a hodge podge of thoughts

While I wait for a more interesting blog to post, I thought it was about time for another brain dump.

* I'm still a little burned up about that Elizabeth Becton thing from the last post.

* I am working on putting together a blog for you nice folks that I think you're going to really like. It will probably be my next post, but I didn't really have the time or energy to put into it today.

* I have recently begun a love affair with a store called HomeGoods.

* I wouldn't exactly say I'm an accomplished chef yet, but I definitely feel that married life is allowing me the opportunity to become a much better cook than I was before.

* I secretly wish that I was a ballerina.

* If I could go back, I would have gotten into ballet as a kid and not cheerleading. All cheerleading ever got me was lots of bruises, bad wrists, and flexibility that I lost years ago.

*While letting my ipod play on shuffle the other day, a christmas song popped up, which now has me counting down the days until Christmas.

* 3/4 of my excitement over Christmas is the thought of getting to put up our own tree this year.

* The other 1/4 is excitement over getting to wrap presents, listen to Christmas music, sip hot chocolate and be with my husband and family on Christmas day.

* I am now a little depressed that it's still unbearably hot outside and Christmas is months away.

* It has been over 100 degrees in San Antonio for 51 days straight, and this one is looking to be number 52.

* The hotter it gets in Texas this summer, the more Maurice can get away with talking about schools in insanely cold cities. Right now, we are giving serious consideration to Denver, Chicago and Minneapolis. I'm not even making that up.

I think that's enough for today. Until next time!

A Word on Human Decency... an open letter to Elizabeth Becton

There are some pretty ridiculous stories in the news today.  (Insert obvious joke about how Obama's healthcare plan is the most ridiculous of them all)  But today, I read a story that gave me a particular disdain for people who lack common human decency.  

We live in an age of political correctness... of walking on eggshells so as not to offend any particular group who might take any particular offense to any particular thing that anyone might have said without knowing that any particular individual or group finds it particularly offensive.  It's exhausting.  And I understand that writing business emails can often be a tricky business, because there is a definite etiquette to follow.  I also understand that some people don't like to be addressed by nicknames.  

That being said... a woman named Elizabeth Becton, one of those people who you'd be ill-advised to refer to by a nickname, recently took it a step further and crossed the line from correcting someone's improper email etiquette right into a blatant and offensive  and unrelenting middle-school-drama-style attack on an unexpecting and misinformed executive assistant.  

You may have read this story already, but here is an article that will walk you through the email exchange between Elizabeth Becton and her unfortunate victim who mistakenly called her "Liz" in a simple business email.

Upon a basic internet investigation, I was unable to find any evidence of Elizabeth Becton being corrected by her employer for her behavior which clearly crossed the line, or of her being let go from her position as a result of her actions... nor have I found any evidence of Elizabeth Becton apologizing after this story was picked up by nearly every major media outlet in America.  I did, however, find a website that posted other scathing emails from Elizabeth Becton.

At what point, Ms. Becton, do we set aside our convictions about political correctness and proper etiquette and simply treat someone's honest mistake with kindness and forgiveness?