"I Never Met a Female IT Person Before"

While setting up a laptop for a visitor, he looked at me with disbelief and said, "I never met a female IT person before.  And you are the IT person?"

No, I did not do the man thing and deck him.  Without skipping a beat, I simply said, "You've led a sheltered life."

There is no shortage of men who say the wrong thing.  There is no shortage of women who have to allow it.  There is no shortage of positions that aught to be filled by women because the men are too busy playing corporate games to be truly effective at their jobs.  Male management is so busy doing the "male-bonding" with customers through the corporate hunting trips to Mexico and the "I'll-bag-a-bigger-one-than-you" trips to Montana it is a wonder they actually manage anything except to post the photos and slap each other on the back.  Let's not forget the box seats at the football games with the local favorite.  All this to impress customers (?).  Of course. Heh, heh.

Yes there are business occasions where wives are invited.  There are the yearly Christmas dinners for the ignorant masses they hired.  That's right.  I forgot.  They don't invite everyone.  They only invite a select few.  The ones who work their tales off just get the bird.  They get a piece of meat for their efforts throughout the year.  They get the same thing that is given to corporate neighbors.  Isn't that special?

I don't believe I have ever met a corporate butt-head who could pass up an opportunity to turn a social occasion into a business meeting simply so they could claim it as a business expense.  Give it a rest guys!

A fraud by any other name is still a fraud.  A birthday party is supposed to be a family celebration, not a time that you invite people you barely know in order to impress them with the love you do not show your family.  A wedding is the same.  It is a celebration you have been asked to be a part of, not a backdrop to drum up new business or even find a job.  If it happens that way, fine.  But don't schedule it that way.

While you are busy having fun promoting your business or relaxing at your campsite board meeting your marriage and your testimony is going to Hell and you are paving the way.  If you have to impress your customers with $100,000.00 box seats because your product is shaky, what is the point?  You are going to lose them anyway if that is the case.  You could spend that money improving your product and keep your customers and build your business that way.

Bought customers are always sold to the highest bidder.  Satisfied customers stay with you even through price increases and it isn't because you gave them something other than a great product.  The man or the company that feels he has to buy his customers has a lack of confidence in the product he sells or a lack of confidence in his own ability as a salesman, or both.

Besides, when the money for frills runs out, so do your bought customers regardless of your product.


Those employees that cling to you because of what you can give them over and above their salaries will be long gone when the dust settles.  The ones you should be able to count on, you want to make sure that you don't run them off while you are flying high to the top.  It can be a long and lonely trip back down that ladder.

Be careful who you crush on the way up.