Humanistic Rights

On June 26, 2015 the Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal and what did I do?  I watch the media blaze up in controversy over a simple act, questioning motives and questioning what people were ACTUALLY saying when making statements (more like reading between the lines).

I came across religious opinions where a couple was going to divorce if same-sex marriage was allowed or people would kill themselves in protest. Now I have a religious background that I continually question and challenge, but correct me if I am wrong, is not divorce, suicide, or murder frowned upon in most religions?  How is this a protest against a sin when you are just going to commit another one?  What ever happened to 'two wrongs don't make a right'?  I guess I am a little confused at this action as it proves that those performing the protest are no better than those they are protesting against.  Well, throw that argument out the window.

Then I questioned the idea of 'separation of church and state,' which was an idea presented long ago by Thomas Jefferson.  I guess I find it ironic that some people will justify criticizing bad behavior with rules and specific guidelines, but when those individuals break those same set of rules, the rules do not apply. (Who died and made you king?- Yes, that is sarcasm).  When did we become such hypocrites to ourselves and to our neighbors?  I thought the United States was formed and with that the idea of freedom.  Oh there it is, the inevitable term. Freedom.

When I think of the term freedom I picture myself flying like a bird with nothing holding me back.  Should not our country not embrace this thought or theory?  Do you not realize that limiting someone else you are in return limiting yourself?

I guess I thought freedom was something that this country could be proud of like a badge of honor instead of a punishment of wearing a dunce cap.  Think about it.  We can live where we want, pursue whatever career we want, associate with whom we wish, or even stay in bed and eat pizza all day.

For me I wonder if people forgot to view those directly affected by this controversial topic that these are people you are condemning, actual human beings. I do not know about all religions, but from what I learned in my past is to take care of  your fellow human no matter the difference because we are all going to be held accountable for our actions in some shape or form; so instead of punishing someone for being different, why not take a moment to embrace why that person is different.  Why not embrace the person period?

I will say, however, that I embrace the change that is happening because it gives individuals the opportunity to stand out, to have a voice, or in this case specifically to profess love.  My religious background would not stand for that, but then again I am not the most religious person, spiritual maybe.  Another person's marriage does not have to affect me or my life negatively unless I chose to let it.  I have said it before in this blog and I stand by the sentiment that I am not going to miss getting to know an incredible person based on one small piece of that individual.  

We should be proud we can chose our religion.  We should be proud to chose our life partners.  We should be proud of our freedoms and we should be proud to have the opportunity to care other humanistic rights, our neighbors, or other individuals who may be in need.  I know I am proud of these things and proud that I can look past a derogatory judgmental label and see the human being that exists just like me.

(walks away singing 'red and yellow black and white they are precious in his sight.  Jesus love the little children of the world)......

An Employee's Value = The Value of an Employee

During the past month I have been thinking about work/employment, training, the value of one's work, and so on and so forth.  My job now may not be what I desire for a career, but compared to others it is something I chose to take as an experience to learn from and hopefully expand my worth as an employee.  You may wonder how I did that as some jobs can get monotonous and others are, well just jobs not careers because we all need money to survive.

Currently I work the night shift at a hotel, which I do not feel utilizes my full worth as an employee, but it has allowed me time to 'stop and smell the roses' so to speak.  I am able to stop and notice if not define my abilities.  I was raised to be a humble person, not to brag, and that a person gets noticed for the right reasons.  I guess you could almost compare me to a chameleon or even a remora.  I touched on this in another post before how I have a tendency to fade into the crowd, but in the professional world, especially while looking for a job, it is good to stand out.

So in the process of defining these 'talents' of mine I have changed my perspective of my current job.  Each shift I walk into the hotel with a mindset of what can I get done and how much of it can I finish.  I understand that many of the clerks at the front desk during the day are busy checking people into the hotel, organizing rooms, and probably checking certain transactions of the check ins.  I understand that much of the housekeeping staff is trying to finish cleaning in time for the people to check in.  Plainly stated like that means nothing to the average person. However, this information means a lot to me.

This patio looks great at the break of dawn with a cup of coffee.

For instance, if the hotel is fully booked today and fully booked tomorrow, but ten rooms needed extra towels for their families as do the rooms with whirlpools, this means laundry will need to be done so the housekeepers do not run out of towels for the next day's shift. What guest wants to walk into a freshly cleaned room with no towels? Not me.  So I do the laundry, I fold a couple loads, but I do not fold all of it as there is someone hired to specifically do this duty and I do not want to completely take away someone's job.  The goal here is to set the housekeeping staff up to be able to finish their job, which in turn will please our guests and not have the front desk do a follow up to deliver towels later.

