Sports teams in hotels

How often have you been in a hotel only to discover that there is a sports team also staying in the same hotel and even on the same floor that you are staying on. Well that does happen quite often considering all the hockey, baseball and soccer tournaments that are held through the year.

The sports team that I am meaning don't just mean the teens or younger it also means the adult sports teams that think just because they are away from home can miss behave. I had a hockey team once staying just across the hall from us and they were adults and figured that the language that they used was fine other than everyone else on the floor also got to hear what they were saying. These adults also figured that letting the door bang every time someone went in or out of the room was fine. This was the room where everyone gathered to drink so a lot of banging of doors. It ended up that security was called because of the language that was being used and the constant banging.

I have also been in a hotel where you wouldn't have guessed that there was a younger hockey team unless you saw them coming and going from the different hockey games. Those parents must be congratulated for how the team behaved because it was wonderful seeing how the parents and players interacted and behaved. That is a major exception to the rule because there was one team that when they were gathering to go out to play figured leaving all their hockey bags all over the lobby was OK because they needed breakfast. Of course the players didn't think about everyone else that was also coming down for breakfast when they put their bags down.

What I would really like to see is some guidelines that both the team and the hotel put in place for the larger groups of people that are staying at a hotel. I don't even care if these guidelines are given to wedding parties or conferences because all the larger groups need to realize that they aren't the only ones that are staying at the hotel.

If you are with a large group and staying at a hotel please remember that there are others also staying there and the other guests are paying for their rooms as well. A hotel isn't a home so respect it as you are a guest there and do you really want your group to be kicked out or banded from staying there again.

Finding a quiet place

In the world today it is so hard to find a quiet place. There are times where you think you might have found the place then something happens to change your mind.

A quiet place can be almost anywhere depending on what you are really looking for. It could be as simple as a room without music, sitting in a backyard, or by a lake without a lot of people around. I like any of these spots depending on what is available at the time.

Knowing that you can find a spot sometimes is very important. The ability to really appreciate the spot is also something you need to do. The time spent in that quiet spot may last for hours or for just a few minutes but it is having that time.

For me when I can have that time I normally curl up and write. A quiet place for me is somewhere that I can sit, think and write out my thoughts.

Knowing you can find the place is important. Understanding what you want in that place is also something you need to know. Your quiet place could be somewhere entirely different than mine.

Find your quiet place and enjoy it. I'm currently enjoying one of my quiet places right now.

Being Me

There are times when I can laugh when I hear someone talk about me. We have been among a group of people lately and one younger lady was trying to tell her friends who I was.

It is interesting when you can hear what someone else thinks of you and your skills because of course people see you differently than you see yourself. I have had some different experiences when listening to people talk about me and the various skills that I have. A lot of the times it is great to hear the different opinions on my skills levels. There was one time that the person was saying I was just showing off and really couldn't do what I said I could do. To solve that problem I then went on to show both of the people that I wasn't just talking about doing something I was able to do it without a problem. If you think that I can't do something that I have said that I can do ask me to show you and you will find out that I don't say I can do something if I can't.

I enjoy being who I am and just hearing what someone else things can be very interesting. Yes, you have to understand that not everyone is going to have a good opinion of you but that doesn't matter. As long as you aren't saying something that is totally untrue I don't care what you say as it is your opinion of who I am.

I am me and I am very happy with being the person that I have become. Of course there are still things that I am changing and improving so I will continue to be a unique individual and be me.

Having an opinion

Recently I had to deal with an individual that had an opinion on topics (pig headed) and their stand was their opinion was right and it didn't matter what anyone else had to say.

Yes, everyone is allowed to have their own opinion on a subject but they also need to have the ability to listen to other people and their opinion. I figured out how to deal with this individual and it is just to give up trying to say what my opinion is because it is just a waste of my time and energy.

In some cases it is very important to listen to someone else and what they have to say because you may find out that your opinion isn't right. I know that after I have listen to someone else's opinion on a subject I have sometimes changed my own opinion because of the points they have brought forward on the subject.

There are times when it is good to try and convey your opinion to others but then there are times when it is just easier to give up and forget the topic has even been brought up in a discussion. An opinion is something that everyone has on a lot of subjects and you should be able to state your opinion.

I know that I could have argued with the individual that I had to deal with but I figured that it really wasn't worth my time or energy. I have my opinion and I did say it and a lot of other people agreed with my points but this one individual I don't think would ever really admit that their opinion on something wasn't the correct opinion.

