I’m half way there! - SPANISH VERSION BELOW!

This week I’m turning 45. Most people tend to celebrate in big style milestones in their lives; birthdays (50 years) wedding anniversaries in multiples of 5 and many other occasions to mark a point in their lives determined by the time that has elapsed.

I usually don’t celebrate these events, whether big milestones or not, as I’m a great believer that we should celebrate thing all the time.

Why do we make a big fuss over a day someone was born but yet we don’t remember them for the reminder of the year? I guess what put me off celebrations like this was when some years ago someone, who never remembered me 364 days of the year, sent me a birthday card (which was a week later than the actual day I was born) and it contained 4 words “happy birthday to you”.  I looked at the enormous white space, which dominated the card and then focused my eyes back onto the four words. That’s when I knew that this was not for me and I would not waist my time and money celebrating something that was meaningless. Meaningless in as far as we are celebrating just one day instead of celebrating all 365 of them.

This, of course, does not mean I do not pay attention to special days; of course I do, particularly with my kids. Children like to feel special so I wouldn’t think of not celebrating their birthday, and I do like to congratulate those who I know a birthday is a special day. But if tomorrow you forgot to say to me “happy birthday to you” I would not take it against you, as long as I’m in your thoughts all 365 days of the year!

Having said all that, this year I do feel something special. And turning 45 has made me think about my life. Why? Well, unlike most people who would see celebrating 50 as a big thing, I think 45 is a special age in anyone’s life. I sat and reflected on this for a while after I engaged in a conversation with someone about this. God willing and if I look after myself properly, I suspect I will be around until I’m about 90. I think this is a good age to get to, and from personal experiences, most people get there in good shape. Anything after this is a bonus and in some cases it’s the downward turn, when things begging to go wrong as we become frail in our old age, so to get to 90, healthy and happy is a great achievement.

That’s my goal, 90. After I established this it dawned on me that turning 45 is then a big milestone, yes in other words “I am half way there!” So I began to pay particular attention to what I’ve done so far. I thought “if I’m half way there, then I only have half left!” and I began to take stock of all the things that I’ve done, thinking I have another 45 years ahead of me to do everything I haven’t done yet; make up for all those things I did wrong and enjoy another 45 years of a great gift, a gift that was given to me at birth, my life.

I found out I’ve done a lot and I’ve missed a lot but I don’t regret many things. There are a few things I would do different, if I had the chance… wait a minute, I do have the chance!

There are a few regrets, to say that one does not have any I think is not true, as at some point we all have made mistakes in our lives, what is important is to know you’ve made those mistakes and better yourself as a result of that moment in your life when you said to yourself “oh dear…that didn’t go well…” I’ve had 45 years of life long experiences that have opened up my mind to accept that I have another 45 years to do things right.

So what is there to look forward for the next half? I guess it’s a bit like playing a sport of two halves, you’ve gone in and play the first half and now you are half way, you don’t know what to expect for the second half but you know you only have that second half to win! You’ve had the first half to try and learn your opponent and now you have new tactics to help you win the match. I’m not sure what is on the other side of 45, but what I do know is that there is so much I want to do, so much I want to achieve and I’m conscious that I am half way there, so there is not much time left!

So watch this space, as they say, as I know I’m now half way there, the biggest gift I’m getting this year is a shot at the next 45 years of my life!

Estoy a la mitad del camino!

Esta semana celebro mis 45 años. La mayoría de la gente tiende a celebrar en estilo momentos importantes en sus vidas, los cumpleaños (50 años) aniversarios de boda en múltiplos de 5 y muchas otras ocasiones para marcar un punto en sus vidas determinadas por el tiempo que ha transcurrido.

Por lo general no celebrar estos eventos, ya sean grandes momentos o no, ya que soy un gran creyente de que debemos celebrar cosas todo el tiempo.

