It’s Thursday and time is ticking – we’re almost to the weekend! Has your Go-Go Juice been driving your successes this week? How are you doing? I am going miles ahead down the road hoping to capture anything and everything that blossoms my flowers and brightens my rays….
Today I want to pay homage to a woman’s life for all her accomplishments, contributions and huge impact she has had on our black neighbors and women throughout our nation.
On March 24, 1912, a baby girl was born in Richmond, Virginia. Little did her parents or the town’s folks realize that their swaddled gift of love would become a nationwide influence to stop racial and gender discrimination for her fellow Americans. As she grew up, she became a woman of great passion and concern for people who were ultimately limited to education and obvious rights and wanted to make a contribution in the best way she could. Early on in life, at the age of 24, she became a civil rights activist and remained steadfast throughout the rest of her life. She was awarded nationally 8-times, including the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004 for her continuous efforts. She organized “Wednesdays in Mississippi” that united black and white women that not only drew women in general closer together socially, but also brought out the best in women’s social contributions for use in many organizations. She was a huge influence to desegregating kids in schools, to appoint black women into government jobs, was a consultant to “African Affairs to the Secretary of State”, and served on a number of committees to include the National Council for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research and the President's Committee on the Status of Women. She chaired the Executive Committee of the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights which is the largest civil rights organization in the entire United States. During President Obama’s inauguration, she was an honored guest who had a great opportunity to be seated nearby on his stage. Today, Dorothy Height is honored as the Godmother of Civil Rights. Dr. Luther King Jr. would be so proud! She died last week on April 20th. President Obama will be giving her eulogy today at her funeral in Washington DC at the National Cathedral. What a wonderful lady she was and I can’t thank her enough for her contributions that allowed me to be the leader that I have been and continue to be.
With tremendous admiration and gratitude, I dedicate my blog today to:
Dorothy Irene Height
March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010
“A woman who leaves behind a legacy, who has paved a road to a future where women and men of all races can come together in collaboration, leadership and social understandings that will ultimately impact our continued abilities to grow as a nation of one. “ – Victoria Meyers
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Time For Go-Go Juice! - Mathew 7:1 - Do Not Judge or You Too, Will be Judged...
Good hump of the week to ya! It’s Wednesday and Go-Go Juice is flowing quickly this week. How’s your juice brewing? There’s been an explosion to new job leads this week – four times more than I’ve seen in the last few months! Grant you, my observation is with the hospitality industry mostly. But to me, it’s a good sign in our devastating economy. Today, however, I wish to bring attention to something that just shocked me – all who know me, know that I am a huge believer in the human spirit.
I constantly raise people up on pedestals for their courage, their creativeness, their support for others, for their genuine overall humanity. Now, what I’m about to mention does not reflect on the overall American Public, but a small few individuals took my guts, my heart, my soul and ripped them to shreds after learning that a hero perished while others just walked on by, walked over and gawked over his dying body. Sound familiar? You bet! I’m sorry to say, but when I learned that a homeless man who tried to help a woman victim from perpetrators, had been stabbed viciously in his ultimate act of kindness, that his only reward was ignorance, betrayal and utter repugnance from the public who didn’t give a damn.
If you are not familiar with the story, a homeless man in NY City, witnessed a woman being robbed. His immediate response was to help her and during the struggle, he was stabbed. His efforts allowed her to run away to safety and caused the perpetrators to run in a separate direction. The man fell to the ground, on a sidewalk in front of an apartment building entrance, bleeding profusely where people just walked on by without offering to help. How do we know what happened? It was all caught on tape, from beginning to end. The general consensus was that local New Yorkers have developed a pre disposed opinion of strangers lying on the ground – that they’re homeless and usually drunk or drug affected and don’t want to be involved. And, was he judged to be an alcoholic or addict because being homeless, he wore tattered clothes, or looked a bit unclean, or his hair was scraggly? Why are the “homeless” labeled in such manners? Since when was being poor considered a sin? And I have to ask, for those who consider themselves self righteous who don’t drink, smoke, or use foul language, what then is your vice, because we all have a vice and we all have committed a “sin”.
