payment to an African American family to help send children to college, or to fully pay for a home would have been a building block for the future for African American families. At this point the systematic roadblocks that have prevented African American families from achieving positive events for 200 plus years can't be overcome through just a one time reparations payment.
In some ways the affirmative action policies of the 1970s and beyond were a form of reparations. In the 1970s Opportunities were made available and doors opened to African Americans which had been bolted shut before. Those opportunities included admissions to colleges where African Americans had been barred from entering. Selection of African Americans for jobs and special job programs also provided opportunities for breaking down barriers and walls that had prevented African American children from achieving elements of prosperity in America.
Simply handing a family a reparations check along with an apology no longer is an answer. Opportunity is what African Americans still need. When those opportunities are presented it is then up to that person to fully take advantage of a door being opened.
I would rather live in a society where opportunities are continually given a person regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or physical limitations. Opportunities today can help to overcome the crimes of the past committed in this country against minorities, Native Americans and whomever else those people feared and hated, just because they could.
Reparations. No thank you.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
The Trade Offs in Life
A writer writes!
Nothing is free in life. That is a saying you have likely heard in your life's journey. One other saying I often heard while growing up is "you have to work hard to get ahead." From my life experiences I can attest to both sayings.
My being able to retire at age 55 was not a given as I grew up. Studying hard in elementary and high school were the precursors to my being able to attend college. The hours of time I spent working on school assignments instead of goofing off paid dividends when I entered college and into my adult years. In college I was blessed in being at a school where recruiters from the federal government came seeking college students for paid internships with government agencies.
Once I began my federal career after college, I spent numerous hours attempting to learn the technical aspects of my job in Human Resources. My goal was to gain enough knowledge so I would be an asset to the organization. My goal was that my knowledge, work ethic, and results on the job would lead to promotions leading to more pay. That is exactly what happened. You do have to work hard to get ahead. Even if you have natural skills in a subject area, you still have to develop, refine, or maintain those skills at a high level.
Coasting through life will result in your living a life style that will be far from satisfying. Giving maximum effort will result in maximum results. Work Hard to get ahead!
Nothing is free in life. That is a saying you have likely heard in your life's journey. One other saying I often heard while growing up is "you have to work hard to get ahead." From my life experiences I can attest to both sayings.
My being able to retire at age 55 was not a given as I grew up. Studying hard in elementary and high school were the precursors to my being able to attend college. The hours of time I spent working on school assignments instead of goofing off paid dividends when I entered college and into my adult years. In college I was blessed in being at a school where recruiters from the federal government came seeking college students for paid internships with government agencies.
Once I began my federal career after college, I spent numerous hours attempting to learn the technical aspects of my job in Human Resources. My goal was to gain enough knowledge so I would be an asset to the organization. My goal was that my knowledge, work ethic, and results on the job would lead to promotions leading to more pay. That is exactly what happened. You do have to work hard to get ahead. Even if you have natural skills in a subject area, you still have to develop, refine, or maintain those skills at a high level.
Coasting through life will result in your living a life style that will be far from satisfying. Giving maximum effort will result in maximum results. Work Hard to get ahead!
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Customer Service - Now a Foreign Term in the United States?
A writer writes!
I encountered another customer service failure in the past week. This time the property management company servicing our community was the culprit. I asked a specific question and the company representative, from Kirkpatrick Management, gave me a response saying that the service I requested would be handled by a contractor. the Kirkpatrick management representative didn't make an effort to find out from the contractor when the service would be provided.
I waited a few days and then sent a follow-up email to the neighborhood board that oversees the provision of services by Kirkpatrick. So, with a chance to redeem himself, the representative came back with another response after our neighborhood board asked for more specifics. The response this time identified a potential week when the services might be performed. The property representative made no attempt to have the contractor provide a specific date.
And we wonder why foreign cars became the first choice of Americans? Now is the time for all companies to pause and reassess whether their workers are providing the type of quality services desired by the customer. Patrons need to boycott those companies that do not provide quality customer services. Companies need to learn through economic losses that they just can't treat customers with disdain.