¿Por qué nos hacen un gran alboroto durante el día que nacimos? y no nos acordamos de ellos por el resto del año? Supongo que lo que me hizo pensar que no me gustan celebraciones como ésta fue cuando hace algunos años alguien, que nunca se acordaba de mí 364 días del año, me envió una tarjeta de cumpleaños (que llego una semana más tarde que la fecha real en que nací) y contenía 2 palabras "Feliz Cumpleaños". Miré el enorme espacio blanco, que dominó la tarjeta y enfoqué mis ojos de nuevo sobre las dos palabras. Fue entonces cuando supe que esto no era para mí y no iba a perder el tiempo y dinero celebrando algo que no tenía sentido. Sin sentido en la medida en que celebramos un solo día en lugar de celebrar todos los 365 días del año.

Esto, por supuesto, no quiere decir que no preste atención a los días especiales, por supuesto que sí, sobre todo con mis hijos. Los niños les gusta sentirse especial, así que celebro su cumpleaños, y me gustaría felicitar a la gente que conozco que creen que un cumpleaños es un día especial. Pero si el día de mañana te olvidaste de decirme "feliz cumpleaños" no lo tomaría en tu contra, siempre y cuando estoy en tus pensamientos los 365 días del año!

Sin embargo, este año me siento algo especial. Al cumplir 45 años me ha hecho pensar en mi vida. ¿Por qué? Pues bien, a diferencia de la mayoría de las personas que celebran 50 como una gran cosa, creo que 45 es una edad especial en la vida de cualquier persona. Me senté y reflexioné sobre esto por un rato después de una conversación con alguien sobre esto. Si Dios quiere y si me cuido bien, sospecho que llegare alrededor de los 90. Creo que esta es una buena edad para llegar, y por propias experiencias personales, la mayoría de la gente llegar en buena forma. Después de los 90 es una ventaja, y en algunos casos es el camino de baja, cuando las cosas empiezan a fallar a medida que nos volvemos débiles en nuestra vejez. Llegar a 90, sano y feliz es un gran logro.

Esa es mi meta, 90. Después de haber establecido esto me di cuenta de que celebrar los 45 es entonces un gran momento, en otras palabras: "Estoy a la mitad del camino!" Así que empecé a poner atención a lo que he hecho hasta ahora. Y pensé: "si estoy la mitad del camino, entonces sólo me queda la mitad!" Y me puse a hacer un inventario de todas las cosas que eh hecho, pensando que tengo otros 45 años para hacer todo lo que aun no eh hecho todavía; compensar todas esas cosas que hice mal y disfrutar de otros 45 años de un gran regalo, el regalo que se me dio al nacer, mi vida.

Y he hecho mucho y me he perdido mucho, pero no me arrepiento de muchas cosas. Hay un par de ellas que haría diferente si tuviera la oportunidad ... espera un momento, tengo la oportunidad!

Y también hay unas cuantas cosas que arrepentirse, y decir que uno no tiene nade de que arrepentirse creo que no es cierto, ya que en algún momento todos hemos cometido errores en nuestras vidas, lo importante es saber que has hecho mal y corregir esos momentos en tu vida cuando te dijiste a ti mismo "¡Dios mío ... creo que salio mal ..." Tengo 45 años de experiencias de toda una vida que han abierto mi mente a aceptar que tengo otros 45 años para hacer lo correcto.

Entonces, ¿qué puedo esperar en la siguiente mitad? Supongo que es un poco como jugar a un deporte de dos mitades, donde haz jugado la primera parte y ahora que está a medio camino, no sabes qué esperar de la segunda parte, pero sabes que sólo tienen ese segundo medio para ganar! Y tuviste la primera mitad para tratar de conocer a tu oponente y ahora tiene nuevas tácticas que te ayudarán a ganar el partido.

No estoy seguro de lo que me espera del el otro lado de 45, pero lo que sí sé es que hay tantas cosas que quiero hacer, tantas cosas que quiero lograr y soy consciente de que estoy a la mitad del camino, y no queda mucho tiempo!