Now, folks, I am a mutt of religious backgrounds, but one of tremendous great faith. There is a world famous saying coming to mind. You know it too. “Let He Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone”. Since when has society decided that humanity has its limitations? Ok – how many people sent help to Haitians who may have been drunk, drug addicts, thieves, mobsters, etc? But that didn’t stop people from helping to save lives, now did it?
I want to send the message loud and clear – we are a society of imperfect people. Many strive with due diligence to improve, change or effect ourselves in such ways that we hope to be better tomorrow than we are today. Some have extreme challenges to accomplish that as well. And yes, there are those who have given up. But when a life is suspected to be at harms risk, even if you do think the person lying on the sidewalk, or slumped over abnormally in chair or a bench, is not worth a minute’s time to determine if an authority figure should be involved? And for that matter, if a person who has given up on life is lying on the ground somewhere at sometime, shouldn’t authorities have him or her moved anyway to prevent further hazards? Come on, people.
I certainly hope that those who walked passed this man, saw the news, took a gasp when they recognized the scene and realized that they contributed to this poor man’s death. I hope they realize that they could’ve have helped to save his life had they been responsive just by being little more “human”.
We must look out for one another no matter our circumstances. If you find yourself in a similar situation and I pray that you don’t, but if so, please don’t look the other way. You’re immediate judgment may be tainted wrongly and you just might save the life of another person who was supposed to impact someone else positively later down the road. I suggest you read a book by Mitch Albom “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”. We all impact each other in ways we may not necessarily see. Enjoy the rest of your day. Sip your Go-Go Juice slowly today while reflecting on these issues. It’s your own humanity at stake.
Many Blessings!
To Read the Story - Click Here
I constantly raise people up on pedestals for their courage, their creativeness, their support for others, for their genuine overall humanity. Now, what I’m about to mention does not reflect on the overall American Public, but a small few individuals took my guts, my heart, my soul and ripped them to shreds after learning that a hero perished while others just walked on by, walked over and gawked over his dying body. Sound familiar? You bet! I’m sorry to say, but when I learned that a homeless man who tried to help a woman victim from perpetrators, had been stabbed viciously in his ultimate act of kindness, that his only reward was ignorance, betrayal and utter repugnance from the public who didn’t give a damn.
If you are not familiar with the story, a homeless man in NY City, witnessed a woman being robbed. His immediate response was to help her and during the struggle, he was stabbed. His efforts allowed her to run away to safety and caused the perpetrators to run in a separate direction. The man fell to the ground, on a sidewalk in front of an apartment building entrance, bleeding profusely where people just walked on by without offering to help. How do we know what happened? It was all caught on tape, from beginning to end. The general consensus was that local New Yorkers have developed a pre disposed opinion of strangers lying on the ground – that they’re homeless and usually drunk or drug affected and don’t want to be involved. And, was he judged to be an alcoholic or addict because being homeless, he wore tattered clothes, or looked a bit unclean, or his hair was scraggly? Why are the “homeless” labeled in such manners? Since when was being poor considered a sin? And I have to ask, for those who consider themselves self righteous who don’t drink, smoke, or use foul language, what then is your vice, because we all have a vice and we all have committed a “sin”.
Now, folks, I am a mutt of religious backgrounds, but one of tremendous great faith. There is a world famous saying coming to mind. You know it too. “Let He Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone”. Since when has society decided that humanity has its limitations? Ok – how many people sent help to Haitians who may have been drunk, drug addicts, thieves, mobsters, etc? But that didn’t stop people from helping to save lives, now did it?
I want to send the message loud and clear – we are a society of imperfect people. Many strive with due diligence to improve, change or effect ourselves in such ways that we hope to be better tomorrow than we are today. Some have extreme challenges to accomplish that as well. And yes, there are those who have given up. But when a life is suspected to be at harms risk, even if you do think the person lying on the sidewalk, or slumped over abnormally in chair or a bench, is not worth a minute’s time to determine if an authority figure should be involved? And for that matter, if a person who has given up on life is lying on the ground somewhere at sometime, shouldn’t authorities have him or her moved anyway to prevent further hazards? Come on, people.
