It is happiness

On this glorious morning I rode my scooter to the stable to see my horses. The perfect weather prompted a song in my head and as I hummed along I started bobbing head to the tune only I could hear. As the passersby gave me odd looks, half smirking half smiling, I began to giggle, and then the giggle turned into a laugh and then before I knew it I was cracking myself up at my own silliness and supreme happiness bubbled into my soul.
Make sure you laugh today.

two little dogs in need of homes!

I found these two running around Lee's Summit, MO area and had to help them out. If you know someone who is looking for a pet please pass this on and send a Direct Message to me via twitter.com/rwills83

"Rosie" Fun and funny little Yorkie (maybe a Silky Terrier) female (have not checked for spay scar yet). Loves to play fetch and loves attention.

"Milo" Young Long Haired Dachshund (not fixed) pretty quiet, very lovable huge sweetheart.

it is considerate communication

Last night while I was traipsing through an empty pasture fearing that my horse had escaped through the open gate, I was hyperventilating and asking for God's mercy on the souls who allowed this to happen because I was not going to show them any. When I got back into the barn the barn hand told me they had moved the horses into a different pasture due to an event to be hosted there in the morning. We had seen the barn hand on our way to the pasture, he asked how our night was going and we said it was good just coming out to feed the horse. Now why did he not make sure we knew they had been moved before we went out? This is just a small incident that should remind us all that it is best to use our words and express them to others.

it is a matter of service and quality

This week has been full of customer service experiences. Sunday started it off with a bang when one customer called me “some sort of stupid” and ten minutes later, I was yelled at for not knowing whether the shoes that were left at home would fit the child in her arms; guess they thought I had special powers. Being on the receiving end of open hostility was terrible, I found it hard to let those customers’ anger leave with them and not carry it on with me to my next charge. For those of you who know me know I have exceptional customer service skills and so when both of these incidents happened I remained stout, smiling, bidding them adieu with sincere blessings. Yet I cannot help but wonder what they thought I owed them.

Yesterday I had a run in with good old corporate Wal-Mart and their lack of customer service skills. A very simple matter turned into a very complicated issue resulting in a total of two trips, two hours and five register transactions for one order. Not once did anyone say I am sorry for your inconvenience, let me see how we can work around this issue, or any sort of expression of a desire to aid me, the paying consumer. I think it is appalling how Americans don’t care about one another, corporations look at the bottom line versus the customer. People are grouped into “customer classifications” that are then “targeted” so that they spend as much money as possible to feed the pockets of the rich. We do not care about quality; we go for cheap, hence putting out of business the small hand crafted furniture guy. And why would we buy his merchandise when we can buy spray painted particle board for half the cost? And if we do not require quality in our product why would we assume to have quality in our care?

it is all in the way you look at it

Summer is almost over and I for one am exceptionally excited! I know all the kids are dreading school, fearing new teachers new classmates and piles of homework. Some people are dreading the winter roads, icy blackouts and rising heating bills. I am looking forward to selling more coffee, snowy mornings by the "fireplace", making hundreds of hot chocolates and actually having customers in my shop.

it is a new experience

A new customer came into my shop yesterday. She left her wallet. Upon opening the wallet, I found a green card, her international driver’s license, her birth certificate, and her social security card. There was no contact info with a “states” address all the info was for Puerto Rico. So I called the US Embassy to ask who I should talk to about getting these things back in her procession, they passed me on to homeland security, when I talked to the agent there she explained that this occurrence is so rare that they do not have a procedure set in place and so passed me onto immigration. After weaving my way through the third voice prompt system to talk to a human, she was genuinely surprised that I had called. She said they rarely get this kind of documentation turned in and if I were to send it to my local immigration office there would be no guarantee that the documents would make it back to the owner. That if they do get anything turned in it normally is just the green card and they can track her address that way but that a whole wallet of legal documentation was sure to get lost among the mess.

a poem

Each sound bursting
Into my chest like a hammer
Beating the drums of history

Every boom
Tells the story
Of a life lost

Bravery and strength
Courage of men making a stand
Against a king, against tyranny

Independence
Worth the risk
Worth the chance

One star, pointing north
Shows the path
To freedom

One man, makes a stand
Conceived in Liberty
Men considered equal

One Nation
Making a stand
A stand for hope
A stand for justice


Will we forget
Who we are
Whence we’ve come

it is Independence

In our present American society, we worked today the Fourth of July.
All the stores were open people went to work. Customers were served money was made. My little shop was closed. I worked at my second job.
We came several hundred dollars below estimation but we were there to serve the 20 some odd people who wondered in to buy shoes. I did not receive Holiday pay, apparently there is a loop hole so that PT employees are exempt from time and a half. Tonight I am rained on by ash as I sit outside watching a fireworks display. We are at a very small town old timey event. A community orchestra is playing Americana music in the parking lot of the high school and the fireworks are being set off about 500 feet in front of us in the soccer fields.

The sound is LOUD so loud each crack shakes my ribcage. I am sitting next to my father who served in a war across the sea. He told me once that fireworks often bothered him because the sound is so much like the actual battle it takes him back there in his mind. As I am sitting here now rain soaking the ground I am thinking about all the men women and innocent lives taken by war. I am wondering why we do not reserve this day. Why were the shops open? Why were the people shopping? Can we not take one day out of our commerce driven lives to sit and tell stories of past events, laugh with our families, play games and relax? And it is not just Independence Day, but what about Labor Day? Why or why are businesses open on Labor Day? How about Memorial Day? Presidents Day? Thanksgiving and Christmas? Why do we need to make money every single day of the year? Are we that much richer?

it is a possible future?

I never feel more alone than when I'm sick or stressed and then all of the sudden I feel I am the loneliest person in all the world. It is amazing how I can be surrounded by people who see me everyday and, either I am a way better actress than I give myself credit for or, people are hugely unobservant or, they just don't care. If you have seen the movie Wall-E you know the portrayal it shows of the future human race. Unnoticing, uncaring, lost in there own worlds not knowing what is happening outside of there little techno screens. When I step back and look at society as a whole, I am surprised at how close we are to this and how that fantasy might one day become a reality. Will we notice in time to stop it or are we already too far on the way? Are we fated to live our remaining days as a race living in a loveless world?