Así que ya estoy listo, ya que sé que ahora estoy a mitad de camino y el mayor regalo que me estoy haciendo este año es la oportunidad de disfrutar los próximos 45 años de mi vida!

Talent, gift or skill? SPANISH VERSION BELOW

People will often tell you that you have a talent for something. This may be that you are good at public speaking; you have a beautiful singing voice or can add two large numbers in your head. And often you also hear people use the word “gift” associated with a talent; “you have a gift” or “he is gifted”. It is also important to note that talent does not always mean “artistic talent”, as it is often associated; yes playing the piano is a talent and a gift but painting a wall or leading a Fortune 100 company is also a talent and a gift. It is also a fact that the more you practice something, the more skillful you become: and here you will hear people say “he is very skilful” or “he has mastered his skill”

I enjoy a bit of DIY (do it yourself) so much that I have fixed my house from top to bottom all by myself. And I will put my hand to anything from painting a wall to fitting in a window. I am not claiming to be a professional and I don't know if you would pay for my work, but it is good enough for me and often my wife approves! You then have other people who cannot and will not even hang a picture in their house. You can claim "I don't have the talent for it" and here is where the question is raised. Do I have a talent for it, a gift or a skill? I have build and fitted a wooden staircase from scratch using a simple spreadsheet calculation and the right tools (worth noting I have not had formal training in woodwork). The staircase still there 6 years later and at the time I enjoyed doing it, but it is not something I would want to do for a job. I have never been professionally trained but I have done DIY all my life, so I think this is a skill and not a talent or a gift as some people have claimed when they saw the staircase. I have trained myself over the years to do most things from pluming to electrics and now in my mature years I can do this things. Could I have built the staircase when I was 18? Perhaps not as back then I did not have the practice I’ve had now. I do think that unless you have the talent, it takes years to master a skill and be good at it.

So let's turn to the arts, which is the area most people tend to associate with talent. Can you play the piano? Can you sing or act? Could you paint the sixteenth chapel? I reckon you probably could. Would you be as good as Mozart playing the piano? Is this what talent is? He is, as we all know, considered a genius of the music and a gifted composer, and perhaps cases like this are exceptions to the rule, but I still maintain that if you have the passion and dedication, and work hard at it, you can reach high levels to master a skill, and you don't need to have the talent or gift to do it. Fred Astaire was told in an earlier audition in his career "you can sign and dance a little, I would not waist my time doing this" Think about this – Mozart, we are told, could play brilliantly the piano at just the age of 5 and was declared a genius, Fred Astaire could not impress a producer in an audition as a young performer, yet both became gifted artists in their own right. Did one have a talent and the other mastered his skill? Fred Astaire was determined to become a great performer and he focused to achieve this, he never gave up despite being put down, instead he work hard to succeed. You would never say he was not talented.

So we circle back to the question – talent, skill or a gift? I think it can be either and one of the same. I do believe there are some people who a born with a talent or a natural ability to do things, but I also believe you can become talented at anything by working on improving your skills. Those who know me have come to realize that I am an individual who will try and do anything in life. One moment you will see me with a hammer and a drill in hand fixing a door, the next I am dealing with a complex issue at work and then I will be writing a musical or play, or singing a song. A Jack-of-all-trades as they say and perhaps master of none, but I do believe that I can do anything that is put in my way. May be I don't have a natural talent or gift for anything but I have developed skills for many things and if given the chance, one day I will also learn how to fix my car!

It takes hard work and dedication to achieve anything in life, and perhaps we don't all have the passion or desire to do master a skill (me fixing a car), but one thing you should always keep in mind is that you can sing, you can add two large numbers in your head and you can fix that broken door that has been annoying you for the last 6 years, all you have to do is develop that skill and desire to do it!

Talento, habilidad o don?

