Stumpalump said:
Man you got that right. I've been jacked around all my life by corporate America. This year has been great I got two raises for a toatal of 17.5%. go fiquer last year was 3% for the whole year after busting my ass and spending 3500-7000 per month on travel expenses. I would fly home to Denver from salt lake and never leave the airport. Right back on a plan to Kansas city. It sucked and then 3%. This year I sit around half the week and I get two great raises. Don't let it eat you up, just do your time.
As far as the handshake goes that just plain sucks. Used to be a shake was as good as gold. I got burned on a deal 5 years ago from a good freind on a handshake and I'll never do a handshake deal again. We talked, we agreed, we decided how we would go forward we agreed and stood right on the property we were going to buy and split and shook hands. The next week it was like it never happened. The whole reason for our trip was to find some lots out west and buy some . We found a smokin deal on 10 acers but we would have had to buy it tgether and split it because of the cost. So even out of the corporate world these days you have to look out for #1.
It just amazes me - not only that a man's word is no good anymore, but that we have become so litigious as a society ("get rich quick" scheme? I'm not sure. It's sure to have driven up the price of just about everything, tho. People don't seem to realise that, when you sort it all out, you're paying for your own lawsuit and settlement. Eventually.)
I was raised on the simple fact that making a commitment to something could be taken as an article of faith. My wife knows it. My kids know it. My family knows it. My friends know it. If I tell you I'm going to be there, I'll show up (maybe not on time, but I'll get there.) If I look you in the eye and shake your hand afterward, I'll have a note on my wall when I get home so I won't forget. (Especially these days. I've been hit in the head so many times I start feeling like an Etch-A-Sketch that gets shaken while I'm asleep...)
I run business the same way - I stick to what I say, I do what I'm going to tell you to do (may not always be when I tell you it's going to get done, but it's
going to get done,) and I keep you informed about what's going on, and how it affects
you. I think it's only fair - I'm just treating people the way I want to be treated myself. I'm astonishingly tractable if you just let me know what's going on - even if you're telling me you don't know anything yourself, and need to find out so you can tell me. At least that way, I know you're making the effort.
Granted, I'm sort of an oddie anyhow - I get the twitching awfuls when I see "men" wearing their hats indoors. When did that become acceptable? I don't feel dressed without a hat, but I take it off when I go inside pretty much anywhere. Don't even get me started on kids wearing hats to sit down and eat...
This "sense of entitlement?" Samuel Clemens said it best when he said, "The world doesn't owe you a living. The world doesn't owe you a damn thing - it was here first."