I certainly hope that those who walked passed this man, saw the news, took a gasp when they recognized the scene and realized that they contributed to this poor man’s death. I hope they realize that they could’ve have helped to save his life had they been responsive just by being little more “human”.
We must look out for one another no matter our circumstances. If you find yourself in a similar situation and I pray that you don’t, but if so, please don’t look the other way. You’re immediate judgment may be tainted wrongly and you just might save the life of another person who was supposed to impact someone else positively later down the road. I suggest you read a book by Mitch Albom “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”. We all impact each other in ways we may not necessarily see. Enjoy the rest of your day. Sip your Go-Go Juice slowly today while reflecting on these issues. It’s your own humanity at stake.
Many Blessings!
To Read the Story - Click Here
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Time For Go-Go Juice! - Pool Water is Not Just for Swimming...It Can Save the Day!
Good morning to you! How is your Go-Go Juice brewing this morning? OMG – I thought I had run out this morning – couldn’t find any and fervently searched the cupboards, pushing the cans of tomatoes and green beans aside and finally, I found it! Oh – to go a day without Go-Go Juice would be an absolute catastrophe! Awe! The sweet, steamy goodness of Go-Go Juice is the ultimate go-getter for every day!
You know, I was in a discussion last night on LinkedIn and shared some thoughts on how to put an emergency preparedness kit together when it comes to management emergencies. In the thread of discussions, I had mentioned an issue that arose in one of my hotels and how my staff and I put our “kit” to work! A participating member wrote me in utter laughter because he had identified that hoteliers have the most opportunities to share “hotel horror stories” and to hear how management resolve such stories is a hoot! With that thought, I decided how you too, could share and possibly identify with the characters of the story…read on:
This particular sold out night at the Holiday Inn of Hudson, Ohio, we had prepared for a full house, plus three different banquets to fill our 17,000 square feet of conference space totaling up to 350 people. One of the banquets had produced 250 attendees. It was a gala event that started sometime around 5PM. Everyone looked beautiful walking through the hallways – women wore gorgeous glittering gowns while their male counterparts dawned on tuxes and tails. I thought we had just sponsored the annual Emmy Awards. Everyone was enjoying themselves and was finally seated to engage into their event and their dinner had started. About half an hour into the event, the kitchen notified me as the General Manager that we didn’t have any water. Maintenance scrambled to identify the problem and discovered how our operation was not the source of the problem. Having made a quick call to the company (as if to ask, “OK, did our company pay the water bill…we’re out”) only to learn that a main water pipe located 1 ½ miles away had broken and that the entire area would be out…for hours.
Now, if you’re not experienced in working in hotels (or restaurants for that matter) then you’re not accustomed to experiencing or solving problems that occur behind the scenes. As a consumer, you become the victim and simply expect the problem fixed or to be offered an alternative. Right? Of course right. But I was charged with looking at the dynamics in whole…no water means no washing dishes, no water for drinking, no water for showers, no water cleaning and no water for…yes, toilets. And, what’s worse is in a public environment, such as a hotel, if you run out of water for 5 or more hours, you must evacuate the hotel guests and place them into other properties, paying their cost for the room and board plus make travel accommodations for the trouble because the lack of water for that long of period becomes a health hazard. So, my problem with the current situation was rather large.
While we made immediate conservatory directions for various departments, my biggest concern was maintaining the banquets without hindrance. We were told we could be out for just a few hours and no longer. So, I decided to send staff out to acquire cases of bottled water to provide our dining guests, plus bring a few 10 gallon drums of water to use for the public restrooms. I directed someone to immediately print brief notices to our in-house guests with apologies for the inconveniences and then knowing that we could not per say afford to continually purchase big drums of water for the public restrooms, that we would rent three portables conveniently located outside the banquet rooms and shut down the public bathrooms upon their arrival.