A menudo la gente suele decir que se tiene talento para algo. Esto puede referirse a que eres bueno hablando en público, que tiene una bella voz, o puede sumar dos números grandes sin calculadora. Y la palabra “don” también se asocia con talento. Sin embargo, talento no siempre significa “talento artístico”, como comúnmente se relaciona. Si, tocar el piano es un talento, pero pintar una pared o ser el Director Ejecutivo de una compañía también es un talento y un don.

Soy un fanático del llamado DIY  en Ingles (hágalo usted mismo) y mi casa, de arriba abajo, esta echa por un servidor! Me gusta hacer cualquier trabajo en casa, desde pintar una pared hasta montar una ventana. No digo que sea un profesional y lo mas seguro es que no sé si pagarías por mi trabajo, pero es lo suficientemente bueno para mí. Pero claro, no todos son como yo y hay personas que no pueden y ni quieren colgar un cuadro en su casa. Al leer esto puede que pienses "no lo hago porque no tengo el talento para ello", y aquí es donde me gustaría plantear la pregunta, ¿tengo yo talento para el bricolaje o una habilidad?

Hace 6 años construí una escalera de madera en mi cases para subir al desván utilizando una simple hoja de cálculo que compre en el Internet y las herramientas adecuadas. La escalera sigue ahí 6 años más tarde, y si tuviese que hacerlo otra ves lo haría, pero fue duro y no es algo que haría como trabajo (me gusta pero no tanto!). Nunca he tenido entrenamiento profesional para hacer estos trabajos, pero llevo haciendo DIY toda mi vida. Por lo tanto creo que esta es una habilidad que eh desarrollado y no un talento. Llevo muchos años haciendo trabajos de fontanería, electricidad y decoración y ahora en mis años de madurez se me hace fácil hacer estas cosas. ¿Podría haber construido la escalera cuando tenía 18 años? Tal vez no, ya que no tenía la habilidad en ese entonces. La realidad es que a menos de que realmente tengas el talento para algo, se necesitan años para dominar una habilidad, y llegar a ser bueno en ello.

Así que vamos a hablar de el área de artes, que es donde la mayoría de la gente tiende a asociar el talento. ¿puede cualquiera tocar el piano, cantar o actuar? ¿Podrías pintar la Capilla Sixtina? Probablemente si. ¿Serías tan bueno como Mozart tocando el piano? ¿Fue Mozart un ejemplo de lo que es el talento? Mozart fue, como todos sabemos, considerado un genio de la música y tal vez casos como este son excepciones. Por lo tanto sigo manteniendo que si tienes la pasión y dedicación, y trabajas duro, puedes alcanzar un nivele alto y dominar una habilidad, y no es necesario contar con el talento o don para hacerlo.

Déjenme compartir un ejemplo para ilustrar esto. En Hollywood, un director de casting le dijo a Fred Astaire durante una audición al principio de su carrera "puedes cantar y bailar un poco, pero yo que tu no pedrería mi tiempo, búscate otro trabajo" hagamos una comparación; se dice que Mozart podría tocar el piano como un virtuoso a los 5 años de edad y Fred Astaire no pudo impresionar a un director de Hollywood en una audición al principio de su gran carrera como cantante y bailarín. Sin embargo, ambos se convirtieron en genios eh ídolos de sus profesiones artísticas. ¿seria que uno tenia talento y el otro desarrollo un habilidad? Fred Astaire estaba decidido a convertirse en un gran artista de Hollywood y trabajo duro para lograrlo, nunca se dio por vencido. La gente dice que Mozart tenia talento y nunca dirías que Fred Astaire no tenía talento.

Por lo tanto, les propongo la pregunta nuevamente; ¿talento, habilidad o don? Creo que cualquiera persona puede tener uno de ellos o todos a la vez. Hay personas que nacen con talento, eso es indiscutible, o una habilidad natural para hacer las cosas, pero también creo que se puede llegar a ser talentoso si trabajas duro en mejora tus habilidades. Los que me conocen saben que soy una persona que le gusta tratar de hacer de todo en la vida. Tanto me veréis con un martillo y un taladro en la mano arreglando una puerta, tratando con un tema complejo en el trabajo, escribiendo una obra de teatro, o cantando una canción. Un Jack de todos los oficios, como se dice en Ingles, y tal vez maestro de nada, pero creo que puedo hacer cualquier cosa que se me pone en mi camino.

