Monday, March 7, 2011

Peer Pressure

Got a good nights sleep last and I'm ready to face the day and slay a windmill or two. As I get ready to go to work I was kind of wondering what the happiest jobs in the world are:

http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/03/04/the-10-happiest-jobs-in-america/?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl9%7Csec3_lnk2%7C204716

Yea, I am the sixth happiest! But I really am surprised that Customer Service is number two. Annoying people must be enjoyable. What surprises you?

Sometimes I have peanut butter toast for breakfast. Not going to be Skippy this morning:

http://www.walletpop.com/2011/03/06/skippy-peanut-butter-recalled-over-salmonella-fears/

Check your kitchen and your pantries and toss Skippy.

To quote an unknown man on his ninety-fifth birthday when he was asked what the best thing about being in his nineties was, "No peer pressure." But maybe peer pressure isn't that bad of a thing:

http://www.newsweek.com/content/newsweek/2011/03/06/the-healing-power-of-peer-pressure.html

Ok I want you all to put pressure on your peers to comment on today's post. That is after you comment of course.


WHO AM I?

I was born in 1822 and died in 1899. I was a French animalière, realist artist, and sculptor. As a painter I became famous primarily for two chief works: one depicts a team of oxen plowing a file attended by peasants set against a vast pastoral landscape; the second is about a horse fair. I am widely considered to have been the most famous female painter of the nineteenth century. I was the oldest child in a family of artists. My father was a landscape and portrait painter and an early adherent of Saint-Simonianism, a Christian-socialist sect that promoted the education of women alongside men. The Saint-Simonians also prophesied the coming of a female messiah. My mother who died when I was eleven, had been a piano teacher. My younger siblings included the animal painters and an animal sculptor. By family accounts I had been an unruly child and had a difficult time learning to read. To remedy this my mother taught me to read and write by having me select and draw an animal for each letter of the alphabet. Although I was sent to school like my brothers, sI was a disruptive force in the classroom and was expelled from numerous schools. I eventually went to art school and received a French government commission. One of the reasons I am famous today is that I was known for wearing men's clothing and living with women. When people questioned my clothing, I said wearing men's trousers was practical as it facilitated my work with animals. Have you ever been to THE HORSE FAIR. Go there and you will be able to answer the question, Who Am I?

4 comments:

Pat said...

Dear Don Quixote,

Glad to hear you're ready to tilt with windmills today. May they be easy ones to conquer.

Some of the "happy" jobs are surprising, and highest on that list is "Customer Service". I sure join you in finding it hard to imagine that can be a happy job. Certainly the customers are rarely happy with it.

I don't use Skippy anyway. I think it's one of those, along with Jif, that add sugar to their peanut butter. Yuck. I either get Laura Scudder's "natural" or Trader Joe's, usually the latter. Just peanuts and salt, or no salt if you prefer.

Okay, peers, I've weighed in, how about you?

Lady DR said...

I was as surprised as the two of you to find customer service up in the number two slot. Most folks calling c/s are not happy about something.

Safe on the peanut butter. We don't use Skippy.

The peer pressure article was interesting and I like the idea of using it as a positive motivator.

Next?

William J. said...

Hi Pat

I love the greeting. Don was always one of my favorite characters.

Dear Don Quixote,

Glad to hear you're ready to tilt with windmills today. May they be easy ones to conquer.

I would have ranked customer service about as low as you could get.

I didn't know those companies added sugar, now I am going to be more careful. Thank you.

Thanks for pressuring people to comment!

Bill

William J. said...

Hi DR

All of us were surprised at the customer service ranking. Listening to people complain all day can't really be all that much fun.

Glad you don't use Skippy.

She did turn a negative into a positive my using peer pressure as a motivator.

And thanks for joining Pat in pressuring peers to comment.

Bill