I had an epiphany recently. It came after reading this article, then seeing someone post some obscure quote on Facebook that was most likely used completely out of context to fulfill some random occurrence. I made the effort to see who the author was and did a little research on him. Yep, sure enough, the person who posted it, not only misinterpreted what was said, but insulted the person who had said it. What makes it even worse is that they used the ubiquitous “u” for “you” in the post.

I’m not going to make this blog about how the youth of today appear to speak in short-hand or how, due to linguistic acclimation, we have a posteriori nearly created new languages (spanglish anyone?) But I did want to share some of my thoughts on why this is the case. 

I will complete 30 years on earth come November. While many from my generation have and will approach it with grace, I know there are some who do fret about the big 3-0 and beyond.

I’m not going to say you’re not getting older. You are. Your body’s cells are dying off at an incredible rate and having a harder time regenerating. You are not, physically, the same person you were when you were 20, and you won’t be the same person you are now, when you’re 40, and so on and so forth.

I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish. As a matter of fact, I didn’t  even pick it up until I was in college. As a kid, every summer when we went to visit family, my sister acted as my personal interpreter. I didn’t mind, heck, I  didn’t even know any better. 

Then, for whatever reason, the light turned on in my head and I became interested in learning it. I took every course I could in Spanish, and I even studied in Spain so I could have no excuse but to speak it.  

There's something about being in a foreign country that's very cleansing. This thought takes me back to when I started traveling. The rush of excitement when taking that first step out of customs, the relief of stepping into the hotel, and the tightly wrapped package of anticipation of what I'm gonna do once I get there all reverberate the memories and experiences I've had.

For the longest time I have hemmed and hawed at promotion. Around 2007 I started playing the rat race game and that experience has yielded some interesting observations. Granted, not all situations are the same, and I am in no way discouraging anyone with ambitions of promotion. I just figured that I would impart some helpful advice for people wanting to promote or otherwise become a leader amongst the people they work with. In other words, use this information at your own risk, and use some common sense before giving up any aspirations for advancement. 
Okay, here it goes…

As part of my heritage I come from a large extended family. On my mother's side I have two aunts and three uncles. My father comes from a family of 9 boys.

This weekend, one of my father's brother's passed away.

Of course, hearing the news as I was readying for work caused a traffic jam of reactions. Should I call into work? Should I drive down there right now? Should I send my condolences from home? Flowers? Cards? Wait for my parents to come down then go?