Puede ser que no tenga talento natural o don ya que toda mi vida eh trabajar duro para llegar hasta donde eh llegado, y en ese camino he desarrollado muchas  habilidades y si se me da la oportunidad, algún día aprender cómo arreglar mi coche!

Se necesita trabajo duro y tener dedicación para lograr algo en la vida, y quizás no todos tienen la pasión o el deseo para hacer cosas, pero algo que siempre debes de tener en cuenta es que puedes cantar, puede sumar dos números grandes sin calculadora y puedes arreglar la puerta que lleva rota desde hace 6 meses, lo que tienes que hacer es desarrollar la habilidad y el deseo para hacerlo!

What's your standard?

I’ve been working in hotels for over 25 years and one word that drives the entire industry is “standards”. It is not only the hotel industry that is focused on standards; every industry or business uses standards to be successful at what they do. Even in our personal lives, we are guided by our own personal standards, which we set for ourselves with one thing in mind – to live a better life.

So if we pause for a moment and define the word standards, what does it tell us? Well the dictionary describes this noun as “something considered by an authority or by general consent as a basis of comparison; an approved model” it goes on to further define it as “an object that is regarded as the usual or most common size or form of its kind” and “a rule or principle that is used as a basis for judgement”. I think these cover most common definitions we are all familiar with. And if we asked the general public to define the word standard, they would all come close to one of the definitions above.

Think of the number of times we see the word standard in our lives? “Standard terms and conditions” “standard size” “standard operating procedures” “standard service”… and it is the latter one I want to focus my attention; “standard service”

By definition, standard service could mean a service that is given to all customers which is the same. So no matter who you are or where you come from, we will provide the same level of service to all of our customers. Let’s look how this fits our dictionary definitions; “something by general consent as a basis for comparison” – We smile at all customers. “an object that is regarded as the usual” – all of our stakes are of the highest quality. “a rule or principal used for judgement” check out time is noon. And for many years, the service industry focused on standards, missing a big piece of the puzzle called “customer service”

Unfortunately standards have also hindered our lives and have made people become rigid in the service they provide to their customers. All of us at some point would have heard the words “I’m sorry but it is not standard” which is a lame excuse for saying “I’m sorry, we don’t have the empowerment to serve you” or if something has gone wrong and you complain they would tell you “I am sorry that is not our usual standard” which often drives me nuts as if this was not their standard why did it happened? The aviation industry is driven by standards of safety to avoid the death of millions of passengers every day; you would not like it if someone close to you dies in an airplane accident and they tell you “I am sorry, it is not our usual standard”

In the earlier part of my career in the hotel industry I worked as a housekeeper and this was the breaking ground for me when it came to learn what standards are and how successful they can make you, or if ignored, brake you. As a young manager, looking after the biggest department in the hotel, I began to realise that if I was going to be successful I needed to focus on two things; my people and my standards. And soon I learned that both are connected and if in synergy, they make your very successful. People need to feel engaged to want to work for you, particularly in hard labour jobs like housekeeping. Try and clean 16 rooms every day, go home to look after your family and still smile when you go to bed, it is not easy. And then you have your boss banging on about standards! If you can do all that and still get up in the morning and smile, you know you are onto a winner!

Keeping my staff happy was not rocket science, I focused on give people what they need to do their job; make it as practical and effective as possible. Trust me, they will do their job. But no one works just for fun, but most of us at work want to have fun, that’s half the battle when it comes to loyalty and engagement. So I always made sure that work was a fun place and provide them with everything they needed to do their jobs. The latter also gave me the platform to then drive standards. You cannot ask someone to perform to standards if they don’t have the tools to do their job.

