How Do You Sign?

Yesterday, I found myself sitting down and writing out a congratulations-on-the-baby card. This action in itself is something of a new phenomenon, one that no doubt in the near future will become a regular occurrence, but when I got to the end of the card, I didn’t know how to sign it. I yelled out to my partner if he wanted to sign it “love” but he said no, but to instead write “Best Wishes”. This got me thinking; what is the appropriate way to sign things?

On the same day, I was also writing out a wedding card (not to the same couple but perhaps Hallmark could look into that; congratulations on the nuptials and the gift from Mr Stalk!) but this time it was for close friends, so the obvious way to sign the card would be with “love.” But the baby card people are friends of my partner that although he has known for years, they weren’t close enough to state love. Or is that a male thing?

This all reminded me of an episode of Sex and the City when Samantha is dating her boss Richard and he is showering her with extravagant gifts, but signing “Best, Richard” on the cards. It’s not exactly what you would want written on a card from someone who you are currently attached to, but until those three gargantuan words, “I love you” are spoken, best or from seems to be the safe option.

I was faced with another signing dilemma the other day when I wrote in a work colleague’s all-the-best-for-the-future card. I liked her and enjoyed our time working together, but wasn’t friendly enough to write love but thought “from” was too cold. I looked at what other people had written and some had written nothing at all but a heart followed by their name. Undecided, I simply signed my name with a smiley face. I thought I had ticked the friendly but not too friendly box without being distant. After being happy with my choice, I just hoped she could read my writing.

When applying for a job, we sign, “Yours sincerely”, “Yours truly” or “Respectively yours”. We don’t know the person we are writing too, sometimes you don’t even have a name, but you don’t want to come across as too friendly or un- professional. You want to impress. When hundreds of resumes and cover letters all sound and look the same (with a lot of creative license no doubt) you want to be remembered, but for the right reasons.

Email etiquette has added a whole new level of what is polite and over-friendly. The standard signing off for a work email is “Kind Regards”. If you are familiar with the person or are replying to an email conversation, the best response would be simply just to sign off with “Regards” followed by your name. But with friends and family you could reply with love and xoxo’s and “hope this finds you well”, depending on how friendly/close you are with them. You wouldn’t sign off with “from” like you would a letter. But emails can get complicated when the format can be far more casual and you don’t want the person to get the wrong impression.

Have you have ever had a situation where you have signed “love” and the other person has felt weird about it? This could have been a friend, potential partner or accidently a work colleague. Have you been at the receiving end of an awkward signing? Let me know your thoughts and the different ways you sign.

Don't Be A Dickhead

The TAC have released their new campaign, "Don't Be A Dickhead" the following link is the first of a series of ads.

The ads are aimed at the young. Do you think it's effective? Or making a mockery of the situation?

Let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzCjtGl0sXk

Nanny State? Webber, You Bloody Idiot

Perhaps the Government had Mark Webber in mind when they created their controversial new slogan “you’re a dickhead.” Deputy Police Commissioner Ken Lay probably thinks so.

Webber has been in the middle of a tangled web that has spun bigger and bigger since he defended Lewis Hamilton’s actions of doing a burnout and a fishtail last Friday night. Hamilton was seen by police officers performing the burnouts on St Kilda Road and consequently had his car impounded and received a summons for inappropriate use of a vehicle. The former World Champion hid his face in shame as the media caught wind of his little misdemeanour. Was it embarrassment of being caught or embarrassment over the fact that he alleged had a passenger in the vehicle with him, whose life, he put at risk?

Webber and Hamilton are paid thousands to be the fastest and the best on the track. They have millions worldwide looking up to them and wishing they were them. Being in the spotlight, they have a responsibility to be safe off and on the track.

Grand Prix boss Ron Walker supported Hamilton’s actions and blamed it on a once off, snap decision. “I know Lewis Hamilton well and he spends a lot of his time talking to young people about road safety.” Walker said. Perhaps he’s had too many bumps on the track and has forgotten?

Enter Mark Webber. Webber blamed Hamilton’s punishments as a result of Australia being a Nanny State. “It’s a great country, but we’ve got to be responsible for our actions and it’s certainly a bloody Nanny State when it comes to what we can do.” Webber then went on to say that you had to “dodge the ridiculous speeding and parking rules” that we have in Australia.

I’m sure Ken Lay and the 6 families that had loved ones affected by road trauma this past weekend wouldn’t agree. To say that Ken Lay was more than disappointed with Mark Webber’s comments is an understatement. “It’s really disappointing. Mark Webber is in a position where he’s got the ability to influence our road users,” the Deputy Police Commissioner said. “That’s after a weekend which left six dead, four of them attributed to speeding.”

