If you follow me on facebook, well first off I’m sorry, but secondly you’ve seen me sharing things about young Alfie Evans, of England, and that tragic story that is happening over there.
I’m very upset about it, and I thought that maybe right now is a good time to talk about why. I’ve already ranted about this in a previous post, but by gum my dander is up! I challenge anyone in reader land to this discussion. Continue reading “Humanity, and what it means”
Whew! I finally have some time to type. It’s been a little bit of a crazy week, but now I should be able to chat.
Hi, how are you? Continue reading “Boston trip 2”
On Twitter @joeschronicals . I’ll update here too
Waaayyaaayyoooooo!
I’m not a HUGE Dropkick Murphy’s fan, but it’s fitting for this case. Tuesday is our rescheduled trip up for the second Wistah visit, flying out at 730 and coming back by 6pm which is a lot better than last time. Small victories.
I think I’ll need to sign new paperwork agreements up there and update them on my condition – the fall(s), how I’m eating and moving around, etc. I don’t think I’m doing terrible but I think this last month has brought another decline period. I think it goes in stages, so now I have to figure out what stages they are!
Thank you all for the prayers and support! We couldn’t do any of this without you all and your help! Mel and I were talking earlier today and we agreed that in this state, God is going to take care of us, because we can’t do it alone and all the loving prayers on earth help us get through it all!
I’ll try to live tweet/blog on the trip, if reader land likes it. I’m a late twitterer, so forgive my old man Twitting.
Well – this isn’t to complain, but it is to address stuff going on, human reactions, human tendencies, businesses, etc.
So, y’all know about my quest for wheelchair innovation/sidewalk domination, etc. I 
know, I go on and on and on. Well, in my quest, I’ve discovered a “care-o-meter” in my life. It’s amazing, it’s judging how much I care about certain things in certain situations. Lately, my care-o-meter is at zero when it comes to reaching out to companies or people and asking for help, asking for assistance, etc. This is a good thing, but it also makes me a little uppity in terms of what I expect back.
What do I mean? If I reach out to a multi-million or billion dollar corporation, like a Ford, or a Tesla, or a Ferrari, I get grumpy that they don’t write back. It’s like I am entitled for them to reach back to me simply because my inhibitions are lessened (pre-alcohol, Father. I promise). I’m entitled to a response, to their $ and support!!
How millennial is THAT????
My good friend Steve S. constantly reminds me that this is the companies’ money, time, investment, etc. I love having Steve around to keep me in reality, because it forces me to have a pitch, a hook, something that I think that the other party could profit from. (In an aside, now I feel like I can sell an idea if given the opportunity.) So, Steve is right, and I need to remember that I’m asking for things that I’m not entitled to.
As a human, though, I think we’ve entered into a different plane. If I, as a human, reach out to someone or they reach out to me, I think it’s inherently human to respond or hope for a response. I think, even if you are super introverted, that humans ultimately expect dialogue or call-and-response relationships at a minimum! It’s a basic human need – we need other humans and that response. Even hermits need it. So on that level I think that we are all entitled to a response when we reach out to people or companies, even if it’s a negative response.
I have reached out to many companies. I have gotten a response from several, to which I’m extremely grateful. The majority though haven’t even responded with a “no thanks”, which is disheartening. It’s a small thing, to respond to inquiries. It’s often overlooked for the sheer volume of inquiries, but I think a good investment in any company is a social media/inquiry response person, to read and respond. (Anyone hiring???). Let me ‘splain- I got a note back from Lamborghini, after I pitched a partnership. In the note was a polite “no thank you” from the company, after obviously reading the email. I leave with a happy feeling because I feel validated as a human, I have had fulfilled a basic human need of interaction and relationship. And they said NO!
Contrast with… well, I’ll leave them unnamed. I found a contact email, emailed it twice over 6 months to gauge interest. No response. On the third try, I got a mailer daemon saying my email had been blocked. Not that the email had problems but that my email was blocked. That company lost a fan that day, just because a simple “no thank you” wasn’t available. I get it, I could be spam. But why have a contact email if you aren’t going to respond!?
Contrast again with another company. I reached out on Twitter and said, “hey, who do I talk to about this idea?” I got a tweet back with an email, and an invitation to write for further information. How cool is that? They might not do anything, but they responded!
Ok, so this is a lesson for me. I tend to be bad about being responsive in a timely fashion. My own desire should be motivation for me to be better about responding as well, both emails and comments and whatnot.
I also encourage you, reader-land, to think about how you interact during the day with everyone, remembering that as humans we have a need to interact. And hold me accountable for it!
Joe's ChronicALS 