But this in itself was not sufficient to drive a work force that was happy and delivered the standards. People can be engaged and still not deliver the required standards; this is where you get the response when something goes wrong in service “it’s not our usual standard”. So how do you get someone to really consistently deliver without ever slipping from that desired performance?

Well for me it was simple and twofold; first they are my standards and I have to be always on top of them, never accept something that is below. If you do, guess what? Yes, if you accept it, this is your new standard, it become accepted and therefore the norm. Remember the definitions at the beginning? “Something considered by an authority as a consent” you’ve not said anything so you have given “consent” to that standard. You have to always accept nothing less than what you expect. As a frequent traveller I know I feel safe with certain airlines because they have “high standards of safety” actually it is not high strands of safety, they just don’t accept anything less than what is required to keep people a live.

Secondly, and perhaps even more important than maintaining my own standards, it is to get people to own the standards. In other words, your standards need to be their standards. If they do, they will not accept anything less; it’s human nature, they will soon begin to say, “it is not our standard”. So I embarked in a mission to show my employees what happens if you deliver poor standards. I took several approaches; one was to get them to experience low standards, and I asked them “would you stay in this room for 300 dollars?” This doesn’t always work, as people do not relate to something that may not be at their reach. And so I went to the core of it and I changed their working environment. I lowered “their” standards. I began to take things away, little by little, subtlety and over a period of time. Immediately people began to be disgruntle. Some came to me and asked me why I had taken some things away; I said “Oh sorry, it is not our usual standard” and gave some things back to them. Others heard this and soon enough I had a revolution in my hands. So I called a meeting and there I told everyone “who is happy with the new working conditions we have? No surprising, no one put his or her hand up. After an explanation of what they had just experience, relating it to standards and why I did it, everyone clapped and smiled and I took the opportunity to once more reinforce the important message behind the experiment; everyone needed to own and maintain the company’s standards whilst giving our customers a personalised service that meets their personal standards.

I do not claim that after this everyone delivered 100% my standards, no, not at all, but it did make my job easier when I pointed out to someone that they had not met my standards, they knew it was not personal and it was important for the customer. Since then I have never lowered my standards, I don’t have to, people always know what it is expected of them and work hard to achieve it. Those who don’t like it move on, those who can achieve it stay.

I also learned another invaluable lesson after this; everyone’s standards are different, and if a customer seems disgruntled and you think “what’s the matter with him! We’ve delivered to the standard” you may have delivered to your standards but not to his. This is where the magic happens in great customer service, the gap between you and the customer, when you deliver your standards and can meet the customer needs, no matter what they are.

Top things to ban

I use to be a smoker and for many years I didn’t mind people smoking around me. Even after I gave up, I never became one of those “anti-smoking” ex-smokers. But it soon became evident to me how disgusting this habit can be, especially when you came home from a night out smelling like an ashtray!

And then the anti-smoking campaigns brought legislation is several countries against smoking in public places and I have to admit that it was a bliss not to have to continue smoking, albeit, in a passive way, and coming home smelling like a chimney. So the banning of smoking in public places was a good thing, and it has helped in decreasing the number of smokers and reducing the risk of passive smoking for those who never smoked.

It is always hard to ban things that are part of our life. But once you get use to it you find it actually improves the quality of our lives. So I wanted to write an article to share with you some of the things I think we should ban to make everyone’s life a little bit better. I am sure everyone has their “top things I would ban” that makes everyone’s life a misery, so I propose that everyone should declare these, and may be we can all make this a better world!

First thing to ban…

People with big hair do in cinemas.

This has been in my top list for years! And this should be treated just like smoking; it’s bad for your health as you end up with a stiff neck! I am sure everyone has been a victim of someone’s big hair do at the cinema or theatre and have had to suffer missing the film as you fight to get a sight of the screen. This is my children’s biggest fear, more than the dark itself, every time we go to the cinema; for a child to have someone whose hair will block their view of the screen is not a laughing matter! So I propose that a ban is introduce to stop people with “big hair do” going to the cinema, or at any rate either flatten it or sit right at the back!

