Liar, Liar!

Wow! Is Oprah pissed at James Frey or what? Let's review. Oprah's staff tells her about this amazing book written by a recovering drug addict named James Frey. It is a memoir. Oprah reads it and omg! It is so inspiring. It affects her so much that she invites Frey to be on the show and discuss his amazing life. Which he does. Now, when I saw him on the show, I thought to myself "This guy is full of shit." When I look at some people I see either that they are being honest or they are not. I thought he was not being honest. I didn't know what exactly he was not being honest about. I mean the guy tells a lot of nasty stuff about his past. So what is there to lie about? Turns out, quite a lot actually. See, he embellished. That's fine when you are writing a novel. We encourage it even. But, if you present a story as being autobiographical or a memoir, then you are supposed to tell it like it was. He didn't. So everyone got up in arms about it and all of the "journalists" had to weigh in on the audacity of someone such as this James Frey person writing such bullshit. There is absolutely nothing else for them to be upset or worried about. Not Iraq. Not Afghanistan. Not the economy. Not Pinocchio on Pennsylvania Avenue. So we had to hear from everyone who ever wrote anything! All right. Shut up now. Here's the thing. The guy is a recovering addict! He is a liar by definition. He can't help it. That's what addicts do. So, if you want to read an interesting story of addiction and recovery, help yourself. But, it isn't the whole truth. It's about an addict after all.

Where have all the good people gone?

Growing up, I thought the world was made up of smart people and that I would have to work hard to keep up. I was wrong. The world is made up of dumb people and I have to work hard not to kill them. We are trying to replace an assistant who quit recently. The first candidate is too shy to be a phone person. Strike two, she had herself a little McDonald's breakfast sandwich at the front desk. Then she knocked out the electricity to her area of the office after plugging in a space heater. The first time was not her fault. The second and third time were. Now we have someone else coming in Monday. I don't harbor any false hopes that this one will be much better. Where are all the good people?

Everyone's an idiot

In the past 10 years, I have worked for several companies. There is one thing I have learned about American companies and that is that they succeed in spite of themselves. I try to imagine what would happen if people performed their jobs at a level that could be called competent. What kind of a world would that be?! It seems so outrageous, doesn't it? I know you know what I am talking about. What is up with the executives who cannot make the tough calls? Don't they feel like frauds? They should. One president I know allows his retired secretary to come in one day a week or so. She is useless. She was useless when she was full time and now that she is a part-time retired employee, she is doubly useless. He doesn't have the nads to tell her to stay home. Our sales v.p. is a loser. Our sales force is laughable. Our quality control manager is certifiable. Our customer service manager is a joke. The traffic manager is in way over his head. Last year was a record year for sales and profit! Can you imagine what kind of profits the company would have posted if even some of the employees were qualified for their positions? I have updated my resume' and all like that. But, I really need to win the lottery.