Sunday, March 6, 2011

Passing it on, doing unto others


I am amazed at how nice my new blog friends are, truly honored and absolutely stunned that you all chose little old me to grace the pages of your blogs.
I want to thank the famous, Jennifer Brown Banks at
Pen and Prosper for nominating me as a Phenomenal Female Blogger during Women's History Month. You can read one of my previously published essays on her blog. It may give you some insight as to who I am and how I have evolved.


Another shout out goes to Donna B. at
Mystical Journeys who awarded me this blog award. I was instructed to post a picture of myself blogging. Not the most flattering photo, but the most spotless you'll find my work area. Actually, I shoved my pile of papers under the calendar which is flipped back to February. Notice my
monkey on the top right of the screen? His presence is a reminder to quit monkeying around and get writing.

When I was in kindergarten my dad used to tell me he was going to get me a little monkey (I imagined a baby chimpanzee) to carry my books to school in a little satchel. His story telling was a precursor to my writing.

I was instructed to pass this award on to other deserving writers.

Dianna Graveman @wordpress.com is one of the hardest working and busiest writers I know.

T'Mara Goodsell's fun blog is a hoot. Be sure to scroll to some of her previous posts and read Sexless in the City.

Cathy C. Hall is a humorist and great writer. Her wit makes my synapses fire.

Claudia is a tea drinking, deep thinking writer/poet.

June Freaking Cleaver at Ratio of Failures is very insightful and wise.

There are so many more of you that I haven't mentioned here. It has nothing to do with preference. I love you all.

Take a moment to stop by and visit these folks and please leave a comment.

Now, I have a question for you. This happened to me today. I walked into a fast food restaurant and the teenager behind the counter had her hand in her mouth!( braces or food trapped?) Then, she walked over to place an order on a tray and took it to the dining room. I had one of two choices, either walk out or address the problem. I decided that my health and that of others was at risk, and so as she came around the counter, I stopped her.

"Excuse me," I said softly, "I don't want to sound rude, but when I came in the door you had your hands in your mouth. Would you please go wash your hands before serving my food?"

Some teens would have sassed, spat at me or ignored me, but she smiled and said, "Oh yeah, sure." Then she be-bopped to the sink.

How would you have handled this situation?

29 comments:

Lynn said...

Yeah I was a little worried that your desk was that neat all the time! Glad to know it's not.

Linda O'Connell said...

Ha-ha. Everything is buried under the calendar!

Sioux Roslawski said...

I think you handled the fast food incident very nicely. I am not sure what I would have done.

I'm with Lynn. It's good to know your desk is usually NOT that neat and organized.

I enjoyed meeting you--face to face--at the procrastination workshop yesterday. I so enjoy your blog; it was great to match an audible voice with a writer's voice...

Anonymous said...

You handled it great! I would have been a coward. And thanks for the shout-out! Sorry Wordpress and Blogger don't seem too compatible. I still struggle sometimes with getting Open ID to recognize my "credentials." Ah, well. The wacky world of blogging.

Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

I think it turned out well. Like my wise teen once said to me about herself and other teens,
"Mom, we can't help it. We aren't human yet!"
That pretty much sums it up. They are kind of oblivious to a lot of things.
And yet, intimidating because you never know just how they will respond!

Bookie said...

Thanks for giving me and my blog special attention today, Linda! And I enjoyed your so neat desk...nice to see where you work. If table was turned, I 'd probably be in a nightgown. Ha.

The fast food place...I would be so afraid she would have spit in my food when I wasn't looking that I probably wouldn't have said anything. I went to a Thai place sometime ago and young fellow brought our soup with his thumb lapped over in the bowl...haven't cared for That since!

Have a good week ahead!

Tammy said...

I probably would've been a coward, too, but good for you. And my desk NEVER looks that clean! Cute photo!

Chatty Crone said...

Interesting to see where you work! sandie

Karen Lange said...

Congrats on your exciting news! Congrats also to the new award winners. Have a wonderful week! :)

Jennifer Taylor said...

Congratulations! I'd be afraid to post a photo of my desk.

Kim Lehnhoff said...

Linda,
Thank you for your very kind words.

The Mister actually chuckled - aloud - when I told him you said I was insightful and wise. He insists that sometimes, I possess neither of these qualities.