Once this happened, I went in front of the banquet gala, to the podium and spoke confidently into the microphone. To break the ice, I gave a warm welcome to the entire group and asked if everyone was enjoying themselves. The responses were full of cheer, excitement and people were smiling, laughing having such a good time. My stomach wrenched at what I was about to say – so I tried to put a lighter upbeat spin on the news…the crowd seemed to understand about conserving their requests for water in terms of delivering water bottles, however once I mentioned the bathroom situation and offered the use of the port-a-potties – the room fell silent for a couple seconds and you heard a bunch of “ohhhhh…noooo…” and a few grumbles. Hence my news went over “real well” with our kings and queens. Needless to say, they did not use the portables, making our job more challenging.
While we could not “lock up” our bathrooms, our guests used them regardless of requests – remember, toilets don’t flush without water in the bowl. It’s after dinner – can you imagine? I make my point.
However, we could not leave the bathrooms vulnerable to after dinner treasures, but I couldn’t buy the amount of water needed either. My team and I worked ferociously to come up with a quick logical answer and my Food and Beverage Manager used her Go-Go Juice and found it! The answer lay at our feet, shimmering in delight with an abundant supply of goodness: our enormous indoor pool. So, we put together a means to transfer pool water into large containers and transport them to the bathrooms where my wonderful staff would maintain the cleanliness and flushing of the public ceramic bowls for the further convenience to our guests. Yes, after a couple more hours, the pain and anguish finally subsided as the main water supply was back to normal – we managed to save the day and come out smelling (well, better than it could have been).
Hotels are an environment that are always at risk of something challenging, exciting and full of new ventures. It’s an environment that’s never dull. What about you and what you do? Do you have a story to share that stands out in your mind of an enormous emergency and the way in which it was fixed? I’d love to hear about it. Write a comment or send me an email.
So, be sure to keep Go-Go Juice in your management emergency preparedness kit – boy, it can really get you out of a bind! Have a great day!
You know, I was in a discussion last night on LinkedIn and shared some thoughts on how to put an emergency preparedness kit together when it comes to management emergencies. In the thread of discussions, I had mentioned an issue that arose in one of my hotels and how my staff and I put our “kit” to work! A participating member wrote me in utter laughter because he had identified that hoteliers have the most opportunities to share “hotel horror stories” and to hear how management resolve such stories is a hoot! With that thought, I decided how you too, could share and possibly identify with the characters of the story…read on:
This particular sold out night at the Holiday Inn of Hudson, Ohio, we had prepared for a full house, plus three different banquets to fill our 17,000 square feet of conference space totaling up to 350 people. One of the banquets had produced 250 attendees. It was a gala event that started sometime around 5PM. Everyone looked beautiful walking through the hallways – women wore gorgeous glittering gowns while their male counterparts dawned on tuxes and tails. I thought we had just sponsored the annual Emmy Awards. Everyone was enjoying themselves and was finally seated to engage into their event and their dinner had started. About half an hour into the event, the kitchen notified me as the General Manager that we didn’t have any water. Maintenance scrambled to identify the problem and discovered how our operation was not the source of the problem. Having made a quick call to the company (as if to ask, “OK, did our company pay the water bill…we’re out”) only to learn that a main water pipe located 1 ½ miles away had broken and that the entire area would be out…for hours.
Now, if you’re not experienced in working in hotels (or restaurants for that matter) then you’re not accustomed to experiencing or solving problems that occur behind the scenes. As a consumer, you become the victim and simply expect the problem fixed or to be offered an alternative. Right? Of course right. But I was charged with looking at the dynamics in whole…no water means no washing dishes, no water for drinking, no water for showers, no water cleaning and no water for…yes, toilets. And, what’s worse is in a public environment, such as a hotel, if you run out of water for 5 or more hours, you must evacuate the hotel guests and place them into other properties, paying their cost for the room and board plus make travel accommodations for the trouble because the lack of water for that long of period becomes a health hazard. So, my problem with the current situation was rather large.
While we made immediate conservatory directions for various departments, my biggest concern was maintaining the banquets without hindrance. We were told we could be out for just a few hours and no longer. So, I decided to send staff out to acquire cases of bottled water to provide our dining guests, plus bring a few 10 gallon drums of water to use for the public restrooms. I directed someone to immediately print brief notices to our in-house guests with apologies for the inconveniences and then knowing that we could not per say afford to continually purchase big drums of water for the public restrooms, that we would rent three portables conveniently located outside the banquet rooms and shut down the public bathrooms upon their arrival.
