"Only the mediocre are always at their best." --Jean Giraudoux, French writer and diplomat
Well, isn't that the truth? If there's one thing that's consistent it's that mediocre people always complain about what anyone with more perceived success is doing, saying, dreaming, and planning. Their laziness, whether physical or intellectual, hinders their ability to do anything even when it benefits them. They resent progress and improvement especially when it disproves their theory that whatever was done simply couldn't be done.
I am not by any means the most ambitious, diligent, driven, or disciplined person out there. On the contrary, I battle with my own laziness more often than I'd like to admit, but at least I know when I'm feeling and behaving like a bum. There's no one to blame for my failures and I can only hold myself accountable for them. With that being said, at least I have goals that I've set out to accomplish and have thought about how to make them happen. Even more importantly, I've put some of those plans into action. Taking action is key. You can dream all you want about what you'd do if you win the lotto, but if you never buy a ticket, you shouldn't be bewildered when you never win.
Mediocrity is like a highly infectious plague that spreads quickly and kills your desire to excel at anything. It creates contempt for success breeding stupidity and resentment towards those who have attempted to rise above their own mediocrity to do something meaningful and purposeful with their lives. Some people have mediocrity so deeply ingrained in their psyche that even when great opportunities to rise above their current station in life are presented to them, they find excuses to put it down or unconsciously find ways to destroy it to accomodate their own mediocrity and prove that they were in fact right about it to begin with.... and of course, it's never their own fault that they failed miserably.
The fact is that our society encourages mediocrity. If this wasn't true, then it wouldn't be tolerated and celebrated the way it is today. The best part is that the movers and shakers who make things happen are labeled as over-achievers, unreasonable, and unfair because they have expectations that simply don't jive well with the mediocre desire to sit around at home smoking weed and drinking beer while playing Call of Duty all day.
Here's the bottom line: if you're not willing to get your ass off the couch and make an effort to make good things happen in your life, then nothing will happen. I have learned an incredibly valuable lesson from observing mediocre people close to my life and understand now that attempting to reach out to assist someone with a garbage mentality will do nothing more than frustrate me and waste my valuable time. I will never offer business opportunities again to people who can't appreciate the work and sacrifices required to build a reputation and a brand and I will refrain from offering advice to people who are too lazy to even use common sense. Mediocre people deserve to be where they are in life and will never see any improvements until they choose to change their attitude, which is something they'll have to do all by themselves.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Warning: Criminal Pursuit
This post is not intended to be funny. Instead, it's a brief opportunity to vent some frustration. Once again I have the same inspector pursuing me. In case I ever had any doubts that it was personal, she managed to find a way to track me down via Facebook at 10 pm on a Saturday night. As a government worker, I would bet on her life that she's not on the clock right now and may the Lord strike her down at this instant if I'm mistaken. (Hey... you vent your way, I vent mine).
After looking at her 'likes', it turns out that she hates Governor Rick Scott and would love nothing more than having him impeached or fired. Perhaps I should tell him that he made a huge mistake when he began making cuts at the teacher, police department, and fire fighter levels, and instead should have started with the dept. of agriculture. Now that's a department full of fat cats if I've seen one, perhaps without monetary wealth, but a wealth of power, instead. I'll admit, even though it wouldn't change my situation, it sure would be cool if she was fired for bad mouthing her boss. tee hee...
I'm thankful for having received a warning from a fellow vendor about impending inspections, and although I'm doing whatever possible to avoid a problem, the fact is that problems sneak up on you when you least expect them. It's exhausting skulking around like a damn criminal over bureaucratic bullshit, but it appears that I don't have another choice in the matter if I want to continue selling my sauces. I'm just sick of it. Sick of it, I tell you.
After looking at her 'likes', it turns out that she hates Governor Rick Scott and would love nothing more than having him impeached or fired. Perhaps I should tell him that he made a huge mistake when he began making cuts at the teacher, police department, and fire fighter levels, and instead should have started with the dept. of agriculture. Now that's a department full of fat cats if I've seen one, perhaps without monetary wealth, but a wealth of power, instead. I'll admit, even though it wouldn't change my situation, it sure would be cool if she was fired for bad mouthing her boss. tee hee...
I'm thankful for having received a warning from a fellow vendor about impending inspections, and although I'm doing whatever possible to avoid a problem, the fact is that problems sneak up on you when you least expect them. It's exhausting skulking around like a damn criminal over bureaucratic bullshit, but it appears that I don't have another choice in the matter if I want to continue selling my sauces. I'm just sick of it. Sick of it, I tell you.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Great Expectations
My husband, CP, insists that it's impossible to take me anywhere to eat where I won't find something to complain about. He's wrong and has a tendency to exaggerate, but on this occasion he was right. Look, the fact is that I eat, breathe, sleep, and live food 24/7. I can't help but notice when things aren't right and tonight wasn't an exception.
Like many families, we're currently on a bit of a tight budget, so a lot of these specials being offered by chain restaurants are pretty enticing. Tonight we went to Chili's to take advantage of their 2 for $20 deal, which includes an appetizer and two entrees. Not too shabby.
We've been there several times, so I know what to expect. Something I've always hated at Chili's is their rice and beans. Seriously, how is it even possible to mess that up? Anyhoo, I digress. As I was saying, I know what to expect: crappy beans and mediocre rice. However, on this occasion, I received crappy beans and crappy rice. That's simply unacceptable.
When the server came by to check on us, I told him the honest truth, "I'm sorry, but this rice tastes like shit". I let him know that I expected the beans to suck, but the rice blind sided me. He said he appreciated my honesty and that it was refreshing (See? Kudos to me). They forgot to do to the rice what they always fail to achieve with the beans: season it. The rice had no salt and it was simply awful. Normally, I can at least mask the crappy beans by mixing it with the mediocre rice, but what am I supposed to do when I get a double portion of crap? No amount of salsa in the world can fix that.
