October 13, 2022
April 20, 2021
Demeaning Candlestick Holders
It figures that an extremely rich person would have candlestick holders like this.
They think it's ok to have your "personal servants" bring you and hold your lights.
Even as they are in spiritual darkness enslaving their fellow human beings.
No, their not helping people by giving them a (shitty) job even as they routinely mistreat them.
Where are people's (screwed up) brains?
The wealthy often actually believe they are entitled to their grossly extravagant lifestyles.
Wait they they come back in the next life and they'll see what they are entitled to! ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Demeaning Candlestick Holders
April 18, 2020
Not That Great!
Don't be so humble; you're not that great!
Nice way to pop someone's oversized bubble of an ego and tell them to put a cork in it.
Or as my dad used to say:
He's not a big shot; he's a big sh*t!
Anyway, she had a sharp mind (like my dad) and was an amazing leader that Golda. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Not That Great!
July 18, 2019
When People Can't Admit They're Wrong
I'm doing my laps minding my own business.
And this guy gets to the pool, sits down, and immediately pulls out his cellphone.
Then he proceeds to literally yell into his phone for probably a good half an hour.
I'm doing my laps and I can hear this guy yelling:
- At his end of the pool
- ALL the way at the opposite end of the pool
- With earplugs
- AND even underwater
And he goes on and on and on.
Doesn't stop for even a breath of air.
Now, in all the years swimming, I've never had to approach someone about their behavior like this.
BUT this was too much as my head was pounding from his incessant yelling.
I waited until he finished his call.
And it happened to coincide with me finishing my laps.
I come out of the pool and grabbed my stuff.
I have to pass him on the way out.
And I'm still debating with myself whether this schlemiel is even worth it.
My head is still throbbing from his yelling.
I stop in front of his chair.
Now he's pulled out a book and is trying to read.
I say:
Excuse me.He knows he did something wrong, and he barely looks up, trying to ignore me.
I say again:
Excuse me. Did you intend for everyone at the pool to hear your ENTIRE conversation?
He starts murmuring something, and then says throwing it back on me:
What's the problem?
So I say:
You were speaking so loud, I could hear you all the way on the opposite end of the pool. I could even hear you under the water.
He's agitating now and he says:
Well, I was speaking to someone 85-years old who doesn't hear well. You get it?
So I say respectfully:
I am sorry that he doesn't hear well, but does everyone else here around the pool also need to hear the conversation?
Then he says:
So what--I don't care if everyone hears.
I try one more time.
Do you see all these other people trying to read, rest, swim--do you at all care?
He still can't get himself to come around, and instead doubles down and says,
Well. I'll do whatever I want!
Now, I've had enough, and I say:
So basically you don't give a shit for ANY of your neighbors, do you?
Finally, he must of been embarrassed enough at his terrible behavior, and he backs down and says:
Next time he calls me, I'll take the conversation inside!
At which point, he goes back to his book, and I complete my exit.
It took all that just to get him to say he'll handle it differently next time and basically be respectful of his neighbors and not a selfish pig!
It's amazing--some people really just can't own up to when they are being a jerk.
But I was glad this guy finally came around--maybe there is still hope. ;-)
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
When People Can't Admit They're Wrong
September 7, 2018
Nimbyism By All
Nimby, which stands for:
Not
In
My
Back
Yard
It refers to people who object to and don't want something unpleasant or dangerous in their neighborhood.
Prisons
Homeless Shelters
Garbage Dumps
Radioactive Waste Sites
Oil and Gas Pipelines
Noisy Railroads
Polluting Factories
Adult Entertainment
etc.
Yes, society as a whole apparently wants or needs these things, but the individuals just want to see it someplace (anyplace) else.
People want the benefits, but don't want the costs and risks associated with these things near them.
The problem is when everyone feels this way then you are left either choosing somewhere despite the nimbyism protests or you have to locate them in remote places that are not always functional, fair or efficient for society.
Perhaps this is where incentives or compensation comes in for people to get in order to "put up" with the placement of things in their backyard that they rather not have there.
Is that what it means that nimbyism aside, "everyone has their price"?
(Source Photo: here with attribution to creative2/usa)
Nimbyism By All
July 9, 2018
Know Before Whom You Are Standing
It says, translated into English:
"Know before who you are standing (i.e. G-d)."
The idea is to remember when you are in the holy place of worship that you are standing and praying before G-d and should conduct yourself appropriately and with respect and reverence.
While certainly there are times when people forget themselves in the synagogue and say or do something not completely appropriate (e.g. socializing, talking, or even telling jokes to their neighbors during the service), usually it is not intended to be disrespectful, but rather to be friendly with their neighbors and community.
