1) LeBron.
Dude, you need figure out who you are and stop blaming everyone else. Seriously. I hope you use tonight as a wake up call and realize what you had and what you lost - fans who would do anything, to fans who need a "Fan Up" campaign to come on time and not leave before the end of the 3rd quarter. Take some control of your life. You are the most talented player on the planet. Act like it. Before Durant steals everything from you. I know I've said this before, but Durant is going to be the best player in the universe in less than two years. He might even be now if he can stay healthy.
2) HR
I'm trying not to be too angry or hostile, but the role as a "human resources professional" is a mystery to me. I've tried to write this before and it always ended in me getting angry. In my seemingly never-ending job hunt, I've had so many strange and bizarre HR experiences that leave me scratching my head. From HR not responding to my e-mails to several HR staffing changes every time I apply, it doesn't make any sense.
The thing that bothers me the most - I have not once been told about not receiving a position without first having to ask. By that I mean, I would e-mail the HR rep and ask for an update on the job search process (usually a few days after I was told I would hear back regarding a decision,) and then would receive something along the lines of "we went with someone with a tiny bit more experience" and that of course is IF I get a response at all.
Why do I have to be the one who starts the conversation? Shouldn't it be their job to follow up and ensure that the applicant is informed of the decision - good or bad - like they said they would? It doesn't make the company look good for me to want to apply again if the HR representative can't take less than 5 minutes to send an e-mail. I understand nobody likes to send the bad news along, but I'm sitting, waiting, hoping that I've been selected, and then don't hear anything. As my first full-time job, this is something that will change my life and is really important to me. It isn't just another job. It's disheartening and honestly disrespectful to not even warrant a response after I ask. Play both ways. Don't just pay attention to me when I'm an applicant and then ignore me when I'm not selected. I promise I don't send angry e-mails - I just like to know the result instead of having to guess for myself. I really don't think that it's too much to ask, but maybe I'm showing my naivete towards how business is run. Which leads to:
3) I guess I'll call it "political correctness" in social situations.
I'm using this as my template for this idea: The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is known for being a popular night for high school friends to get back together because they are all home. Some may always be home, but a lot more actually come home from their jobs far away etc. There's always the local bar everyone goes to or the high school alumni event somewhere.
Whatever, I went to a bar on that Wednesday that was beyond packed with people, and while it's nice to see some kids from high school, there's that awkwardness when you see someone you were never really friends with trying to play catch-up like you were best friends in your adolescence. And you have to act like you care. (This is very Larry David of me.) The chances of seeing this person again are limited to one time: this same bar next year.
Then comes my favorite line: "We should hang out sometime man."
I'm not against making new friends, or being friends again with people who fell off over time for whatever reason, but some people just don't have a CLUE. And because nobody can say "no" you say yes and hope it was either an empty promise with no intentional follow through or will just kind of be forgotten, like your friendship once was. I think making new friends out of the academic life can be hard, but you can tell when you'll be friends with somebody and when you can't, and it's usually the people you can't be friends with that say it. It's absurd.
Of course the opposite of that when you're the idiot saying that with someone you really wanted to hang out with (probably like a girl, because it gets a little weird if you really want to hang out with a dude) and they say the obligatory yes and then you're either too dumb or nervous to follow through or tell if she's serious or not and you just look like a jackass. I'm not really speaking from personal situations, but more of people I know who do stupid things like this. Because we all know I do what I want.
My point is: we do things in those awkward social situations that are kind of jerk off statements. I guess I just don't want to do them anymore. Let's not kid ourselves and waste time. There's a difference between being PC and being real. Let's be real. There's nothing wrong with seeing an real old friend or acquaintance, just don't get it twisted. There's a reason it didn't work the first time. It could happen, but let's not jump the gun so quickly.
(I keep editing this part because more ideas come to mind that I have to write about)
Or what about that holiday mass text message? I probably got 20 "Happy Thanksgiving!" texts over the holiday. Only two of those people I had heard from since graduation. One of them I've actually talked to a decent amount since then. The other I talk to pretty much every day. They are both my friends - we'd definitely talk more/be friends if we were in the same city, so it's nice hearing from them - because we actually keep in touch/are friends.
