Respect is given as respect is earned

I got my performance review at work a few days ago.

For a little background reference, all the members of management in your division get to rate you, not just your direct supervisor. So for me, that means 20+ people.

My manager (who is my direct supervisor) started off by saying that my review was not as good as he had pushed for, but it's his job to relay all the feedback to me.

Good, good, good, blah, blah, blah... I have one area for improvement.

Some members of management feel that in my interactions with them, I could show a little bit more respect, a bit of deference to their title.

Blah, blah, blah.

At the end, he asked if I had any questions or comments.

I just smiled. And said something like this (this is a paraphrase of what I told my boss, to the best of my recollection):

"You see... about showing more respect to specific members of management... I don't believe it is in me to treat people differently based on their title or position. Whether it is the guy sweeping the floors or the president, respect is given as respect is earned. And that's not gonna change."

Now, my manager has known me for eight years. Has been in my chain of command for six of those years (though not always my direct supervisor).

He said he knew, and he understood. And some people might say that is admirable. But it was his job to relay the feedback from all members of management.

I think it's the first time I've ever smiled so much after receiving my "areas of improvement".

Because, you see, to me this is a character issue. And if you're gonna lower my score because I won't lower my standard of character... then bring on the low score. I'll take it any day.

As always, thanks for checking in!

Serving

So, I think I mentioned before (did I?) that I recently started volunteering in our church nursery.

I wanted to become more involved, give back, and was drawing a blank on ideas. But I worked in the nursery at church as a teenager, have a kid myself, and we're going to church anway. I figured it would be a great fit.

Wrong.

I started back in August. And I dread it. Every time.

I don't know why. I don't have a reason. I just don't wanna go. It makes me not want to go to church that day. And that is not good.

I signed up for one service a month, but they are short-staffed, so it's been two services a month since I started.
I really feel like I should quit, you know, the whole dreading-church thing and all, but knowing they're short-handed makes me feel like I can't abandoned them just because.

So I've decided to give it six months. I always said that about a job - you have to give it six months before you really know if you like it or not - so I'm applying that logic to volunteering now too.

At the end of that six months, we'll see.

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Since I'm looking for another way to get involved, I decided I would also volunteer for the Loaves & Fishes ministry delivering meals to members who need them (recent surgeries, shut ins, new baby, etc). Just got started, and have yet to bring a meal, but I'm pretty excited about this one. I remember how much that meant to me after Jena was born.

And it sounds like it's pretty well organized. They only send you  names for members who are in your area, and said that at current rates, I would only  need to deliver a meal 3 - 4 times a year. Much less than I anticipated, but with my cooking skills, maybe that's a good thing, LOL.

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And... (starting to sound like I'm on a volunteering roll, huh?) since our church's Facebook page is seriously lacking, I volunteered to help with that as well.

I hope they let me. I have to submit a plan with my ideas for improvement to be presented to the church staff before they grant me administrator rights.

I understand being careful with security, but quite frankly the person handling it now & who will be key in decision making doesn't seem to understand how social media works. At all. I'll spare the details, but what he wants done with our FB account, well... FB isn't exactly the appropriate media for it. I suggested some other options, but it fell on deaf ears, he wants it done on FB. So... not sure how this is going to go. But I'm willing to give it a shot!

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And yes, there's more! Jason & I have been thinking / talking about leading a small group in our church for a year now, and we finally took the plunge and contacted our associate pastor about it. Neither of us have done anything like this before, plus with Jason's schedule as a firefighter, 1/3 of the nights I will be running it myself, so... eeek! We were nervous.

We suggested a couple of areas that we were interested in leading, and we are now leading the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University as of the end of January!

It works out well, as we were actually talking about taking the class again, to help us get back on / stay on track with our finances, so leading it will be just even moreso.

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Excited to be serving. Glad to be giving back. Glad to be back.

As always, thanks for checking in!

I have a History Degree

That's right folks, you are reading the blog of a trained historian.

Trained. Not practicing. LOL.

I have a bachelor of arts in History. A whole five years dedicated to the subject.

And I spent years wishing I had a different degree, a more useful degree. But recently I've realized several reasons why having a degree in History is all kinds of awesome.

1. A degree in History is basically a degree in finding s*** out.
That's right, ladies & gentlemen, if I put my mind to it, I can find just about anything out. Just ask my husband.

The education you receive while in the History program is research: how to hunt down references, dig thru primary vs secondary vs tertiary sources, determine validity of information found, make inferences and draw conclusions from your research, etc.

I have gained a reputation at work for "knowing everything". I don't know everything. It's not about what I know. It's about the fact that if I don't know, I can find the answer. Relatively quickly.

2. A degree in History equals winning more arguments than you lose.
It's true. And it drives the people around me nuts. If I'm going to engage you in an argument, I'm going to have the information to back it up. I'm going to take the time to verify my position first. It's what I was trained to do.

And if I happen to slip and let you engage me before I do so, and am somehow proven wrong, I will sure as heck take the time to make sure that doesn't happen again. I will gather my information, verify my stance (or change it, if need be), and I will make darn sure I am ready for the next time that topic comes up.

In our current society, this is not the case. It seems like nowadays people are happy enough to base their arguments on feelings & emotions, or the latest media headline, instead of taking the time to verify their information before engaging in conversation about a subject. When you start spewing historical data at them to make your case, they have no choice but to back down or to reveal their ignorance. Either way... win!

* this may also be the reason my mom once told me I should be a lawyer

3. A degree in History means never needing CEUs to maintain current in your field.
This is my latest revelation. Yes, it's nice to keep up on current events, think about how they tie into a region / the world from a historical perspective. Yes, it's interesting to read up on new historical / archeological finds, or history from areas (or eras) you didn't focus on in your studies. Or that you did.

But... it's history. There's no updated techniques to learn. No fast-moving developments that need to be kept up on. No mandatory CEUs.

4. But... A degree in History means there's always more to learn. If you want to.
While it's awesome that you don't need to keep up with your education, there is enough historical knowledge out there that if you have an interest in it, there's plenty more to learn. Always.

5. A degree in History means writing off a vacation in the name of education.
Some of the most fascinating places I've been have been full of history. You can go on vacation, and slip in a historical visit at the same time.

In short, you can actually visit these places. They exist! You can see them. You can touch them. You can take your picture there. And that, in my humble history bug opinion, is awesome.