However, this past Shabbat I witnessed behavior in the synagogue (name withheld) that was truly a chillul Hashem (desecration of G-d).
Out of respect for the Rabbi (and Rabbabite), I will neither mention their names or go into the details about what happened except to say that it involved the politics surrounding the end of the Rabbi's 3-year term and the inability for him and the board to come to terms on a new agreement (even though one had apparently been signed and reneged on).
This did not belong in the synagogue on the holy Shabbat, period.
Those embracing and kissing the Rabbi in his support and going against the President and the board that is elected to represent the congregation was disgraceful.
Further, while I support the Rabbi saying his farewells, demanding to speak without the permission of the President and the board, and even before the President gave his regular announcements was inexcusable.
And when the fighting between the Rabbi and President brought yelling and fighting to the congregants, this should have been a sign for that behavior to immediately cease.
The desecration of the "peace" of the Shabbat with the politics, money, and contract issues and the ensuing fighting (almost civil war between those supporting the Rabbi and those the President and the board) before the Holy Ark filled with the Torahs was reprehensible.
For the spiritual leadership to behave in such a crude and disrespectful fashion was a mark of utter disgrace in the synagogue before G-d.
I have never seen anything like this before and hope never to have to witness anything so irreverent again.
This was a most traumatic event for the community and I hope we will recover in time and have a complete healing.
Moreover, I pray that G-d forgives the behavior that happened and has mercy on this congregation because things got out of control and I think they forgot before whom they were standing. ;-)
(Source Photo and not of the synagogue under discussion: Andy Blumenthal)
Know Before Whom You Are Standing
July 2, 2018
How Do I Choose?
It was about how we are confronted in life with whether to follow our impulses or our values.
I think there is a lot to this topic...
Some may see it as the little good angel standing over one shoulder and another bad angel standing over the other trying to convince us what to do when it's decision time.
Others may be perpetually torn between temptations or pleasures of materialism and the flesh versus of pursuing what you know to be spiritually good and right in this world.
Either way, as human beings, we are a complex make-up of both body and soul.
Do we give in to temptation and do what feels good--more money, more food, more clothes and jewelry, more houses, cars, and yachts, more vacations, more carnal pleasures from the proverbial "wine, women, and song" or do we pursue the path of spirituality, serving our maker, caring and giving and doing good for others and the world?
It sounds simple, but our impulses tell us one thing and our values tell us another.
Are we being selfish or selfless?
Perhaps, too much of anything is bad for us--even too much giving and selflessness--we need to care for ourselves too--we are mortal, we have needs, we have to nourish ourselves, and we need to live.
But you can't be a glutton or a slave to your impulses--you can't take and not give, your can't indulge until you make yourself sick, or take at the expense of and harm to others.
Like all things in life, there is a need for balance.
Certainly our spirit should guide our animal.
If and when our animal is dictating to our spirit then we are in real trouble. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
How Do I Choose?
February 3, 2018
Good People And Bad
There are really good and holy people out there, but there are also truly bad and evil ones.
It's not such a difficult concept, except if you just don't think that way.
I think some of us just want to believe that at the heart of it all, people are fundamentally good--or at the very least they struggle in order to fight off the evil impulse.
They are created by G-d.
They have parents and families.
They have challenges and disappointments.
They have a good soul.
Or do they?
Perhaps like everything in life--G-d created everything and it's opposite.
- There is life and death.
- There is light and dark.
- There is cold and hot.
- There is land and water.
- There is male and female.
- There is pleasure and pain.
- There is work and rest.
- There is holy and profane.
Everything has it's counterpart.
- In this respect then, there are good people and there are bad.
Not that there aren't people who are both--they do some good things and some bad.
Just like with everything, you can have greys or mixtures--some of this AND some of that.
But still, G-d created everything and its opposite.
- Again, there is heaven and hell.
And yes, there are some people that are perhaps truly good and others that are very bad.
The really good ones--they are holy, they give, they love, they inspire.
The really bad ones--they are vicious devil wolves.
That doesn't mean anyone is completely perfect or imperfect, but as with everything, there are people as there are inanimate objects that function at the extremes.
Most of us don't live in the extreme, yet we do see those that we know are examples of each:
We recognize the best and these are people with a heart of gold and a soul that shines light, love, and gives to others.
Similarly, the worst ones are with a heart that is selfish and greedy and a soul that is dark, hateful. and violent.
We don't like to think of the extremes.
They either are too perfect or too frighteningly evil, but yet they do exist and we know it just as we know life and death, light and dark, cold and hot, land and water, male and female, pleasure and pain, work and rest, holy and profane, and even the destinations of heaven and hell. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Good People And Bad
July 21, 2017
Killer Organizational Sharks
And it's not just in the oceans.
There are plenty in your organizations.