Once this happened, I went in front of the banquet gala, to the podium and spoke confidently into the microphone. To break the ice, I gave a warm welcome to the entire group and asked if everyone was enjoying themselves. The responses were full of cheer, excitement and people were smiling, laughing having such a good time. My stomach wrenched at what I was about to say – so I tried to put a lighter upbeat spin on the news…the crowd seemed to understand about conserving their requests for water in terms of delivering water bottles, however once I mentioned the bathroom situation and offered the use of the port-a-potties – the room fell silent for a couple seconds and you heard a bunch of “ohhhhh…noooo…” and a few grumbles. Hence my news went over “real well” with our kings and queens. Needless to say, they did not use the portables, making our job more challenging.
While we could not “lock up” our bathrooms, our guests used them regardless of requests – remember, toilets don’t flush without water in the bowl. It’s after dinner – can you imagine? I make my point.
However, we could not leave the bathrooms vulnerable to after dinner treasures, but I couldn’t buy the amount of water needed either. My team and I worked ferociously to come up with a quick logical answer and my Food and Beverage Manager used her Go-Go Juice and found it! The answer lay at our feet, shimmering in delight with an abundant supply of goodness: our enormous indoor pool. So, we put together a means to transfer pool water into large containers and transport them to the bathrooms where my wonderful staff would maintain the cleanliness and flushing of the public ceramic bowls for the further convenience to our guests. Yes, after a couple more hours, the pain and anguish finally subsided as the main water supply was back to normal – we managed to save the day and come out smelling (well, better than it could have been).
Hotels are an environment that are always at risk of something challenging, exciting and full of new ventures. It’s an environment that’s never dull. What about you and what you do? Do you have a story to share that stands out in your mind of an enormous emergency and the way in which it was fixed? I’d love to hear about it. Write a comment or send me an email.
So, be sure to keep Go-Go Juice in your management emergency preparedness kit – boy, it can really get you out of a bind! Have a great day!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Time For Go-Go Juice! - The Human Spirit "Twisters" with Amazing Faith...
Well, the kids are off at school, the little one is still asleep, there’s a slight humming to the refrigerator, I can hear the delicate sounds of birds chirping – probably thrilled that the rain stopped and the smell of my Go-Go Juice is finally waking my senses. Good Monday morning to you. It’s been wet and soggy here in Ohio and sadly, Mother Nature has taken a toll on our southern states with over 54 tornadoes tearing through towns, especially Mississippi where 10 people were reported killed. There was a time I could not understand why people would live in these areas. I guess you really can’t avoid the killer twisters – they can truly pop out of “nowhere” unexpectedly. I must say, in all our travels from coast to coast, we’ve been fortunate to only encounter a few minor scrapes in barely getting hit by such winds.
Once while traveling through Colorado in its far eastern borders (where most funnels occur) we out ran a tornado while traveling west bound on the hwy. While we never saw the funnel; the radio was reporting the distance to our location and all we could see was solid black clouds that touched the ground up through the sky, hail and bellowing winds. It stayed right behind us for 30 some miles while I pushed the pedal to the medal. We finally pulled off to a gas station where all travelers had stopped and the storm suddenly turned to head south just short of the station. Whew! That was close one. And, never say “oh, well I live around hills – twisters don’t come around hills”…that’s bunk; we lived in Vermont up in a resort area surrounded by hills and a tornado funnel hit the ground on the other side of our hill, and we watched how it headed toward us with its high winds and black mass just pour over our hill and within minutes, the center of the storm passed right over us. We were living in multi-level condo at the time and ran the children down to the bottom level. The sound was amazing and scary at the same time. No funnel though – but then, its elements were just as damaging as if there were a funnel.