One of the more graphic current customer service failures is the scandal revolving around the Veterans Administration. Allegedly lack of quality services may have lead to the deaths of numerous veterans. When someone's life is at stake the services provided should be the best possible. It is totally unacceptable for services to veterans being anything less than first rate.
Now is the time for a new customer service standard to be adopted by both private sector and governmental agencies. It must be a standard that does not accept customer service failure. It must be a standard that only promises the best effort in all steps of a process. Finally, companies need to reassess whether current employees in customer service positions should remain in those positions. New hiring of employees in customer service positions needs to be more stringent to ensure those qualities and personality characteristics needed to excel in a customer service position exists before the person is hired.
How many more failures will American companies and governmental agencies accept before making changes? We as customers need to say, you've reached your limit of failures. Change or lose our business. Or in the case of governmental agencies, we demand changes now.
I encountered another customer service failure in the past week. This time the property management company servicing our community was the culprit. I asked a specific question and the company representative, from Kirkpatrick Management, gave me a response saying that the service I requested would be handled by a contractor. the Kirkpatrick management representative didn't make an effort to find out from the contractor when the service would be provided.
I waited a few days and then sent a follow-up email to the neighborhood board that oversees the provision of services by Kirkpatrick. So, with a chance to redeem himself, the representative came back with another response after our neighborhood board asked for more specifics. The response this time identified a potential week when the services might be performed. The property representative made no attempt to have the contractor provide a specific date.
And we wonder why foreign cars became the first choice of Americans? Now is the time for all companies to pause and reassess whether their workers are providing the type of quality services desired by the customer. Patrons need to boycott those companies that do not provide quality customer services. Companies need to learn through economic losses that they just can't treat customers with disdain.
One of the more graphic current customer service failures is the scandal revolving around the Veterans Administration. Allegedly lack of quality services may have lead to the deaths of numerous veterans. When someone's life is at stake the services provided should be the best possible. It is totally unacceptable for services to veterans being anything less than first rate.
Now is the time for a new customer service standard to be adopted by both private sector and governmental agencies. It must be a standard that does not accept customer service failure. It must be a standard that only promises the best effort in all steps of a process. Finally, companies need to reassess whether current employees in customer service positions should remain in those positions. New hiring of employees in customer service positions needs to be more stringent to ensure those qualities and personality characteristics needed to excel in a customer service position exists before the person is hired.
How many more failures will American companies and governmental agencies accept before making changes? We as customers need to say, you've reached your limit of failures. Change or lose our business. Or in the case of governmental agencies, we demand changes now.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
It's All About Presentation - TV Coverage of "White Crime" versus "Black Crime"
A writer writes!
A Caucasian teenager was stabbed to death the other day in the upscale community of Fishers, Indiana. Fishers is a predominantly white community with upper income residents being the norm. The upscale large homes mirrors the wealth of most residents.
The TV news coverage of the Fishers murder seemed softer than the coverage of murders that happen in the African American community. The TV coverage of this white on white crime featured daytime news coverage versus the murky nighttime coverage afforded crimes in black neighborhoods. TV coverage in black neighborhoods in Indianapolis features real time night time coverage of police cars with their flashing lights, shadowy silhouetted figures and people crying. The TV coverage of the Fishers murder featured next day daytime coverage of articulate white teenagers, not crying, but being thoughtful and saying that the person who stabbed the other teen "didn't intend to kill the other person." The Fishers TV coverage even had one "nice" photo of parents side-by-side with their grieving teenager.
Murder is murder. So, why should the coverage of the incident be different? Is there such a thing as a nice murder versus a bad murder? Does it matter that the murder happened via a knife versus a gun? A person who uses a knife versus a gun is still using a dangerous instrument. Is an emotional reaction leading to murder using a knife versus a gun a more acceptable murder? I hope not.