They make for lots of dysfunction and conflict.
The organizational sharks see themselves as the bigger and more important fish in the sea.
They look for weakness in others---they smell blood and when they do, they usually follow it to the kill!
These sharks are the types of people that attack their colleagues when they should be assisting them.
Not only do they lack respect for others, but instead see them as the enemy and eat them as prey, when instead, they need to be chewing up the outside competition.
It's an attitude of us versus them misplaced within the organization, rather than external-facing.
These organizational sharks could be in leadership positions, in which case, their attitudes filter down infecting the rest of their staffs.
Instead of unity, cohesion, and working together to get the mission and job down, the sharks are selfishly worrying about and working to build their own power base.
It's a dysfunctional culture that allows these sharks to exist and swarm in their organizational waters.
Sharks for some reason fail to see that their boats are hitched to everyone else in the organization, and that all the organizational boats rise together or fill with polluted water and sink to the bottom.
As leaders, we need to focus and agree on supporting each other to achieve the success of all.
Even sharks should learn to be nice and play together with all the other fish in the organizational sea. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Killer Organizational Sharks
May 7, 2017
Sharing The Loaf
Some people are literally so amazing--giving and caring of others--if they literally have just a single loaf of bread, they will share that willingly with others.
- Their perspective in grounded in a faith that whatever they have, they see it as a gift from G-d and it is only given to them as an opportunity to do good with it.
Then there are others that no matter how much they seem have--and it could be millions of $$$--yet they still can't stand to see others with even half a mouthful of bread.
- In their narcissistic view, what's theirs is exceedingly and deservingly theirs, and what's yours, they believe should also be theirs!
Yet sometimes we misjudge people out of fear or just not knowing enough about them.
We don't know which category they fall into.
Will they give you the shirt off their back or would they rip the shirt off you blind?
These are some of the challenges we face when confronting others in this scary world of souls being perfected and those that are still all too sullied.
But the righteous will inherit the earth and more importantly, the Heavens...because the truth becomes known and is always absolutely clear to The One Above--and the evil ones, they will wither and die.
(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
Sharing The Loaf
October 24, 2016
Money Makes The World Go Round
It's an unfortunate song.
"The clinking clanking clunking sound."
Then this week, I saw this sign in someone's office.
It was hung under a framed dollar bill, and said:
"VERY IMPORTANT MONEY FIRST"
It doesn't say G-d first, or family, or integrity, or compassion, or anything meaningful and good.
No, instead just money.
What is wrong with people?
Yes, we all need money to live.
Life isn't free.
There are bills to pay and money to be saved for a rainy day.
But, "money first"???
"Very important!"
There is definitely something wrong with some people's values.
They think:
To hell with doing the right thing if you can make lots of money.
To hell with being honest in business if you can make more money.
To hell with earning a decent day's pay for an honest day's work.
No, to some misguided people, it's simply money first.
And money also means power.
More, more, more...at almost any cost that is.
Sell your souls to the devil for a buck fifty.
Is the temporary satisfaction that money can buy you really worth it.
No, money is not first, and never should be.
Money is a means to an end, but never an end in itself.
Money is not the root of all evil, but perhaps underlying greed is.
Take that awful sign down and the dollar bill in the shiny frame at the very top of the wall too! ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Money Makes The World Go Round
August 18, 2016
Reflection, Summer Don't Go
Kids are getting ready to go back to school.
Weather is starting to feel a little cooler.
But got to love the beautiful nature we have this time of year.
When the flowers are in bloom and the days are long.
Appreciate every moment of every day.
It's a gift from the One Above.
Some people have a bucket list of where they want to go or what they want do, extravagantly, before they die.
For others, it's about material possessions: finding the precious gems of "things" out there, and collecting, hoarding, and showing them off.
Really though, it's not the places you visit, the outrageous things you get to do, or the possessions you accumulate, but rather what positive influence you can have--even on a single life or the more the better.
That good lasts a lot longer and has much more wide-ranging impact than the momentary high of simple and selfish--my places, events, and things.
We all need to enjoy life--it's wondrous and beautiful--but perhaps not live for the empty revelry alone.
Smell the roses and enjoy G-d's gifts of life, and then get back out there and do some good stuff, won't you. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Reflection, Summer Don't Go
August 16, 2016
From Fractured to ONE
"And the L-rd will be king over all the Earth. On that day, the L-rd will be one and his name one."
From Fractured to ONE
July 23, 2016
Building An Appropriate Wall
Building An Appropriate Wall
April 7, 2016
It's Not Easy
And when I walked into the Hair Cuttery, there were a number of mentally disabled people waiting there.
3 had already gotten their haircuts, and 1 was still in the barber's chair.
One of the 3 said hello to me and started conversing with me even though he had obvious difficulty getting the words out.
