DEAR FRIENDS,
What kind of employee are you?  If you had to employ someone, what kind of person would you hire?  A recent encounter with a cashier in a public office has me thinking.
“Madam…”, the cashier said, making stabbing motions, with her  pen, at my cheque.  Because of the voices in the packed room, and she was behind plexiglass, I could not hear her.  Maybe she was saying that I had written the wrong sum on the cheque – the bill had two figures. 
“No, it’s correct,” I said.
She tried to explain but I still could not hear.  “If you could speak up, then I’d hear you,” I said.
She spoke up, angry, “If you listened then you…”
“Okay, so what is the problem?” I interrupted.
I had written the wrong date.  As she passed the cheque to me, she shook her head, rolled her eyes, looking at the other cashier.  After the problem was sorted out, and she had stamped my receipt, I smiled.  “Thank you,” I said.
Slowly, she leaned back in her chair.  Her face was stone-cold.  Her eyes were filled with (what seemed to me) pure hate.  I froze, shocked.  What would make someone react like this, unable to overcome a slight, impersonal misunderstanding in a public office?
Later, an elderly aunt suggested that the cashier works in a stressful place. 
“Then she should try being a nurse, a doctor or a teacher,” I remarked.  “At least she’s in a cool room.  The metre-reader walks in the blazing sun, yet he smiles.”
That same day, the metre-reader came to our home.  I described the encounter, the place and the girl, to him.  “Yes, that is the girl,” he laughed.  “That is exactly her.”
From his comments I realised that she behaves this way towards her co-workers.  I felt sympathy for them and for her supervisors.
I have often heard employers complaining how difficult it is, today, to find workers with good customer-relations skill.  For a person to be employable, he or she should handle minor differences with maturity, in a pleasant manner.  The employee should leave emotional baggage at home.
What do you think?  Write to the Chronicle or email savannahwomenscircle@gmail.com.
savannah

CRAFTY LADY.
Pretty Plastic Bottle Container (from last week).
You have cut the scalloped tops on your two plastic bottles; you are ready to complete your project.
Get your glue, sequins, pictures or photos.  Paste your decorations on the outside of one of the bottles.
When the glue is dry, place this decorated container inside the second, undecorated bottle.  This way, you will protect your art.
It’s that simple!
Paste family photographs and keep forever.  Decorate with sequins and glitter or dried leaves and flowers.  Cut the bottles shorter and make small cups – fill with flowers for party tables.
More next week…

EARTH WOMAN.
The Floating Garbage-Dump.
We are turning our oceans into garbage-dumps.  If you sail hundreds of miles from land, you can see anything from fridges to tiny pieces of plastic floating.

This distressing situation was discovered by Captain Charles J. Moore in 1997.  He and his crew were returning to California after a sailing race.  As they passed the North Pacific Gyre, Captain Moore witnessed a heart-breaking scene.  Instead of pure water there was, as far as the eye could see, plastic.

Later, in an essay for Natural History, Captain Moore wrote, “It seemed unbelievable, but I never found a clear spot.”

It took him one week to cross that place.  He wrote, “…no matter what time of day I looked, plastic debris was floating everywhere: bottles, bottle caps, wrappers, fragments…Here I was in the middle of the ocean and there was nowhere I could go to avoid the plastic.”

How did this happen?  The swirling currents of the gyre trap almost anything floating by.  Year after year, new garbage joins the old in those currents.  Because of this, the rubbish-dump in the North Pacific Gyre has grown.  It is now the size of Texas or bigger.  Sadly, this is not the only floating dump.  There are five or six; one is in the Atlantic.

Who’s responsible for the creation of these ocean-dumps?  We all are.  If you dispose of garbage in plastic bags; when you dump toothbrushes; toothpaste tubes; plastic bottles; make-up containers; if you sell detergent in plastic containers; if you have a bakery and you put bread in plastic bags; as long as you buy, sell, dump a product that comes with plastic, you can take some of the blame.  Eighty percent of the trash worldwide ends up in the oceans.  Heavy rains wash it from inland, into rivers, canals and other waterways, into the sea.

How does this affect us?  More next week…

HOW TO…
…Market your skills.
You are not running a big business; you are simply trying to market your gift-baskets, your hand-embroidered tee-shirts; your skill as a private tutor or caterer.  You have placed an ad in the papers; you are organised, polite; you treat your customers well.  Now, you would like to attract even more customers.  You are young; you do not have connections with “important” people.  What should you do?
Link your skills to the news.  Write a letter to the media, explaining how your skill is relevant to what is happening today.
Get out there and talk.  If you are going on radio and television, do the following:
Speak good English – it gives you an air of authority.  Besides, speaking well gives you confidence.
Know your skill inside out – explain why you are different from, and better than, the competition.
For television, dress smart.  Button your blouse; leave the hot-girl look for parties.  Avoid bling – wear neat jewellery.  Underplay your make-up – don’t use too much eye-liner or lipstick.  These small details go far towards making you look either flashy or professional.
Next week: business cards and more…

BEAUTIFUL YOU…INSIDE & OUT.
Things that make you feel good (cont’d from last week).
Some people seem to move through life with ease.  Yes, they have their share of troubles, and they talk about them.  Yet they go through each day without stress controlling them, without it showing on their faces and behaviour towards others.  How do they manage to stay beautiful inside and out?  Here are some of their secrets.

Do a good deed.  Helping someone else takes your mind off your troubles.  It makes you feel good about yourself and this can lift your spirit in ways you cannot imagine.

Go for a walk; dig in your garden – breathe deeply.  Look at nature.  Being outdoors is great for many reasons.  It helps you to focus on something positive, rather than dwelling on your troubles.  Nature refreshes, relieves stress.  The exercise, even mild, can lift your mood, studies show.  Think of it as revitalizing the mind, rather than exercising.

Have a hearty laugh.  Look at a comedy; telephone a funny friend.  Laughter produces dopamine, the chemical which lifts mood, reduces pain and stress and boosts our immune system.   Researchers at Stanford University can prove this.  On MRI scans, they saw changes in a certain part of the brain when we take part in enjoyable activities.  That part of the brain – the nucleus accumbens – releases the dopamine which makes us feel great.
More feel-good secrets next week…

Enjoy the rest of your week, ladies.  Be good to you, take care of you.