A Few Things to ponder:

Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.

If Wal-Mart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing is free
yet?

You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the
world to one person. 

Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty,
some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different
colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box.

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than
standing in a garage makes you a car

I need a chocolate intervention.

Pretending I’m a pleasant person all day is exhausting.

If you love somebody enough, you can still hear the laughter after they’re gone.

Things just haven’t been the same since that house fell on my sister.

The voices in my head told me to buy more shoes.

Tough Times Never Last.  Tough People Do.

You never win a pissing match with a skunk.

Have an awesome day, and know that someone who thinks you're great
has thought about you today!



More stuff from friends on the internet.  Enjoy. 

Neighborly Kindnesses

Recently, Tall Guy and Three Speed have spent a lot of time “dog sitting” for our neighbors.  This couple moved in several years ago, and became our best neighborhood friends.  I hope everyone has a neighbor or friend like this.  I have had several over the years.  They are the kind of folks you can call any time you need help with something.  They’ll be there.  They’ll call if they need something, too.

For example:  We have worked out a sharing arrangement with the riding mower.  It belongs to the neighbor.  He lets us use it.  My kids mow both lawns.  We buy gas (most of the time).  I feed and water the human kids.  They keep the canine kids out of the way when the mower is running.

The husband helped chop up our tree that fell over in a bad storm a couple of years ago.  He kept some of the wood for his woodworking.  We boxed up a bunch of it and took it to a little old lady (she’s in her 80’s) down the street who heats mostly with wood.  It saves her fuel bills, and is community service for the kids. 

I can remember babysitting for neighbors over the years.  We would house sit, water plants, walk dogs, mow lawns, take in mail and newspapers, and many other little things that needed to be done.  If someone was sick or in the hospital, dinners would magically appear.  The same thing happened after births or deaths.  The neighborhood took over the kitchen so Mom didn’t have to do the dishes, either.  

It’s the little kindnesses like these that are missing these days.  We seem to have disconnected from each other gradually.  The “Me Generation” puts themselves first.  They don’t think about the effect of what they do on others. 

How hard is it to open a door for someone who is coming in behind you?  Especially if this person is elderly, has difficulty walking, is dealing with small children or carrying lots of things?  Does it really take any longer to say “Please”, “Thank You”, or “You’re Welcome”?  Does it hurt to say “Sir” or “Ma’am”?

I know these are “old fashioned”.  But I sure get lots of smiles from them every day.  Respect others and see what you get back.  It doesn’t always work, but it just might make some other people’s days more pleasant.  Who knows what might happen if we all did it?  :-)

What We Can Learn From Restaurant Service

And How I Figure My Tips Based on Service

Tall Guy and Mr. Impatient went out to lunch yesterday.  They went by themselves.  Afterwards, Tall Guy and I discussed it.  He had some interesting insights on the service he received today.  He calculates his tip the way I do – based on how good the service is.  Here’s why.

Tips are “gratuities”.  Most servers earn most of their salaries based on their tips.  The understanding is that the tip is at least partially based on service.  I know that restaurant servers are paid very little by the management.   I have also known women who make a living working in restaurants.  Remember, I’m a gynecologist.  They all know that their tips depend on their service.

So, most servers know that they need to be polite.  There are subtle tricks to increase the total on the bill.  (“Do you want fries with that?”  “And to drink?” 
“Do you want desert?”)   I don’t mind.  Sometimes those suggestions are helpful.  They are more familiar with the menu and the kitchen, so they can tell me what substitutions are and are not allowed. 

When the children were smaller, it was great if they would locate us out of the main traffic area.  We also needed booster seats or high chairs.  Solving problems like these makes patrons much more grateful.  I always made our tip bigger.

We often have “special orders”.  Mr. Impatient doesn’t like pickles, parsley, lettuce or any other “stuff” on his plate.  I make sure to be very plain about this when we order.  Paying attention is important.  If the plate comes out wrong, the tip will be much smaller.  I don’t want to deal with drama when I’m paying for my meal. 

There’s an art to knowing how often to check back on the customer.  In food service, seeing if the coffee or drinks need refilling is the usual excuse.  Following through is what I would call this at my office.  Having the check ready is part of this, too.  I hate having to wait to pay my bill. 

Mr. Impatient took me out to lunch today after he had some blood work.  Our waitress was wonderful.  She brought us menus and our drinks right away, suggested a way to switch the omelet without charge so that it was the way I wanted it, checked back just enough times to fill our drinks, and was ready with the check when we were ready to go….  It was quite busy, but she kept track of how we were doing.  She even gave us “go cups” of our drinks.  Her tip was well over 20%.  Of course, Mom figures out the tips.  Mr. Impatient hasn’t quite figured out this process yet. 