I'm interested in seeing what punishment will be afforded the teenager who killed the other teen in the nice community of Fishers. Somehow I sense he will get less than 10 years in jail for the crime. I can hear the attorney's plea that this young man from a "good family environment" has a life that can be salvaged and that one mistake should not be forever held against him.
The contrast in how violence is covered in black communities versus white communities still stands out in my mind. Do news producers want to portray murder in a white community as being a mistake or an aberration ? Do news produces want to show a murder in a black community as being typical of our environments?
A Caucasian teenager was stabbed to death the other day in the upscale community of Fishers, Indiana. Fishers is a predominantly white community with upper income residents being the norm. The upscale large homes mirrors the wealth of most residents.
The TV news coverage of the Fishers murder seemed softer than the coverage of murders that happen in the African American community. The TV coverage of this white on white crime featured daytime news coverage versus the murky nighttime coverage afforded crimes in black neighborhoods. TV coverage in black neighborhoods in Indianapolis features real time night time coverage of police cars with their flashing lights, shadowy silhouetted figures and people crying. The TV coverage of the Fishers murder featured next day daytime coverage of articulate white teenagers, not crying, but being thoughtful and saying that the person who stabbed the other teen "didn't intend to kill the other person." The Fishers TV coverage even had one "nice" photo of parents side-by-side with their grieving teenager.
Murder is murder. So, why should the coverage of the incident be different? Is there such a thing as a nice murder versus a bad murder? Does it matter that the murder happened via a knife versus a gun? A person who uses a knife versus a gun is still using a dangerous instrument. Is an emotional reaction leading to murder using a knife versus a gun a more acceptable murder? I hope not.
I'm interested in seeing what punishment will be afforded the teenager who killed the other teen in the nice community of Fishers. Somehow I sense he will get less than 10 years in jail for the crime. I can hear the attorney's plea that this young man from a "good family environment" has a life that can be salvaged and that one mistake should not be forever held against him.
The contrast in how violence is covered in black communities versus white communities still stands out in my mind. Do news producers want to portray murder in a white community as being a mistake or an aberration ? Do news produces want to show a murder in a black community as being typical of our environments?
Monday, June 23, 2014
Pursuing the Writing Career - Screenplay Representationin
A writer writes!
Having written several scripts in the past year, I am now into the phase of attempting to get those finished products out to agents and anyone with connections in the film industry. This is a difficult step when you are starting from having no contacts and do not live in the geographic area of agents and the film industry.
I have begun by trying to find agents who will accept query letters. The query letter is where you briefly introduce the material(s) you are seeking representation for. In my case, it is the last 3 scripts I have written. A comedy, "Introvert/Extrovert"; a drama, "Cousin J"; and an animated cartoon "That Special Holiday".
All three of the efforts feature African American characters. I understand that the public will not see movies featuring African Americans, unless African Americans write them. Most of my experiences are based on being an African American male. So that is the foundation I write from.
In the past I have obtained the services of an agent who has long retired. That was in the late 1990's. So, I know I have some talent to write if an agent liked my materials back then. I believe my life experiences has improved my writing. The best thing about writing is you either have the talent to write or you don't. I don't judge my success as a writer based on my selling materials. I first base my skills on whether I like what I have written. Have I conveyed the story I wanted to tell? Do I get emotion from the story? When I watch movies a movie that makes me feel emotion is the litmus test. The emotion I should not feel is the disgust in seeing that the movie is terrible either in it's concept or acting.
I don't expect instantaneous success in my efforts to find an agent. Whether I find one or not, I will continue to write the stories that I want to tell. Having the time, freedom, and resources to write is already a gift for me.
Having written several scripts in the past year, I am now into the phase of attempting to get those finished products out to agents and anyone with connections in the film industry. This is a difficult step when you are starting from having no contacts and do not live in the geographic area of agents and the film industry.
I have begun by trying to find agents who will accept query letters. The query letter is where you briefly introduce the material(s) you are seeking representation for. In my case, it is the last 3 scripts I have written. A comedy, "Introvert/Extrovert"; a drama, "Cousin J"; and an animated cartoon "That Special Holiday".
