Peace of Mind tips

This sounds like a knock-knock joke, right? This is how it works. I subscribe to Seth Godin’s blog which is brilliant and inspiring. In just a few words, he gets me excited about marketing again and I see it through a whole new perspective, which is what marketing is all about. Thank you Seth. And then I share it with my co-workers and they get inspired too. That’s viral, as we pass it on and then they pass it on.

We work in an office building that has been renovating our bathrooms now for three months when we were told it would take six weeks. You have no idea how much this effects our work day and routines. What we took for granted, just running down the hall, we now climb the stairs to the 4th floor or use the restroom on the first floor, when we enter the building in the morning or leave at night.

My positive attitude has approached this situation by touting the benefits of using the stairs a couple of times a day and getting the extra exercise. It really is annoying and inconvenient, especially being a water drinker. However, I am patient and know that some day the bathrooms will be finished and peace will reign the floor again. Others are not so patient. Another positive aspect has been the bonding with the other disgruntled, inconvenienced residents of the floor. We report to each other any progress or delays we scrutinize.

After a long gap, work started again with a new set of contractors. On their first day, one of the workers shared with me that he saw a very unusual incident. My interest was aroused. He stated that he saw another worker, not from his crew, come to our bathroom and remove the doors to the stalls. He then stated that the same worker ripped off the doors, vandalized them, and also took all the doors to the fourth floor restroom as well, so we now couldn’t use that bathroom either. We now were delegated to the 1st and 2nd floors only.

This was shocking and I went to the 4th floor to check it out. There was a sign on the door stating it was “out of order” and where we had to go. I went in anyway, and sure enough, the stall doors had been removed but not taken away. The water was working so I used the room as it was meant to be. I heard the other women came to the door and leave, not bothering to enter, explore or scope, taking the sign on the door at it’s word. When they saw me leave the room, they were puzzled, since they believed it was truly out of order. More followed in my path. It just was a matter of time.

In the meantime, I had been telling every one I saw on the floor that the stall doors were ripped off as per the worker from the previous day. There’s that viral marketing again as I am sure they passed the word. Today the maintenance man for the building stated that the doors were only removed not stolen. I felt bad that I had bought into an untruth and was spreading it around. I believed a stranger as I watched other people believe the signs on the door. Too trusting.

We like to gossip and sharing pains bonds people. Some things are annoying and we have to live with them and/or make the best of it. Bad news travels fast. The good news that the bathrooms are finally renovated will travel faster!