This is the article that inspired this post:

http://etereman.com/remanu/when_things_dont_go_as_planned/

Another time I will explain how I can and do apply this to my medical practice. 

Random Acts of Kindness

The holiday season is the time of year when we hear about people doing kind things.  Caring acts happen all year long, and are rarely recognized.  As a Mom trying to raise children, I am trying to teach them to be kind to others “just because”.  Some of the conversations we have about this can be funny.

We have an elderly woman in our neighborhood that uses wood for her heat as much as she can to save on her electric bill.  When we have a big storm, there are lots of branches that come down from the trees into our yard.  The children and I gather them up into boxes and take them to her.  It’s a lot of work.  At first they wanted to know who was going to pay us for this.  I explained that we were doing a “good deed”.  Since we didn’t live near our Grandma and Grandpa, we were doing it for someone else’s Grandma.  It took a long time for that one to sink in. 

My Mother had a neighbor who is an author.  When she and her husband were moving to assisted living, she had a lot of books that she couldn’t keep.  The local school wasn’t interested.  Our middle school had recently opened and had few books in its library.  I offered to come get the books and bring them back (two hour drive each way).  She had hundreds of books to donate.  My children carried them up and down the steps in her house and we packed my van full! 

We sorted the books on my dining room table.  Some titles had quite a few copies, some had only a few.  I had no idea how many books she had written over the years.  She had everything from children’s books to adult’s books, with the concentration on books for adolescents.  There are several series of books.  One of them had entertained my children during their elementary years.

The librarian was astonished when school started.   They distributed them throughout the school system here.  A few ended up at the local library.  My children got credit towards their community service in boy scouts.  The author got some nice letters from school children. 

What did I get out of all of this?  I got a feeling that I had improved my community and taught my kids how to volunteer.  We kept the rest of the books in the series that we hadn’t finished.  I also got a lovely note from the author about how she appreciated the work I had done.          

Season of Giving

The holiday season has been commercialized so much recently.  Little children always made their “lists”.  They wait for Santa, Saint Nicholas or whoever the gift giver is in their culture.  The day and the tradition may vary, but the idea is the same.

In days of old, when I was young, we also thought about giving to others.  The holiday season should be a season of renewal and support for others.  The birth of the baby who started all of this was supposed to be heaven’s gift to humankind. 

I remember making cards and ornaments in school to give to Mom and Dad.  My Mom still had many of these up until she died.  Kids – Moms and Dads treasure those things you make, because they are made with innocence and love.  The glitter and glue may be clumpy, and the macaroni may be stuck on at funny angles, but that’s what makes them special.

We have a “mitten tree” at our church.  We put scarves and mittens on it for those who don’t have things to keep them warm.  It’s a good time to think of your local food pantry, women’s shelter, children’s shelter, soup kitchen or other location where people who are having trouble with food or clothing go for help. 

It’s also important to remember this feeling throughout the year.  The need doesn’t stop because the holidays are over.  It just seems to be a little less visible.  Keep up with those “random acts of kindness” throughout the year. 

I’ll try to tell you periodically what I’ve done or seen.  You will probably find those stories under “Random Acts of ‘It’s Not My Job’”.  Here’s one:

http://dr-lasermed.blogspot.com/2011/11/random-acts-of-its-not-my-job.html

Your stories appreciated. 

 

Courtesy

Where has It Gone?

We were driving in the car the other day, when Three Speed made the comment that most people don’t use their turn signal any more.  We watched for a little while, and he was right.  It got me to thinking.  Where has common courtesy gone?

I had an argument on line with some friends about manners.  As a parent, I spend lots of time trying to instill them in my children.  I also try to live what I teach.  I say please and thank you, even at the drive thru.  I hold doors for people and try to teach my kids to do the same thing.  You know all the stuff you hated that your Momma taught you when you were little. 

We seem to have lost courtesy in the world today.  Instead we have “individual rights”.  These include things like the right to protest at a ceremony for special education students because you don’t approve of the governor’s recent policy statements.  Do these people care about the rights of those children?  I don’t think they even thought about it.  They were being selfish about whatever their own agenda was.  I see examples of this in the news all the time.  It’s time to think about how our actions impact others.

What I find really amusing is people’s reaction to when I do something courteous but not expected or necessary.  Something little like letting someone go ahead of me in line in the grocery store.  Or letting someone into a long line of traffic.  I love to see the look on their faces.  I get that same look when someone does the same thing for me. 

I would love to see everyone do at least one “random act of kindness” and see what happens.  It’s funny how it gets a little warm fuzzy inside you going.  Try it.