Black Friday was "Whack Friday."

That shopping buzz of my past Black Friday experiences was not in the air at the Palisades mall. We tried to catch the full complement by going to the place that has most of the stores we want to go to. Plus it has a Circuit City that is going out of business. The stores were not having any really unbelievable deals like I have experienced in the past and Circuit City, in particular, was a bust. Best Buy, who is not going out of business actually did have some cool sales. Not enough to make me buy a flat screen tv or the surround sound set I was hoping to find. Even Macy's was a disappoinment, at least in the plus size section. Lord & Taylor did work out well with the 70% off steal deals I was looking for and I was feeling the shoppers high there. Then we checked out "Twilight" and did a little Cheesecake Factory.

After a long day at the mall, I learned that Jdimytai Damour, a Walmart employee, was trampled and killed by shoppers for $798 flat screen televisions and more. I was stunned when my friend texted me. I was looking for a flat screen television, but perhaps the people were seduced by their own hype while waiting for the store to open? I just cannot believe that something so senseless could happen. They actually broke down the doors at 5am. WTF? The same television was available on the Walmart website and was not sold out when I checked that night and its still not (as of this posting).

I wonder how do those people feel now. Was it really worth killing someone? Can Walmart put a positive spin on this? I know I went to thier site to find out what kind of sale did Jdimytai Damour die for, but I certainly did not buy the television. Just seriously turned off by it all.

Shopping For the Holidays?

The NY Times has an article on about Mothers Doing Without so their children can have during the holidays. This isn't something new to those who don't have it like they do, but I am curious to see what their Christmas will look like. What will they be doing without to sacrifice for their children. Christmas has become so commercial, it will be a beautiful thing to see people really rejoice in the spirit of hope and love. Christ being born is suppose to be a celebration of hope because the savior is born. There is a celebration of hope in the spirit of change.

Hope

You can visit the presidential transition site to see all the positions that need to be filled to complete the team Barack Obama is pulling together and more. Today Timothy Geithner was nominated to be Secretary of the Treasury. This along with the Citigroup bailout has somehow has restored some faith in Wall Street and the DOW has had its "biggest two day percentage gain since October 1987"

(Side bar: Did you know that Chase Bank has been around longer than the United States has been in existance. They have rediculous fees, but I guess that is where the money is because they are the ones helping out or taking over many of the losses happening right now.)

Today marks a taste of our future, we are unstoppable. We are Generation O. My future is bright and there is hope in site.

Forbes Goes In on Paulson

Steve Forbes says Henry Paulson is the worst treasury secretary we've had in modern times" My professor said that "something wasn't right with that man"  January 20th can't come fast enough. Hopefully the more people with influential power that speak out will lead to some sort of something to happen.  You just don't mess with other people's money.  Period.  No, change to the system won't happen on January 20, but like Alstate, we'll be "in good hands." 

Feeling Confident About My Future

Although these are really scary times financially, I feel so confident about my future. I just know I will be okay, because our president elect is trying to secure and change our future. He is not doing it alone, it is a team effort and that team includes me & you. Its exciting to participate, even in the smallest way to lay the ground work for all of us.

Identify a Conflict

Conflict:
One of the longest employed staff members was constantly late or not able to work the shift assigned. Although her personal issue was clear to me, it was not clear to her coworkers and they started to believe there was favoritism for this employee.

Competitive conflict:
We had a staff meeting to go over the rules.

Conflict Trigger:
Status differentials, unrealized expectation, & communication breakdown

Resolution:
The conflict was resolved with a staff meeting. This allowed me to explain all at once what changes were happening and why. It also allowed me to hear the staffs’ issues and perspective on what was going on. The meeting helped to boost their moral by showing them that their opinion matters as well. It allowed for unification and teamwork to shine through.

Airborne Owner Takes Her Company Back

On November 8th I wrote about miscommunication and the millions of dollars in loss miscommunication caused Airborne. Well now Victoria Knight-McDowell has taken her company back, simply because she did not like the way it was being managed and she is sending a very clear message to those who believe in Airborne. No miscommunication here. I love it. Check it out: http://www.airbornehealth.com