With the Easter break coming up the police are worried that this will be our worst road death toll in five years. We already have 11 more dead than this time last year.

So what do you think? Are our road rules too strict? Is Mark Webber right, or should he have made a visit to The Alfred Hospital, and visited the trauma unit and see up close and personal what speed and breaking “the rules” can do?

TAC 20 Years

Tomorrow night at 8.30, the TAC ask us to watch the road toll halve in three minutes.

It has been 20 years since the first TAC ad appeared on Australian television and since then we have been forced to think about our actions and the repercussion we may feel, in the form of destroyed lives, hopes and dreams, mangled limbs and pulverised brains.

Tomorrow night, at 8.30 make sure you are watching either 7, 9, 10 or SBS to hear the TAC's message.

Do yourself a favour and click on the following link http://www.youtube.com/tac?gl=AU&hl=en-GB

And remember, if you drink and drive, you're a bloody idiot.

Quote Of The Day

"It is better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life." -Sister Kenny

Quote Of The Day

"The one who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."-Anonymous

Booze Hours Clipped

The Sunday Age reported today that three of Melbourne's CBD 24-hour bottle shops hours have been clipped do try and curb alcohol-fuelled violence.

The Liquor Licensing Commission has been forced to act due to police and public pressure to try and solve the violent problems in Melbourne.

Will this help diminish alcohol-fulled violence? Or just push the violence to an earlier hour?

I don't believe that slashing bottle shop times will change anything. If people want to get drunk, they will get drunk. What really needs to be looked at is the responsible serving of alcohol in pubs and clubs and even restaurants to not give already intoxicated people more alcohol. I understand that at most places it is dark and the bar is often crowded and you're so busy you may not even being that much attention yo who you are serving. But guess what, to be serving alcohol legally in the first place, you need to have obtained an RSA certificate, which means you have learnt that it is illegal to serve an intoxicated person. You need to be paying attention.

I know many mangers and bar owners will not be happy to read this and having worked in hospitality, I know that the bar is the main money earner but at what price?

Most people going to bottle shops are at a home environment and in the suburbs. Violence is still happening there too, so maybe the Liquor Licensing Commission should look further out and crackdown on venues rather then bottle shops.

What do you think? Will this help curb alcohol-fuelled violence, or is it just a scheme for the Liquor Licensing Commission to be seen to be doing something?

Smack Out Of It

On an issue that many may think would divide the nation, a whopping 90% of Australians believe it is OK to smack a child.

According to polls where almost 8000 Australians voted, 90% and more believe that it is OK to give a child a quick smack to remind them that what they have done is wrong. No one is condoning belting a child, and there is a large gap between abuse and a smack but in an age where everyone is so righteous, the poll results shock.

The issue of smacking flared up again recently when Victorian mother Claire Davidson received a knock on the door from the police who promptly informed her that if she hits her child with a wooden spoon again she would be charged with assault with a weapon. I'm not sure about you, but last time I stirred a bowl, I didn't use a deadly weapon.

Claire Davidson's daughter, who is 9, was participating in a classroom discussion when she told her class her mum hits her with a wooden spoon. Her teacher then informed a school support worker who contacted the police.

When did it become a crime to reprimand your child? When did we become so precious? Our Tasman friends the New Zealanders know all about punishing children. In 2007 it became illegal to use force to discipline your child. If parents are seen to be doing so they could be charged and turn into criminals overnight.

A recent argument put forward against smacking is that it will in fact lower your child's IQ. American (where else?) psychologist Murray Straus found that children who were smacked by their parents scored an IQ 5 points lower then those children who were not physically disciplined.

A quick poll around my office found that the majority if not all, showed no problem of smacking a child. One mother said, "Don't tell me off for smacking my kids and then when their 16 tell me to control them. If they don't learn respect and what's right and wrong from a young age, what hope is there for them?"

One can't help but to ask is this why there so many violent attacks happening? Youths of today know, no boundaries and lack respect for people their own age, older and authority figures.

So what's your opinion? Is smacking a form of abuse or a way to discipline a child every now and then?

Fire Safe; Are You Ready?

The Brumby Government in co-operation with the CFA, have released a new fire safety policy that helps to prevent the tragedy that was Black Saturday.

You would have to be living under a rock to not know about Black Saturday so I will skip over the horrific facts and bring to your attention the Brumby Government scheme. Tell me your thoughts and whether or not this is enough to help prevent, Australia’s worse natural diaster from happening again:

The biggest change is the introduction of a new Fire Danger Rating Policy. This policy contains six categories of danger: Code Red-Catastrophic, Extreme, Severe, Very High, High and Low Moderate.

CODE RED, CATASTROPHIC: If you live in a bush fire prone area your safest option is to leave the night before or early in the morning.