The other people - what the hell? I don't hear from them in couple months or more, and then to get that mass text? It feels so insensitive. Does anyone really wish someone a bad holiday? Isn't it a given? What joy do you get out of saying that - in the most informal of circumstances - to people you don't speak to otherwise? The mass text is the worst - because it cheapens the whole experience. Saying the same thing once to 100 other people in two seconds. And then - similar to my friends in HR - you'll respond with an obligitory "you too/how have you been" and get nothing back. Why do you send a text if you have no intention of having a (albeit brutal) conversation with the person? Is this really how we operate in 2010? Yikes. It scares me for when I have to join a dating site in 20 years, where will we be then? I'm also really looking forward to the Merry Christmas text. I actually really love the holidays - just not this mass text absurdity. Technology is the death of us.
I think I'm too much of a "tell it like it is" person - I don't like to lie and act one way and do another. I'd rather tell people how I feel and what's on my mind, because again, why beat around the bush? Sure, there is sometimes where you just BS to get through something totally random, but if it's something that affects you, what's the point?
It's gotten me in trouble sometimes, and I've lost or almost lost some close friends of mine, and I feel absolutely terrible about that (seriously, I think about some instances everyday), but it's hard for me to just BS all the time and act like everything is okay when it's not. Sometimes I am wrong, and I can't really see it until another point in time, but I truly believed it at the time. I put my foot in my mouth because I say what I feel at that moment in time, kind of like a Kanye/Larry David type thing, without the national platform. I think it's important for me to acknowledge I was wrong, because I really don't believe everything I say/do is right. It just makes sense to me at the time. Time changes all.
I've started to get better and "go with the flow" and keep my mouth shut, but I really don't like it. And then I get in trouble for expressing my opinion elsewhere to other people and it comes back to them. Call it talking behind people's back. Everyone get's pissed at it but does it themselves. They talk about what's on their mind - and sometimes it's other people. Get over it.
People don't want you to start a confrontation, but they also don't want you to voice an opinion. Seems contradictory, because sometimes voicing your opinion upsets people. If something bothers you or you don't agree or have your own opinion, I believe you should say it instead of just saying "uh-huh" and moving along. Again, that ideal has gotten me into trouble, I've been wrong, and caused problems, but that's just kind of how I think. Maybe that's why I'm unemployed? (Jokes. But not really.)
4) Grammy Nominations.
Is it me or is there absolutely nothing exciting about this year's nominations? Eminem will deserve everything he gets because Recovery was an amazing album, but who else is really there to compete? Gaga? Bieber? Just seems like a pretty weak year.
5) The "celebrities turn off twitter to raise money for AIDS" campaign.
This isn't meant to be insensitive at anyone with friends/relatives/anyone affected by this terrible epidemic. It really isn't. Instead, I'm criticizing some celebrities in their attempt to raise money for the AIDS campaign. I know I'm (trying to be) in PR and it's most likely my colleagues who came up with this idea, but it's really dumb.
For those who don't know: A few celebrities, namely Kim/Khloe Kardashian (why are they a celebrity?), Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Ryan Seacrest, among others are acting as though they are "dead" - they sacrifice their "digital" lives until they raise $1 million for AIDS research. Is this really a sacrifice? I think I might be among some of the people who are really happy that Kim Kardashian is out of the world for a minute - her tweets are usually self-promotion and advertisements. Seacrest talks to much about nothing important anyway. I'm saying this tongue-in-cheek, but you know what I mean.
Is this really a sacrifice???????? A REAL sacrifice? Ryan Seacrest just signed a $60 million contract - why doesn't he donate some of that over to this cause? Lead by example, not by "sacrificing" your "digital" self. That's just stupid. Nobody really wants to hear what Khole Kardashian has to say, and if you do, shame on you. Aim higher.
