Last month, Facebook was filled with happy pictures of lots of parents dropping
their children off at college and setting up cute dorm rooms,
all of which is a wonderfully exciting time. Congratulations to you all!
You’ve worked many years to get your children to this point.

Some freshmen are filled with dreams and aspirations, while others are excited to be at college, but have no idea what they want to do career-wise, and that’s alright. While I had a great career in marketing, I didn’t find what I really wanted to do until I was 38 years old, but I know my years spent at college helped me get there. A college education expands far beyond academics. In fact, most graduates come out of college knowing more about how to persevere, how to get along with people, how to say no to a party in order to make it to graduation, and how to negotiate (or plead) with professors than understanding the ins and outs of business law, or calculating odds in statistics.

“I am just a girl chasing her dreams and
having an amazing adventure.”
— Madeline Stuart —

You have probably seen the popular phrase #GirlBoss on coffee mugs, T-shirts, journal covers and the like, but it is not a new concept. Women have been large and in charge forever, just ask Cleopatra. Millions of women have worked diligently and fearlessly to get our gender where we are today. However, even when it seemed women were oppressed, they still had the power in them. I can almost guarantee they were the boss of something.

Stop. drop and be reasonable. Before you leave that scathing review about how your server didn’t bring your ketchup timely, or rush to get your child their fourth Coke, please employee reason before you tear down and damage someone’s hard-earned business with intolerance and unreasonable expectations.

I am not a reviewer. Why? Probably because I have no desire to be the authority on everything, but more importantly, I am a business owner, and I understand and respect the incredible amount of dedication and hard work that goes into making a company run.

“The lesson is don’t confuse living out “loud”, with just being ‘loud,’”
— Elizabeth Skenes Millen —

I believe those who live the “loudest” are not “loud” at all; the most impactful people are those who are kind, humble, loving, giving and understanding, even when others are not kind, humble, loving, giving or understanding to them. Do you get how mentally strong and secure one has to be to do this? Especially in this pitiful day and age when throwing the middle finger up, or yelling obscenities, is the norm.

People have great expectations, except maybe when it comes to their children helping with the dishes. However, when it comes to answering a text message or a phone call, people expect urgency, immediacy…right now!

And, many get angry if they are not responded to within seconds.
Texting is out of control. People text at all hours with no regard to family time, business hours (and non-business hours), sleep or even school. Yes, many parents text their children throughout the school day. At what point did it become acceptable for moms to text their children during class? What is so important it can’t wait until after school?

What lesson is this teaching children? Why do people—
parents, students, teachers and school administrators—think this is OK?