BROADCASTING INTELLIGENCE

In a day where electronics can record and broadcast our "DUH" moves and behaviors, discretion and common sense MUST be used.

Hourly, people are taking pictures and making recordings of life as they see it. Most cell phones are equipped with photographic and video capabilities, as well as immediate internet access. You take a picture of you and your friend at a concert and post it on your Facebook page. You record a fellow worker putting excess salt on a co-worker's lunch and post it on You Tube.

But, before you post that picture or video, or even speak out against your employer, STOP AND THINK. Employers check out their employee's Facebook pages and other social sites.

It is not, I repeat NOT, wise to record you and a co-worker goofing around at work, playing a prank on a fellow employee, or even recording your antics outside of the workplace and then post your pictures or "home made video" on You Tube or some other comparable website.

"Why?" you ask.

At the work place, you are representing the company you are working for. If your friends can find the video, so can your employer, the competitor, and those who are your employer's customers. Think about what your "video" says about your employer and, if applicable, your employer's product. Would you do business with someone whose employees act like your video suggests? Would you buy a product from them?

Your employer has a right to discipline you as an employee for unacceptable behavior. You could be fined, suspended, or worst of all, fired.

In a time when broadcasting can bring instant gratification, it is imperative that you think BEFORE you publish or broadcast. Step into your employer's position. What action would you take against a person who did what you just did?

A DOG'S LIFE???

There are some people out there that believe a dog has a perfect life; however, I'd like to argue that, in reality, a cat actually has the perfect life, or at least my cat does.

I have both a dog and a cat; both are foundlings. In other words, both animals were rescues. Harley, our dog, was adopted from the animal shelter. A garbage man had discovered Harley and his brothers and sisters. The puppies had been placed in a plastic bag and thrown into a dumpster. When we went to the shelter to find a puppy, Harley was the only one of the "foundlings" left. Spike, the cat, was also a "foundling," but he had been discovered with his brother under a co-worker's hedges. The two kittens had been abandoned by the mother, not the owner. Now both loving pets dwell in harmony.

Spike is a smaller creature and a cat, and it is virtually impossible to stop cats from jumping onto furniture and counters. So, whereas Harley is not allowed on the new furniture, Spike can be found snoozing on the back of the couch or crawling across my stomach to snuggle under my arm as I type. Harley is kept off the furniture and curls up in various corners. Wouldn't you rather be a cat?

Even on the coldest winter evenings, Harley must be let outside to "do his business." The cat, on the other hand, has a litter box under the sink in the bathroom. Which pet would you say has the better deal here?

Although Spike generally gets his bowl filled with dry cat food, on Sundays he gets treated to a pouch of moist cat food. Daily treats, as well as catnip, are put in his bowl at random. Harley's bowl, however, is filled with the same food day in and day out. His treats come every time he has done something rewardable, like staying in his yard when I decide it is too cold for me to traipse outside and wait for him to do his "business." Harley will also find himself the recipient of various table treats. On diet, I'll agree that the dog might have it better, except that it is legal for the cat to get "stoned."

Dog or cat, there are many days that I would love to lay around all day in the patch of warm sun and take a nap when I want.