In between loads of laundry, I also do some cleaning.  Yes, this may be on my professional check list, but I understand that the front desk may  not have the same opportunity to clean as I do, so I try to clean as much as needs to be cleaned so that when a guest comes in the front door there is a sense of relief or relaxation.  Business professionals or even families do not want to worry about comfort or even their health.  When I walk into a clean hotel all I want to worry about is how I am going to sleep and if there are any handsome men in the pool.  I do not want to worry about the smell, the toilet, the mud on the floor, etc.  With my cleaning I am able to offer this to people.  A fresh clean hotel for when they check in and in the morning when they check out.

Those tasks may not seem like much because it is not all I do, but the work I do on the reports it a bit more confidential to be put in this blog.  I wanted to basically touch base on the tasks above because during my shift I view the hotel as my home.  I have many rooms in my home with invited guests and want them to enjoy their stay so they come to visit again.  I make sure everyone makes it safely to their rooms to sleep for the night and come morning I try to greet everyone  and offer many of the adults coffee.  Not many people, that I know, like the morning.  It takes work to wake up and to process the brain to function.  I like to offer as much convenience as I can in the ease of that process, so that my guests leave with a smile.  This is the same opportunity I would offer someone staying at my personal home.  This is what a good host or hostess does.


So what am I there for?  I am there for professional comfort, stability, safety,  and support for my guests and the staff working behind me as I am the leadership while at the front desk.  Yes, I said 'my' because I am the person who is seen or even confronted at the control center (front desk) of the hotel.  That means I am responsible for when a guest has a complaint or when other staff needs information in correlation to that specific job.  I wished others had the same point of view not only at work, but in life that I do in the idea that 'let me help you, help me, help you.' Life would be a bit of a smoother ride and maybe the value of a person, specifically an employee in this case, would increase.  So what do I add to my resume?  To be vague 'valued employee who understands the value of other individuals.' ~yep, that's me. :D

Disclaimer: Pictures are provided by www.ihg.com.  These are actually from my workplace, but due to certain permissions needed, the identity of the hotel is not disclosed. ~ Thanks you

The Painful Journey of Healing

Sometimes life throws us a curve ball when we least expect it in order to guide us in the right path and sometimes that curve ball hits us so hard, maybe in the head, that it throws us off balance into shock to test our survival skills.  It was not until recently that I came across an idea...healing sometimes hurts worse than the actual pain.

I have come to the point in my life where anything I do I try to make sure that it counts for something, that it has meaning, or that it holds some specific value so I do not continuously waste my time.  I know that may sound a bit shrewd, but I want to experience as much as possible in my life and how can I do that if I am using that time on something that has no contribution?  This is probably a lesson I have learned more in association to people wondering how a person can keep giving of his/herself because eventually there is nothing left.  Maybe this is why I hold back, I want a little piece left over for myself so I do not lose myself again only to conform into something emulating some form of a zombie robot.  I tried that road once and still find it hard to forgive myself each day for it.

So little by little, step by step I allow myself to leak out knowing very well the potential consequences while my suit of armor is to 'hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.'  I made a mistake not that long ago.  I lost hope leaving only 'best, but prepare for the worst.'  Does that not sound like a battle cry?  I kept this theory with a friendship for the past few years until recently I was left standing alone in a parking lot trying to understand the situation that just  took place before my eyes where I was told not to care anymore and to let things end.

After  a jolt like that, it is hard to just pretend nothing happened and have life return to what it was before the incident because there are questions, concerns, and doubts.  Why was it so easy to walk away?  Was this not something of worth?  Who says you are not going to do it again?  These questions keep repeating inside my head and as I try to block them out I cautiously attempt to get answers through other sources...mind reading, of course. ;) (Yes, that is sarcasm).

Besides my questions I thought about my childhood and old habits.  I have discussed cutting on here before, which has always led me to a memory of high school biology class discussing the building blocks of cells and how they heal.  I recall the healing process of those blocks being put back together and that medication stings or the healing itches (like crazy!).  I then thought back to my friendship that has much value to me realizing that what took place is like those cuts.  The shallow ones heal quick, but the deep ones test you to see if you can repair the damage and endure the consequences (of itching).  I am not saying every wound heals perfectly and we all know it is never the same as before, but it is a lesson, a battle wound, or maybe something to add value.