Thanksgiving Intervention

Tags

addiction, Corningware, creative writing, fiction, friends, intervention, mother, pumpkin pie martini, stuffing, Thanksgiving, writer, writer's life, writings

When she was a young girl, my aunt asked her mother how to say turkey in Slovak. Without missing a beat, my grandmother replied, “Go-bell go-bell.” (get it – gobble gobble?!!) Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy this creative short short story!

 

Holding a cooling Corningware serving bowl of roasted chestnut stuffing, I stood on my friend Jim’s front porch as the sun set and temperature dropped below freezing. I had tried my hand at a new recipe that afternoon, but I hadn’t heard the oven timer and burned an entire pound of chestnuts. It was an epic failure and I threw away the blackened orbs that left a funky earthy smell in my apartment. I wasn’t a quitter, though. I called around hoping someone would take pity on my last-minute fail. Inside the gleaming white dish was the creation of the caterer who operated a storefront down the block from my apartment. He assured me he had enough leftovers from his clients to give me a bowlful of stuffing. I figured Jim’s guests would never know it wasn’t exactly my own handiwork.

The door opened a crack and Jim’s face appeared. “Good, Joanie, you made it.” He seemed relieved to see me and opened the screen door.

I was an hour late to his shindig, never thinking anyone served Thanksgiving dinner on time so I was surprised at how anxious he was. People always invited you over early to have a couple of beers, watch the game and mingle with guests. I figured I could skip that part and finish a project. “Why wouldn’t I have come? I brought the stuffing, just like I said!” I tried handing off the bowl, but the container was too warm for his bare hands. I was wearing my woolen mittens.

Jim was my best work friend, even though technically we didn’t work together. We were both freelance writers and had connected through a Linked In group forum a couple of years earlier. Since then, we had taken to sharing anecdotes, problems and projects over email on a daily basis. We had only met in person twice in the past year. Jim was the best co-worker I never had.

“I’ll take that.”

The voice came from a woman walking toward me across the living room. It took a moment before I registered it was my mother. She was supposed to be in Florida, supping on a Thanksgiving feast with her Ladies’ Group at the beachfront marina. She told me she was going to drink pumpkin pie martinis. What was she doing in Jim’s house?

Jim stepped behind me, closing the door. As my mother walked away, roasted chestnut stuffing in her oven-mitted hands, I shrugged off my coat and took a longer look around. That’s when I noticed the group of people standing in front of the fireplace along the far side of the living room.

My blood went cold and I froze on the spot. They were my family and friends, and it didn’t look like they were there for turkey and pumpkin pie. Above their heads was a six-foot-wide banner declaring there was to be an intervention.

A man I didn’t recognize guided me to the couch. As we settled onto the cushions, he introduced himself in a calming voice and explained what was going to happen.

Reeling from the shock of his news, I gaped at this man in his sky blue cardigan, mock navy turtleneck and neatly pressed khaki pants. I finally shook my head. “Vince, I don’t know what these people told you, but I do not have an addiction. This is all a mistake.”

He nodded patiently. “You can leave any time you want. They just want you to know how much they love you and are concerned for you. They have some things they want to say. I hope you will stay to hear them.” He had wrinkles that traced from the corners of his dark baby blues out to the side of his face. He seemed like a very caring person.

I looked back at the group. There was my sister, Leah, and her husband, Brian, standing to the left in their matching Lands’ End cream woolen sweaters and brown corduroy pants. My cousin Shannon was standing next to them, deep furrows of concern cutting across his forehead. My best friend, Amber, was there too, with her arms folded across her pink Angora sweater, giving me one of her, “I love you but this is for the best looks.” Mom was next in line, wringing her hands together, twisting her rings around, around and around. I made a note to use Mom’s nervous tic in one of my short stories.

Jim stood next to them, looking grim. His face was half-hidden behind the Grizzly Adams beard he grew each November. He claimed it was to support prostate cancer awareness but I was certain he just liked giving up shaving for a month. “Look, Joanie, we had to do this and we thought Thanksgiving was the best opportunity. It’s time for you to acknowledge you have a problem and begin to deal with it. And we thought by having the people who love you here, you would do this. For you. For us.”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” Still seated on the couch, I was slowly coming out of my shock. It was like walking through a swamp where every step was a fight against sinking down into the muck. What was wrong with them? They were treating me like a meth-head. I began ticking off all the addictions I could recall. “I’m not an alcoholic or a drug addict. I don’t eat weird things. I’m not OCD. I’m not a hoarder. I don’t have porn anywhere. I don’t own a handgun. I never spend more than 30 minutes on social media. I haven’t even used my credit card for shopping in the past two months. My weight is within my body range and I rarely even work out. Why the heck do I need an intervention?”

Vince held his hand, palm up, out to Jim. Jim took a deep breath and looked at the group for affirmation before continuing. “It’s about your writing, Joanie. You’re obsessed. You never stop working. You always put your client’s work first. Above you. Above everyone else.”

Leah nodded energetically. “You always have a pen and paper with you. You’re always taking notes. How many of those little note pads have you filled up? I’ve seen at least three this year. You probably have one in your pocket right now.”

“And you’re always distracted,” my mother piped in. “When we’re on the phone I can hear you clicking away on the keyboard. You never stop.”

“And you only want to talk about a project or an idea. You don’t know how to have fun anymore!” Amber pouted. “I miss hanging out with you.”

