Figured it needs to be said…regarding Deputy in Pike County that shot his neighbor while drinking… just goes to show that even a person trained with gun handling, licensed to carry, and trained with gun safety and procedure, and an upstanding citizen of the community can still make a stupid mistake based on drinking or emotions. This gun regulation issue will not go away quickly; point is that even tougher regulations, stricter application licenses, etc will not stop bad decisions, stupidity, anger, emotion, or mental competency.

Being in a face-to-face role everyday as part of my job, and especially working with people of all walks of life and language barriers, offending someone, which can always happen, is a dialogue. If you meant to offend then being offended is a legitimate response. If you accidentally offended, then as part of that dialogue you engage, learn and you make it right , especially if you didn’t know and all you were trying to do is be pleasant. This is called dialogue and unfortunately is a dying art. We no longer engage, we no longer anticipate, and we no longer size someone up to start that dialogue. Politicians, true sales people and basically just plain personable people have this down to a science. It’s a skill of communication and as I mentioned already fewer and fewer people have the ability of dialogue and these are the people we continually see in customer service face-to-face roles. Perhaps it’s a gift of age, myself I think it’s an ability to successfully interact with all people. It’s also two-way, so if one side fails and cannot engage or wanting to then someone will be offended.

All I can say is that the simplest why to not offend and to provide excellent customer service is to just SMILE and let the rest fall into place. No sign EVER needed!

Yes it’s full of hate and damn proud of it! I see France declaring war and as part of the United Nations we will be joining in the fight. War is not compassion it is about fighting to the death. The United States needs to quit being so damn wimpy and passive and do the course and show that we are still the world power that at least we used to be! Yes this is directed at you Mr President Obama!

George Takei calls for compassion after Paris attacks: ‘We must resist the urge to dehumanize’
Raw Story
ARTURO GARCIA
13 NOV 2015 AT 21:53 ET

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/george-takei-calls-for-compassion-after-paris-attacks-we-must-resist-the-urge-to-dehumanize/

Actor and social activist George Takei encouraged Americans not to turn the terrorist attacks against Paris on Friday into an excuse for racist behavior.

“We must resist the urge to categorize and dehumanize, for it is that very impulse that fueled the insanity and violence perpetrated this evening,” Takei wrote on his Facebook page.

At least 120 people died on Friday in the series of assaults against six sites in the French capital, most of them during a hostage situation at a local concert hall. Takei said in the post that he was writing while he was backstage during a performance of Allegiance, a critically-acclaimed Broadway show dealing with the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

“There no doubt will be those who look upon immigrants and refugees as the enemy as a result of these attacks, because they look like those who perpetrated these attacks, just as peaceful Japanese Americans were viewed as the enemy after Pearl Harbor,” he wrote.

He closed the short post by encouraging fans to “pray or wish for peace, not only from guns and bombs, but from hatred and fear.”

“Tonight, hold your loved ones, and If it is our freedom and joy they seek to destroy, give them not that victory. Against the forces of darkness and terror, love and compassion shall always prevail. #‎JeSuisParis,” he wrote.
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Pardon me, but I have no compassion for ISIS. No I’m not racist, I’m not prejudiced nor do I show disdain for Muslims in this country. I will show however disdain for a radical group that has no regard for human life in order to push their agenda under the guise of their religion. As usual religion has been used as a tool to push an agenda, conquering, destroying culture and attempting to become the dominant force. Have I read the Quran – no. Do I understand fully it’s teachings – no. What I do know is that under it’s name, groups, radical groups are using it to discredit my life, my society, my country, and my well-being. No, I will not show compassion for these threats against me. Personally I think they should all get together and hold hands and blow themselves up in a remote desert and show their faith in a big blinding bang light and then let nature and animals return them to the earth.

Don’t Tread On Me!

Think about it. I see the privilege of not working vs. being provided for daily by government programs. I see a trend where one will work minimum wage so health, food, living assistance thru government programs can be continually be provided thusly not even attempting to move above the minimum wage mark.
Raise the minimum wage you say? Yeah, think where that will go. It will cause a bigger upset than what it is now. There is more to the problem than just raising the minimum wage and just raising the minimum wage will not solve the balance without exploring the other components tied to it.

Right now the burden is on the government to fulfill the gap between what is considered a “decent” wage to accommodate what our society today considers “enough to survive”. What is that value? Does working 40 hours a week decent enough to have one child, two, three? Does working 40 hours a week allow cigarettes, eating out, cell phone, cable. What is that value? We fail to realize that sure let’s raise minimum wage (which I have nothing against) but to double it? That means a company will have to double it’s salary for each position above the minimum wage mark. Its just not economically feasible and will have a very adverse effect on consumerism in this country. And discussing other industrialized countries, their pay structure is definitely different but it is also bringing in the social benefits such as health care, child care, and education. Additionally look at the tax rate that these other countries’ citizen’s are paying back to enjoy this higher wage. Again the issue is, what is considered a “decent” wage and what is that value? Should my “decent” wage based on no children be the same as someone with one, two, three children? Or do I just have “extra” money because I have no children, don’t smoke, don’t have cable, don’t eat out, and perhaps live in a less affluent neighborhood to afford to live and pay my heat? There is a fifty-fifty responsibility here and as I mentioned before I’d rather see requirements for all companies to provide health-care, child-care assistance, and education assistance to retain it’s employees and move them up to higher paying positions. Seems pretty “decent” to me and more of a feasible solution than just doubling our minimum wage without considering the other components.