Our server offered me a different side item, which I happily accepted, but just as soon as he left our table, I overheard him gleefully recounting the incident with someone in the hallway. Within a minute, we had a manager at the table. He did his thing and asked about my complaint. I pointed out it was horrible and suggested that he go to the kitchen and taste it for himself, at which point he mentioned that my husband was joyfully scraping his plate clean, which had had rice and beans on it at some point. I explained that CP will eat anything, even an old shoe if it was on the plate, so his opinion doesn't count. I know it sounds harsh, but CP is known to eat Chef Boyardee right out of the can for breakfast and ask for seconds. Clearly, his taste buds are broken.
I told the manager that we had come to Chili's plenty of times and knew to expect the beans to be bad, but had never experienced the rice this way. I told him that the beans tasted as though they were poured directly from the can, as usual, but that not even the rice could save it this time. He promptly defended the corporate beans that arrived directly from the Chili's mother ship ready to be heated and served, but admitted that the rice appeared to be off color. Long story short, our server confirmed that the manager went to the kitchen, tasted the rice, and indeed did agree with me.
Now that I've walked you through our dinner experience at Chili's, I can finally get to my point. Notice how on both occasions, I told the restaurant staff that I expected the beans to be bad. I couldn't help but mull it over and I came to the conclusion that nobody should go to any restaurant expecting something to be bad. A few days ago, CP and I went to Burger King, which I rarely eat at, but was starving. I ordered a Whopper combo since it was cheaper than ordering the burger with the drink alone. When considering whether to order the fries or onion rings, my process of elimination involved deciding out of the two sucky side items, which one sucked less. Why??!
How is it possible that we've allowed ourselves to accept such blatant mediocrity and then go as far as to pay for it? Have we been brainwashed or have we really become that complacent? As for restaurants, would it kill you to serve good food? It's really not that difficult. In some cases, all you need to do is add some salt. I say we should no longer go places with low expectations. Instead, we must dine out with great expectations! Instead of lowering our standards to meet theirs, they should have to raise their standards to meet ours! We can not continue to accept mediocrity. Keep in mind that each time they're lowering their standards, they're not dropping their prices to reflect it, so don't take it anymore!
So make sure to add this to your 2012 New Year's Resolutions: Do not accept mediocrity from anyone, especially if you're expected to pay for it.
Like many families, we're currently on a bit of a tight budget, so a lot of these specials being offered by chain restaurants are pretty enticing. Tonight we went to Chili's to take advantage of their 2 for $20 deal, which includes an appetizer and two entrees. Not too shabby.
We've been there several times, so I know what to expect. Something I've always hated at Chili's is their rice and beans. Seriously, how is it even possible to mess that up? Anyhoo, I digress. As I was saying, I know what to expect: crappy beans and mediocre rice. However, on this occasion, I received crappy beans and crappy rice. That's simply unacceptable.
When the server came by to check on us, I told him the honest truth, "I'm sorry, but this rice tastes like shit". I let him know that I expected the beans to suck, but the rice blind sided me. He said he appreciated my honesty and that it was refreshing (See? Kudos to me). They forgot to do to the rice what they always fail to achieve with the beans: season it. The rice had no salt and it was simply awful. Normally, I can at least mask the crappy beans by mixing it with the mediocre rice, but what am I supposed to do when I get a double portion of crap? No amount of salsa in the world can fix that.
Our server offered me a different side item, which I happily accepted, but just as soon as he left our table, I overheard him gleefully recounting the incident with someone in the hallway. Within a minute, we had a manager at the table. He did his thing and asked about my complaint. I pointed out it was horrible and suggested that he go to the kitchen and taste it for himself, at which point he mentioned that my husband was joyfully scraping his plate clean, which had had rice and beans on it at some point. I explained that CP will eat anything, even an old shoe if it was on the plate, so his opinion doesn't count. I know it sounds harsh, but CP is known to eat Chef Boyardee right out of the can for breakfast and ask for seconds. Clearly, his taste buds are broken.
I told the manager that we had come to Chili's plenty of times and knew to expect the beans to be bad, but had never experienced the rice this way. I told him that the beans tasted as though they were poured directly from the can, as usual, but that not even the rice could save it this time. He promptly defended the corporate beans that arrived directly from the Chili's mother ship ready to be heated and served, but admitted that the rice appeared to be off color. Long story short, our server confirmed that the manager went to the kitchen, tasted the rice, and indeed did agree with me.
Now that I've walked you through our dinner experience at Chili's, I can finally get to my point. Notice how on both occasions, I told the restaurant staff that I expected the beans to be bad. I couldn't help but mull it over and I came to the conclusion that nobody should go to any restaurant expecting something to be bad. A few days ago, CP and I went to Burger King, which I rarely eat at, but was starving. I ordered a Whopper combo since it was cheaper than ordering the burger with the drink alone. When considering whether to order the fries or onion rings, my process of elimination involved deciding out of the two sucky side items, which one sucked less. Why??!
How is it possible that we've allowed ourselves to accept such blatant mediocrity and then go as far as to pay for it? Have we been brainwashed or have we really become that complacent? As for restaurants, would it kill you to serve good food? It's really not that difficult. In some cases, all you need to do is add some salt. I say we should no longer go places with low expectations. Instead, we must dine out with great expectations! Instead of lowering our standards to meet theirs, they should have to raise their standards to meet ours! We can not continue to accept mediocrity. Keep in mind that each time they're lowering their standards, they're not dropping their prices to reflect it, so don't take it anymore!
So make sure to add this to your 2012 New Year's Resolutions: Do not accept mediocrity from anyone, especially if you're expected to pay for it.
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