There was an open chair between them, and he even offered me to sit down with them, which I did.
I asked about him and he told me the others we're his roommates.
I asked how he liked his roommates and he gave a big smile, nodded, said how nice they were, and while pointing to them started to introduce them and encouraged them to speak with me as well.
I could see as they interacted and later got up how they shared some challenges, but also how each clearly had their own unique difficulties to deal with--for example, one was stooped and went along with a limp, while another was more reticent and seemed openly annoyed by the others trying to get his attention.
When it was my turn for the haircut, they were heading out and a couple of them waved goodbye to me.
I said goodbye back and was sad seeing how difficult people's lives are.
It strikes me that even for those in the healthiest states, life can be very difficult at times.
So I imagine how much more so for those with physical and developmental disabilities--the things we take for granted can be extremely difficult for others to navigate around, reach, manipulate, read, hear, understand, speak, and do.
Life seems unforgiving at times.
My daughter said to me that while it's natural for people to look out for their own self-interests, really we all need each other to survive and make it.
Our self confidence in our stand-alone capacities is really just an illusion. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
It's Not Easy
May 12, 2015
Yeah, A Pat On The Back
Some people deserve a pat on the back--truly great job, went the extra mile, great collaboration, communication, and results.
Others deserve A PAT ON THE BACK (or a good kick in the behind)--nasty, dirty, selfish, do little, take a lot, backstabbers.
I only know people in the first category. ;-)
(Source Doodle: Linkedin)
Yeah, A Pat On The Back
October 10, 2014
Selfie Heaven
She has an extendable stick with an adjustable ball head that attaches to her smartphone, and a separate remote control for snapping the photos.
Here she is with the camera snapping away.
I looked it up on Amazon and this device is only around $6.
For a completely ego-centric society without friends, why not get this doodad and you too can take selfish selfies all day long. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Selfie Heaven
April 17, 2014
You're Not All That
We get too big for our britches and think we can do whatever we want including stepping on others and defying our maker.
An interesting article in Harvard Business Review reminds us to beware of narcissism and hubris.
Narcissism is a character disorder where because of feelings of inadequancy from childhood, people have to self-promote themselves every which way toSunday--they are "insufferably self-centered."
Hubris is a reactive disorder where due to past success and accolades from others, we become overconfidant, until the luck changes "toppling from their pedestals" and shrinking their ego back down to size."
I like the reminders from HBR cautioning about these:
- "Have more than thou showest; speak less than thou knowest." - Shakespear
- "Humble pie should be the only dessert served."
It's one thing to have decent self-esteem anchored in your knowing right from wrong and acting accordingly, and it's another to think and act like you have all the answers--none of us do.
If your showing it off, it's likely a turn off. ;-)
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Jampa)
You're Not All That
April 1, 2014
Why Do People Take The Cheese Off?
While I understand that it is the best part, isn't just a little bit of antisocial behavior that would drive people do something like this and leave everyone else with just the noodles underneath...
Anyway on the way back, one of my colleagues stopped me in the street to tell me some philosophy of life about how love makes the world go around, but revenge is the axis it turns on. Ouch@!
Perhaps this is April fools day making people a little snappy today.
One last thought is from episode last week on The Vikings (great show on the History Channel)--excellent battle scene, but also memorable when the one of the characters says "Bad news travels a great deal slower than good news."
Maybe that's why no one told me before about the missing cheese on the macaroni today? ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Why Do People Take The Cheese Off?
January 28, 2014
The Movers and Shakers
But I think there is another and more accurate meaning to this phase.
And it is related to the old adage of "those who can do, and those who can't teach."
Note, there is no disrespect intended to good, solid teachers here, as they have one of the most important jobs in society in educating and molding our children, but the point is that there are some that can only talk theory, but haven't actually done the job!
Similarly, in the organizations, movers and shakers are often not one and the same, but two different types of people.
We have those who are "the movers"--who actually get things done, who break logjams, who overcome bureaucracy, who solve problems, who make things better.
And then there are "the shakers," those who do more jumping up and down and waving to get attention for themselves, their egos, their resumes, and their bogus brands, but don't or can't actually deliver the goods--real results.
The movers are the genuine, hardworking doers and carers of our organizations; the shakers are the Billie Big Mouth Bass showpeople.
The movers work the problems everyday and make progress and it is wonderful to celebrate their hardwork and successes, but the shakers are the attention-grabbers, boasting more about what they do, instead of actually doing much of anything.
Beware of those that talk a good game, but can't actually hit the ball--and the recognition and attention they are bathing in may actually just be a good cover like from a tanning salon and not from the real beach. ;-)
(Source Photo: here with attribution to RedHerring1up)
The Movers and Shakers