Yes please have your opinion on a subject but also listen to what other people are saying as they may have some really good points you haven't heard before

Misplaced and expired license stickers

While sitting in traffic you may noticed the number of expired license plate stickers you see? I have noticed that, some people don't notice or care that they are driving a vehicle where the sticker on the plates have expired. As a driver it is your responsibility to ensure that your license plate is up to date. I was sitting in a traffic jam and the vehicle in front of us had a sticker for Jan14 and it was May 14 so that was a truly expired plate sticker.

The other thing you notice is that at least in Ontario your sticker for a personal vehicle is suppose to be in the upper right hand corner of the plate. I think I have seen stickers in every area of the plate which is a ticketable offense. It must be interesting when these vehicles are pulled over by police, how do you explain why the sticker isn't in the location it is suppose to be.

Back plates with no stickers and stickers on front plates of a car. In Ontario, the sticker is to be on the back plate. This makes me wonder if the license plates really belong to the vehicle they are currently on.

Another thing to notice is the condition of the back license plate on vehicles. Some plates look like they have seen really bad days but the front plate is in mint condition. It really makes you wonder if people are tampering with their license plates making them hard to read from behind. This is an issue when you are trying to report a vehicle for breaking the law or even for some of the toll highways to read the license plates.

The license plate is a means of identifying the vehicle so make sure it is in good condition.

Dealing with difficult situations

As a consultant, I deal with informing clients about good and bad situations. The good situations are easy to deal with. It's the bad situations which are hard to tell clients.

In some cases it's about a piece of equipment that needs to be replaced and other times it could be a situation that has been discovered while trying to document something. It doesn't matter what type of situation it is, if it's going to cost the client some unexpected money or time it isn't something that I like telling them.

If you go into a client site and you are asked to find problems and give recommendations that is one thing but it's the finding of the unexpected problems which are the worst. In some cases it can be a quick fix and another time it can require a great deal of time or money and in some cases both time and money.

I recently had a situation that I had to let management know of a situation that wasn't going to be pleasant and it was extremely difficult for me. I knew that no matter how I worded the situation it was going to result in some unhappy people. As you can guess, I let them know the situation and sure enough some unhappy people. Yes, the client needed to know the issue and it was my job to disclose the situation once I discovered it, which I did. Once I told the client the issue I knew that I was going to have some upset staff as well as management and that is what I had. The good news is once the initial shock wore off they understood that I hadn't been out to find the problem, it just got discovered in me doing my normal work.

Situations like this are always difficult no matter if it's to a client, partner, child or someone you supervise. No one likes delivering the bad news but there are times when it has to be delivered.

Dealing with the difficult situations can assist someone in understanding what you do, your method of working, as well as finding out something that can be improved in their area. Deal with the situation in a professional manner and know that you are doing the right thing by letting them know. It's better to tell them of the situation than them find out about the situation another way and you getting questions about why you didn't tell them.

Know that you can deliver the news and it be received in the manner that you intended it is very important. Also having ideas to help solve the problem can really help instead of just delivering the bad news. The most important thing is know how you are going to deliver the news and make sure you can prove it.

Customer service

Knowing how to deal with customers is very important especially when in the retail business. For us even being in the consulting business knowing how to deal with customers is very important.

Here are some things that have happened and these are situations that shouldn’t be happening:

1. Things a cashier should never say “Customer service is open, I can’t handle all of you” and this was heard while standing in line at an express line at a grocery store. Does this person want a job for long? The lineup wasn’t long and most people had one or two items. The express line was for customers with 8 or less items.
2. Trying to find a bakery department in a grocery store under renovation – walk through store looking for sign but cannot find one, go to where the bakery section was, ask and be told to go to the new section of the store. Finally locate some cakes under a large sign that says “Produce”. Ask where I can pick up a cake that was ordered, one guy goes to find someone in the back of bakery, comes back talks to another produce guy and then goes to the 3 meat department guys only to have 4 guys go out the back and page someone from bakery. Finally get someone from baker to find the cake. Yes this is what you can say is a confusing situation. When a store is under renovation, signs are very important if you want to keep your customers.
3. Staff that don’t see all customers and only select who they want to serve and this isn’t something that should be done. All customers in a store should be treated the same as the next person no matter what. Also staff has walked into me and then said they didn’t see me and that is difficult considering I am over 5 foot tall. If you are in a store you should be treated with respect and also understand that you need to treat the staff with respect.

Customer service is very important because staff can impact if a customer will return to the store or business again and what if they speak favourable about the location or not. Word of mouth can really effect a business.