The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

“Joanie, what do you think?” Vince reached out and touched my arm. I shirked away.

What did I think? I thought they were nuts, of course! Writing? They thought I was addicted to my writing? It was absurd. Of course, writing was my life. My complete life. It was all I knew how to do, and it was how I made my living. I had to write all the time otherwise the bills weren’t paid. In fact, my writing had paid for the delicious chestnut stuff from Chef Pierre that was getting cold on the dining room table at that very instant. But it didn’t mean I didn’t know how to live my life. It just happened that writing took priority over everything else. There were certainly worse things I could do.

“What do I think?” I stomped over to Jim and grabbed my coat before picking up my Corningware dish of stuffing from the table. I opened the door, stopped and turned to the group. “I think that if you really wanted me to take this seriously, someone would have used spellcheck.”

The group turned to look at the sign hanging above them.

There, in big bold letters, the banner read “INTEVENTION.”

# # #

from covermytimeline.com

I Want to Be Like Edison

Tags

communications, creating, hard working, improvement, inventions, inventor, lightbulb, stick-to-itiveness, Thomas A. Edison

“The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness and Common sense.”
– Thomas A. Edison 

One of the finest inventors was Thomas A. Edison. There is no doubt he was hard working: he patented at least one idea each year for 65 years, and also owns the record for the most patents held – 1,093. That sounds like a lot of stick-to-itiveness. In addition to his original inventions like the tin foil phonograph, he also invented components that were actually improvements to existing products, including many household items. Edison challenged his team and himself to invent things that were salable; it just did not make sense to produce something that people would not use.

Edison incandescent lightbulb by ASitis

Edison’s most celebrated invention is perhaps also the most misunderstood. You see, Edison didn’t actually invent the light bulb. Rather, he worked on the already 50-year-old concept and in 1879 improved it. Through a change to the filament, he introduced incandescent electric light. Residential use of this product became affordable and widespread.

We can follow Edison’s example and use hard work, stick-to-itiveness and common sense to improve our own communications on a daily basis. This could be through an adjustment to a presentation or a report or a process. Some developments may take time more time than others may, but it all comes through hard work and trial and error. Some of the smallest tweaks make the biggest improvements. Just as Edison’s team looked at the toaster and improved the coils so bread could toast faster, you may take information and provide it in a more succinct, understandable format to your customer or your internal team.

Succeed in Group Work

Tags

business, communicate, communicating, employee development, group work, leader, objectives, presentation, setting goals, succeed, teamwork

Work goals aren’t accomplished on a solo basis anymore. Even when one person is credited on a project, there is an understanding that somewhere–perhaps unseen but not unknown–was an entire team or group who had contributed in varied and specific ways. Sales teams work together with finance, engineering, marketing and administration to prepare a proposal. New product development teams often employ armies to see a project through from initiation to R&D to testing to revision to completion. Even a seasoned PR hack isn’t flying solo: he or she may be alone in an office, but there’s research and approvals to be had, along with at least two more sets of eyes to review the work before it’s delivered. Teamwork is varied and can sometimes be difficult, but it’s a vital part of many environments – school, work or volunteer.

How do you communicate in team settings?

Many of us spend our professional lives working in group or team settings. Like snowflakes, each group is different: it’s dependent on the assignment, the chemistry of the team, and the experience and commitment from each member. Working cooperatively is important. With the prevalence of integrated technology and communications, the projects continue to evolve.

In one of my courses, students are working together in small groups to present

Alverno students in small groups.

information under a general topic. Individually each has already written a research paper that identified a specific thesis form that topic. Now group requires they work together to discover a connecting thread or thesis from their different research and give a cohesive presentation. Even on the first day, they experienced challenges with team members. Group work may not always be easy, but it’s something they’ll continue to experience throughout their professional careers. We reviewed some of the basic elements and addressed those team member challenges as they got started.

First, goals have to be set. If all team members clearly understand the objectives, the timeline and the proposed process to achieve the goals, there is clarity. Next, team members might look to take on dual roles within the group. There are the “task roles” and “maintenance roles.” Task roles, such as being the recording secretary or the moderator, are related directly to accomplishing objectives. In maintenance roles, which may be a gatekeeper or on-line moderator, this person will help facilitate group interaction. Ultimately, one or two members will emerge as the leader(s).

The team leader should work to ensure active participation with the team. Assigning tasks and duties is one way; the other is to ask members directly to contribute during group discussions and assignment to stay involved.

The one role all teams want to avoid, but unfortunately there always seems to be one, is the “anti-group” role. This is the person who focuses on individual needs, who exemplifies herself as the floor hogger or recognition seeker. She might be the one envisioning how this project is going to gain her recognition with the C-Suite and/or a potential promotion, or she just doesn’t want to be there at all. She’s focusing on individual needs that most likely aren’t relevant to the task. To say, “that role should be avoided” is easier said than done. When you have that person in your group or team, it can swiftly increase levels of frustration and wedge a divide among the members. It is up the leader and other team members to change the attitude and behaviors of the member who may be unwilling to acknowledge her blocking behavior. *

Working together in a team or group is essential. It may be in school, at work, or within a volunteer organization. With a strong foundation in place and open communication with members, it may also be rewarding and effective.

Source: Dilbert.com

 (*Sometimes there is no cure for this type, and it’s probably indicative of other issues or problems in that person’s performance. Who hasn’t sighed with relief when one of these “blockers” was dismissed from an organization?)