All three of the efforts feature African American characters. I understand that the public will not see movies featuring African Americans, unless African Americans write them. Most of my experiences are based on being an African American male. So that is the foundation I write from.
In the past I have obtained the services of an agent who has long retired. That was in the late 1990's. So, I know I have some talent to write if an agent liked my materials back then. I believe my life experiences has improved my writing. The best thing about writing is you either have the talent to write or you don't. I don't judge my success as a writer based on my selling materials. I first base my skills on whether I like what I have written. Have I conveyed the story I wanted to tell? Do I get emotion from the story? When I watch movies a movie that makes me feel emotion is the litmus test. The emotion I should not feel is the disgust in seeing that the movie is terrible either in it's concept or acting.
I don't expect instantaneous success in my efforts to find an agent. Whether I find one or not, I will continue to write the stories that I want to tell. Having the time, freedom, and resources to write is already a gift for me.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Comcast Ineffective Customer Service
A writer writes!
Friday evening I spent approximately one hour on the Comcast customer service chat line getting service for what should have taken 5 minutes. I was basically attempting to upgrade my service. It took four customer service representatives to address my question and to finally process the transaction to upgrade my cable TV service.
I copied the content of my chat with the representatives into a Word document. The total number of pages came to 4 pages of dialog covering the one hour of "chat". By the names of the customer representatives, it appears the customer services have been contracted out to workers outside the United States. That is okay, if the services were excellent. But, it became apparent that each representative was following a script and had been trained foremost to sale extra services to customers. I had to repeatedly get very direct with each representative to keep them focused on what I, the customer wanted, rather than what Comcast wanted me to purchase.
After an initial phone call to a live human being from another country I terminated the conversation when the person kept trying to push new products onto me. Then began my 1 hour odyssey into Comcast chat land. It was a very unfriendly customer service experience.
American companies seem more focused on mergers rather than ensuring the best customer service is provided. Cable TV companies have notoriously been known for bad service. My experience is my vote to confirm the truthfulness of that statement.
One thing I did do is be persistent in getting what I wanted done. I also stayed professional and courteous in my chat comments and questions. Unfortunately it took over an hour to get the customer service rep to do what I wanted done. I have had several poor customer service connections in the past month. For some reason people do not fully understand the importance of good customer service. It costs one company my account which they had until they merged with a new company. Maybe once these companies suffer economically from a loss of customers they will then understand the importance of giving the customer what the customer wants.
Friday evening I spent approximately one hour on the Comcast customer service chat line getting service for what should have taken 5 minutes. I was basically attempting to upgrade my service. It took four customer service representatives to address my question and to finally process the transaction to upgrade my cable TV service.
I copied the content of my chat with the representatives into a Word document. The total number of pages came to 4 pages of dialog covering the one hour of "chat". By the names of the customer representatives, it appears the customer services have been contracted out to workers outside the United States. That is okay, if the services were excellent. But, it became apparent that each representative was following a script and had been trained foremost to sale extra services to customers. I had to repeatedly get very direct with each representative to keep them focused on what I, the customer wanted, rather than what Comcast wanted me to purchase.
After an initial phone call to a live human being from another country I terminated the conversation when the person kept trying to push new products onto me. Then began my 1 hour odyssey into Comcast chat land. It was a very unfriendly customer service experience.
American companies seem more focused on mergers rather than ensuring the best customer service is provided. Cable TV companies have notoriously been known for bad service. My experience is my vote to confirm the truthfulness of that statement.
One thing I did do is be persistent in getting what I wanted done. I also stayed professional and courteous in my chat comments and questions. Unfortunately it took over an hour to get the customer service rep to do what I wanted done. I have had several poor customer service connections in the past month. For some reason people do not fully understand the importance of good customer service. It costs one company my account which they had until they merged with a new company. Maybe once these companies suffer economically from a loss of customers they will then understand the importance of giving the customer what the customer wants.
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