I told him I pretend to be clueless to make him feel better about himself...I must shore up his fragile self-esteem when necessary! :)

And as far as the hands in the mouth thing, I've already told a deli manager that his sandwich maker was taking cash and making change (while wearing gloves), then returned to make a sandwich without putting on clean gloves.

Pat Wahler said...

I'd probably have turned around and headed out the door to another (presumably cleaner) establishment!

Pat
www.critteralley.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I hate confrontations, so probably would have left. I have worked with people who previously worked fast food and they would tell me that when they were annoyed at a customer they would spit in their food. I am always on my best behavior when dining out. lol

Lisa Ricard Claro said...

Since I currently suffer from inbraceration myself, I sympathize with the teen, though brace picking should be done alone in the ladies' room with a toothbrush handy! Hands in the mouth is icky...I hope I've not been guilty of that one! LOL I think you handled it well. It sounds as though you were kind and not accusing. She probably didn't even realize what she was doing or the consequences of it.

Debora said...

Nicely handled. I might have said nothing and not have been able to eat; or have over-reacted and asked for her manager.

KB said...

Congrats!

Linda O'Connell said...

Thank you ALL for your comments.
Debora, the problem with asking for a manager is that these days the managers are the same age as the workers :) I think she was unaware of what she was doing, and she was very pleasant.

My desk never is this clean, the pile of papers is stuffed under the calendar.

Unknown said...

People today really know how to be rude so I probably would not have said anything. Glad you did. I found you by accident in the comments of a friend's blog and like your writing and will be following. My blog, The Simple Life is at
http://odielangley.blogspot.com and my email is odie_langley@yahoo.com I live in NC and am married with 3 grown girls, 2 yound grandsons & 1 18 year old grandaughter. Have a great day.
Odie

Linda O'Connell said...

Hi Odie, Welcome to my blog. I am pleased to meet you and will be in contact. Thanks for stopping by.

Southhamsdarling said...

Thank you so much for calling in at my Blog Linda, and now here I am, at yours! We seem to like very similar things and I am delighted to be your latest follower. I think you were very brave at the fast food restaurant. I'm usually a bit of a coward about things like that, but as she actually had her hand in her mouth, I think it just had to be addressed!!

Southhamsdarling said...

Ooops! I forgot to say that I really like the photo of you at your computer. I actually made up that Fantastic Blog award a couple of days ago, and came up with the idea of having a photo of people sat at their computer. I thought it was a lovely way ot seeing our blogging friends!!

Cathy C. Hall said...

Thank you, Linda, for the swell award and the shout out! I'm not sure I can post a picture of me blogging as I'm en deshabille whilst doing so!

Don't you just love expressions like that? Sounds so much nicer than "hanging about in an old T-shirt and pj bottoms with no elastic left."

Wendy Altschuler said...

Good for you for saying something to that teen and good for her for not being a punk about it!

Terri Tiffany said...

Good question. I doubt I would have said anything and just took my chances. It's good it worked out nicely for you:)

Friko said...

hands in her mouth? both?
not something I'd have wanted to see at all. I'm glad she washed them without demur.
I'd've probably asked her what she was looking for there. probably the wrong thing to do.
You did well.

Anonymous said...

Kudos, kiddo on what you said to the kid. You approached it the right way. Thanks for the blog mention. Much continued success!

Jennifer

jabblog said...

I would have said nothing, eaten nothing and never gone there again - me, a wimp? NOOOO!

Shanae Branham said...

Congratulations for being nominated phenomenal female blogger during woman's history month! I enjoyed your stopping by. I just became your newest follower. I live in Palmer near Wasilla. My husband has an uncle up here who a son I do believe, but I don't know his name. I don't think he was a dentist. Sometimes, keeping track of distant relatives can be hard. It is fun getting to know you better.

Jean Jeannie said...

Good for you on the well deserved recognition! I think you handled the fast food situation with great aplomb. I had a similar thing happen and honestly did the same thing. Only this guy had just come in from smoking a cigarette out in the parking lot and thought he was going to make my burrito gloves off. That's when I took off the gloves and told him to wash his hands first. Truthfully, I was nice.

Jean