What you see on TV appears to be horrible when reporters show the aftermath of a tornado and listen to the interviewed survivors. You may say to yourself, “how sad, wow, man – etc, then change the channel”. But nothing will compare to the devastated feeling of driving through a leveled town that had been recently hit. While driving to my job two years ago from California to Ohio, we did just that. We were in Oklahoma and while creeping along the roadway, the tears just rolled down our cheeks to see the losses and feel the pain. Shattered glass, wood, leveled buildings, tossed furniture, peoples clothes, kids toys all strewn across the town. I always thought people were crazy to live in these risky areas, but you know what? It takes a special type of person, someone proud, and someone strong and determined who is passionate about their area to stay up with the tides. The human spirit was strong and thriving among the locals that day; the survivors had already set up plans and were working hard at putting their town back together. People worked together in harmony, collaborating, teaming and all contributing to bettering each other. And suddenly I realized something – people who live in such areas are not a people who thrive on worldly possessions. It’s not about the storm or how wide a tornado was or the 15 minutes of fame from being on TV – it’s the comradery, the fellowship, the union of spirits that attract and bind these people together. They have huge backbones, are hard workers and the ones we count on to generate our dairy, grains and produce. These are amazing people with amazing spirits and believe me, their Go-Go Juice does not come in a cup or a pot or sold at a nearby shop – it is their faith in each other and maybe a higher being that drives their passion.
So, on this rainy Monday or sunny, depending on where you are) keep these people in your thoughts, say a prayer and if you have some time, go lend a hand and be sure to share your Go-Go Juice with others. You know there’s plenty of Go-Go Juice to go around. Have the most productive week this week. Thank you for joining me this morning!
Once while traveling through Colorado in its far eastern borders (where most funnels occur) we out ran a tornado while traveling west bound on the hwy. While we never saw the funnel; the radio was reporting the distance to our location and all we could see was solid black clouds that touched the ground up through the sky, hail and bellowing winds. It stayed right behind us for 30 some miles while I pushed the pedal to the medal. We finally pulled off to a gas station where all travelers had stopped and the storm suddenly turned to head south just short of the station. Whew! That was close one. And, never say “oh, well I live around hills – twisters don’t come around hills”…that’s bunk; we lived in Vermont up in a resort area surrounded by hills and a tornado funnel hit the ground on the other side of our hill, and we watched how it headed toward us with its high winds and black mass just pour over our hill and within minutes, the center of the storm passed right over us. We were living in multi-level condo at the time and ran the children down to the bottom level. The sound was amazing and scary at the same time. No funnel though – but then, its elements were just as damaging as if there were a funnel.
What you see on TV appears to be horrible when reporters show the aftermath of a tornado and listen to the interviewed survivors. You may say to yourself, “how sad, wow, man – etc, then change the channel”. But nothing will compare to the devastated feeling of driving through a leveled town that had been recently hit. While driving to my job two years ago from California to Ohio, we did just that. We were in Oklahoma and while creeping along the roadway, the tears just rolled down our cheeks to see the losses and feel the pain. Shattered glass, wood, leveled buildings, tossed furniture, peoples clothes, kids toys all strewn across the town. I always thought people were crazy to live in these risky areas, but you know what? It takes a special type of person, someone proud, and someone strong and determined who is passionate about their area to stay up with the tides. The human spirit was strong and thriving among the locals that day; the survivors had already set up plans and were working hard at putting their town back together. People worked together in harmony, collaborating, teaming and all contributing to bettering each other. And suddenly I realized something – people who live in such areas are not a people who thrive on worldly possessions. It’s not about the storm or how wide a tornado was or the 15 minutes of fame from being on TV – it’s the comradery, the fellowship, the union of spirits that attract and bind these people together. They have huge backbones, are hard workers and the ones we count on to generate our dairy, grains and produce. These are amazing people with amazing spirits and believe me, their Go-Go Juice does not come in a cup or a pot or sold at a nearby shop – it is their faith in each other and maybe a higher being that drives their passion.
So, on this rainy Monday or sunny, depending on where you are) keep these people in your thoughts, say a prayer and if you have some time, go lend a hand and be sure to share your Go-Go Juice with others. You know there’s plenty of Go-Go Juice to go around. Have the most productive week this week. Thank you for joining me this morning!
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