EXTREME: Leave early in the morning or you can stay on your property if you are well planned, have a well constructed home and you can defend your property.

SEVERE: Leave your property early in the morning or say if you can protect and defend your home.

VERY HIGH: If you live in a high-prone area, you should leave at the beginning of the day.

HIGH: Go over your bush fire survival plan and make sure you’re ready if the time comes for you to flee.

LOW MODERATE: Check your bushfire plan.

This policy however doesn’t give any form of authorities the power to forcibly remove anyone from their property. That decision still lies firmly with the owner. But will anyone take that risk? Would you after what happened on Black Saturday?

It has also been estimated that the freakish weather conditions of February 7th, will happen at least once more this summer. It’s not only up to the Government or the CFA, local councils have to do there bit too. The Dandenong Ranges have been ravaged recently with a mass clean up (or clean out) of trees. This is NOT the way to go.

Allow local fire authorities to back burn the possible hot spots and clean up debris and scrub. This won’t stop fires from happening, but it will rob them of fuel.

So, with the fire season officially beginning on October 28, I ask you, the very people who could be affected, is the Government’s new fire policy enough to help prevent another Black Saturday?

Quote Of The Day

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change we seek." Barack Obama

Welcome!

Welcome to the re-launch of GOAS. I've changed things around a little bit (I get bored very easily and constantly need mental stimulation) and this time next week it will probably look different again, but for now, enjoy the revamped and hopefully regular posts that are from the Girl On The Soapbox.

Girl On A Soapbox comments on the issues that effect those that live in Australia and sometimes around the world on all sorts of issues and encourages debates and friendly discussions.

So sit, back type and join in the discussions on GOAS.

The Do's and Don'ts of Customer Service Etiquette

DO be patient if you join a phone queue; your call really is important and a customer service attendant will speak to you as soon as they can.

DON'T be rude and cranky when your call is finally answered. It is not the customer service attendants fault you had to wait so long.

DO be pleasant and polite as this will get you much further with your customer service attendant.

DON'T be abusive and dismissive. This is likely to get you an "accidental" hang up or a transfer to another department.

DO multi-task when being transferred to said department and end up in another long queue. Perhaps you could clean, play solitaire or do a crossword. It will make the time you're wasting, appear to go faster and you will have the rewarding feeling of achievement, rather than resentment.

DON'T tell your life story to every customer service attendant you speak too. Be polite and succinct. Know what you want to say. Don't try to think off the cuff. It will waste your time and the customer service attendants time too.

DO thank your customer service attendant even if you don't really want too. You may have to deal with them again and you want them to have fond memories of you.

DON'T cuss and curse as if the customer service attendant did you a personal wrong.

DO take note of the person you speak too. In the future you may have to make reference to the call and it is quicker (and helps you back your claim) when you can note whom and when you spoke.

DON'T continue your conversation with whoever is in the room with you, once your call has been picked up. You're wasting your time, their time and you are more then likely to get hung up on and have to start the whole process once more.

Quote Of The Day

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."- Eleanor Roosevelt

Quote Of The Day

"Mistakes are the portals of discovery."

-James Joyce

Melbourne; The Most Livable City?

Not to give away my age, but not too long ago, I was heading into the city most Thursday and if I had recovered, most Saturday nights too. Now the majority of the time we managed to miss any fights picked within our group, but we did see some fights over the years. Most of the time we didn't hang around and got out of their pretty quick but I dont ever remember their being so much violence.

The fights we witnessed were usaully one guy on another. Not a whole group of guys verse one and the minute someone hit the ground, or drew blood, fight over. No one got kicked while on the ground. No one was so badly hurt that they were put in a coma or brain damaged. No one used to pick a fight with the guys trying to break up the fight.

Recenty, Sly of the Underworld told 3AW listeners that at a recent police convention, past and present members of the force agreed that their had been a considerable rise in violence in the city.

Why is it we are hearing (what seems) everyday that someone has been bashed? Abused? Parents losing their cool at junior football games? Road rage? What has changed in our society over the last 10 or so years?

Can drugs and alcohol be solely to blame or does it go further then that? Their are new drugs on the streets compared to 10 years ago and perhaps that is to blame, but why are sober people snapping? What happened to the attitude: do unto others as you would have them do unto you? Is their some sort of pack mentality?

Try and remember the last time a stranger did something nice for you. Maybe a stranger smiled at you. Let you into the next lane? Let you cut in front of them at the shops becasue you had less items? Said excuse me? Please? THANK YOU?

If you can't remember the last time someone did this for you, this is my point. If you can remember, please share it and restore our faith in the human spirit and your thoughts on why Melbourne has become so violent.

Do you feel safe going out in Melbourne? Do you think twice?