Whenever my husband goes out of town and my mother comes from Wisconsin to help out, he teases that the party’s about to start and that he’s the buzz kill when he comes back home. While I laugh it off, I do notice a look in Z’s eye when he returns that, yes, she’s glad to see him but he’s back already?? We then remove whatever ridiculous get up she’s been parading around in and return to our ordinary routine but almost always with ordinary having a new little touch of extraordinary.
United Healthcare customer service is the worst in the world. I asked Tiffany to let me talk to her supervisor. She tried to talk me out of it, then put me on hold for 20 minutes. Nasty tactics. I’m sure this wait is intended to get me to hang up the phone so I can’t complain about getting bounced back and forth and back again between departments. When they pull up my account by my SSN, they have my ex-husband (ex as of many years) and his wife come up. Nice. United Healthcare, YOU SUCK!
In an ode toast to my fellow revel
spirit friend, I write. Despite all
full momentary conviction that no
good will come of it. At least that no
good will come from this pen.
I walked past the tomb of Hamilton,
stand now on one side of these angled
monkey subway gates, listen to promises
of homeward bound trains rumbling
two stations away. It’s just traffic above.
It’s Friday, and I should be glad
but instead I feel a familiar
dejection, scarf covering my nose
to avoid the scent of all that is alive
and real, and rancid.
I am no longer practiced in poetry
nor mindfulness nor even prayer
nor illumination. These, I believe,
are the practice of freely releasing
words in a sacred waltz hop
epiphany that transcends
trains and time and the chains
of Friday 6 pm when you are
released, and given your pass
to hurry up and remember
who you are.
In a little FB game I was gonna partake in today, I found that the song that was #1 the week I was born was Brown Sugar by the Stones, a song I always liked. At first I was about to proudly post the YouTube video, till, for the first time, I read the lyrics. Never really listed to it before. Being mixed, I couldn’t help but notice the mixed reaction to this song, from a 1969 recording – thought maybe to be the first ever, and obviously long before I was born ;).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGCQSrf2Gso
Also including a link with comments from other people who also never listened closely to the words before…
http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2009/04/listen-to-racist-music.html
Listening to the sage Kirsty MacColl whose words seem particularly apropos:
From an uptown apartment to a knife on the A train,
It’s not that far.
From the sharks in the penthouse to the rats in the basement
It’s not that far
To the bag lady frozen asleep in the park,
Oh, no, it’s not that far.
Would you like me to show you more?
I can show you if you’d like to…
Hey Revel Mama,
I work for a company that doesn’t give bonuses. I’m going into my fifth year here. There is a big fancy Christmas tree in the lobby with lots of beautifully wrapped faux presents beneath it. I pick out a new one each day and when I walk in and look at it, I think, “could that be my bonus?” To throw salt on the wound, at the end of each year this company also sends around an email saying how great the company did, but still no bonuses.
Screw(g)ed in Schenectady
Dear Screw(g)ed: I feel your pain. If you can meet with someone in the company to discuss their sucky no-bonus policy/practice, you should. It sounds like you’ve proven yourself a valuable worker (you’ve been there five years and haven’t yet ripped into any of the presents or torn down the tree). So do yourself and your coworkers a favor by asking your boss to reconsider the no bonus means of building the company’s bottom line. Although bonuses are far from an entitlement, the fact is that without good employees, a company fails. There is always someone else to work for, no matter how hard these times or how dire the economy. So there’s no harm in asking. If it doesn’t get results, just add your own little present with the company name on the gift tag and whatever gift you find appropriate. Just kidding. Don’t do that. But if you don’t get your employer to budge on the bonus issue, you can always blog about it. These days, five years at a job is a lifetime. Now that it’s January, other, maybe less Scroogey companies, are looking to hire. No harm in seeing what else might be out there. Give em heck.
Advice from your mama to the bosses: if you are not going to reward your employees with a bonus, do not flaunt how rich they’ve made you with end of the year emails bragging about your success. And if you’re going to try to generate holiday cheer with garland instead of greenbacks,then at least pack those boxes with presents for some poor kids. Leaving them empty only reminds your hard working employees of what’s in your heart.
revel mama 
Recent Comments