The campaign photos are absurd. Some of them agreed to be pictured in a coffin with the headline "(name) IS DEAD" Here's the link to the Kim Kardashian one. Again, it's an extreme to send a message. I understand the idea, but it's too much. The whole idea is ridiculous. If all of these celebrities combined their profit from just one year I'm sure would be more helpful than their digital loss. Plus, getting back to the digital sacrifice, isn't that like a blessing? Wouldn't it be nice to just cut yourself off for a few days from the never ending influx of the outside world? I personally enjoy it when I'm out of the country, and nobody talks to me ever, so it must be even better for celebrities who are constantly garnering attention.
I do hope that one day we solve all of these terrible diseases in our world, because too much tragedy has occurred from them that shouldn't. It's going to be a great world when we do truly beat these things, and we can't do it by ourselves. There shouldn't be a need to motivate this cause, and these celebrities having a "digital death" doesn't really cut it for me. Celebrities have a very tight rope to navigate between being genuine or doing something "because it looks good," and this just feels like an opportunity for Kim Kardashian to have another photo shoot.
People don't want you to start a confrontation, but they also don't want you to voice an opinion. Seems contradictory, because sometimes voicing your opinion upsets people. If something bothers you or you don't agree or have your own opinion, I believe you should say it instead of just saying "uh-huh" and moving along. Again, that ideal has gotten me into trouble, I've been wrong, and caused problems, but that's just kind of how I think. Maybe that's why I'm unemployed? (Jokes. But not really.)
4) Grammy Nominations.
Is it me or is there absolutely nothing exciting about this year's nominations? Eminem will deserve everything he gets because Recovery was an amazing album, but who else is really there to compete? Gaga? Bieber? Just seems like a pretty weak year.
5) The "celebrities turn off twitter to raise money for AIDS" campaign.
This isn't meant to be insensitive at anyone with friends/relatives/anyone affected by this terrible epidemic. It really isn't. Instead, I'm criticizing some celebrities in their attempt to raise money for the AIDS campaign. I know I'm (trying to be) in PR and it's most likely my colleagues who came up with this idea, but it's really dumb.
For those who don't know: A few celebrities, namely Kim/Khloe Kardashian (why are they a celebrity?), Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Ryan Seacrest, among others are acting as though they are "dead" - they sacrifice their "digital" lives until they raise $1 million for AIDS research. Is this really a sacrifice? I think I might be among some of the people who are really happy that Kim Kardashian is out of the world for a minute - her tweets are usually self-promotion and advertisements. Seacrest talks to much about nothing important anyway. I'm saying this tongue-in-cheek, but you know what I mean.
Is this really a sacrifice???????? A REAL sacrifice? Ryan Seacrest just signed a $60 million contract - why doesn't he donate some of that over to this cause? Lead by example, not by "sacrificing" your "digital" self. That's just stupid. Nobody really wants to hear what Khole Kardashian has to say, and if you do, shame on you. Aim higher.
The campaign photos are absurd. Some of them agreed to be pictured in a coffin with the headline "(name) IS DEAD" Here's the link to the Kim Kardashian one. Again, it's an extreme to send a message. I understand the idea, but it's too much. The whole idea is ridiculous. If all of these celebrities combined their profit from just one year I'm sure would be more helpful than their digital loss. Plus, getting back to the digital sacrifice, isn't that like a blessing? Wouldn't it be nice to just cut yourself off for a few days from the never ending influx of the outside world? I personally enjoy it when I'm out of the country, and nobody talks to me ever, so it must be even better for celebrities who are constantly garnering attention.
I do hope that one day we solve all of these terrible diseases in our world, because too much tragedy has occurred from them that shouldn't. It's going to be a great world when we do truly beat these things, and we can't do it by ourselves. There shouldn't be a need to motivate this cause, and these celebrities having a "digital death" doesn't really cut it for me. Celebrities have a very tight rope to navigate between being genuine or doing something "because it looks good," and this just feels like an opportunity for Kim Kardashian to have another photo shoot.
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