Now, some of you may share this pain with me… second thing to ban…

Reclining seats during the day in an airplane.

Now, this may not seem as important to many but as a frequent traveler with a hobby (writing) often when I travel I take the opportunity to write. I don’t travel business class and most airplanes have been designed to use as much of the space as possible to get passengers in, so you have just about enough room to take your laptop out and tinkle away on the keyboard. I do understand that in a night flight people want to sleep, but what is it with people reclining their seats during the day? This is the time when people want to work and do stuff, not sleep! And besides, sleeping in a plane has never been comfortable so why would you want to torture yourself by reclining your seat and getting a stiff neck? I think airplane designers should add an extra feature to new airplanes; you cannot recline the seat until it’s dark, a bit like your automatic lights in modern cars. Or make it as part of the safety announcements the airhostess so much hate “may we remind passengers that the use of electronic items is strictly forbidden during take off and landing and that you must not recline your seat during the day!”

Next, and perhaps one that causes the most misery in everyone’s life is…

Low cost Airlines that are not low cost.

Now surely most of us have logged onto these airlines’ websites with big banners that say “Rome for 99p” or “Athens for 2 for 10 pounds” Most of us know that there is a slight chance that this may be true but there is also a much likelier chance that this is not true. Typically these airlines call themselves low cost and they should be banned, because there is nothing low cost about them except perhaps low cost for them to run as they have cut every corner to meet their margins and produce profits whilst openly deceiving their passengers. The fair may be 99p, but you have to add taxes, which are higher than usual, as these airlines need to pay other sub charges that normal airlines don’t have to. So how do they make their money if they are low cost? All the extras, which by the time you finish adding them, it’s the cost of a regular ticket with a decent airline. So I maintain, these “low cost” airlines should be ban as this is not a true statement.  We would ask a politician to resign form his post in parliament if he openly lied, so why not stop them too! (you can tell I don’t like them right?)

I am an extrovert and I do like a chat, but this next item really should be banned!

Small talk from Taxi Drivers.

I don’t know about you but getting into a taxi and have the driver talk to you endlessly about the weather is not my idea of a fun trip. Particularly when your taxi is at 5 am and all you want to do is stare out of the window! I like talking to people, when I have something interesting to say, but random conversations in a taxi seem to be a complete waist of time and energy. “Wow it’s cold out there this morning”, well of course it is! It’s 5 am and it’s winter! What did you expect! To make my point, compare this with a pilot in an airplane. Imagine you have settle into your seat and the plane has taken off and all of the sudden you hear the pilot through the speakers say “lovely weather we are having for this time of the year” surely you’d think this is odd… and then he continues to talk endless chat which really doesn’t interests you; “those clouds are fluffier that usual…”, well it is the same thing! You get on a taxi to be driven form A to B, that’s all! Just like they put stickers in their taxis saying “No Hot Food” we should have the right to put a sticker in their taxi that says “No Small Talk” All taxi drivers who talk endless chit chat should be ban!

This next one must not be ignored and everyone should work hard to enforce the ban!

People fating in confined public spaces!

Isn’t this the same as smoking? Surely it is bad for your heath! This is one that you will agree with me, makes everyone’s life just a little bit harder. And if we banned people from releasing gasses in confined public spaces we will be able to enjoy our time much better when we are forced to share our personal space with others. You know what I am talking about, trains, cars, airplanes, cinemas and elevators; even though you know freedom is only a few floors away!  I do not deny the fact that occasionally an accidental gas may escape us in a place we would not normally do this, that’s ok, as long as that is what it is, just the one, accidental fart. But I am talking about the serial killers, the “let’s just get it all out” people who feels the need to empty their valves whilst sitting next to you! Those people should be banned and place outside in a cabin next to the smokers. So I long for the day I will hear someone say, “Fancy a fart? Let’s go outside”

When it comes to banning people from a place, this is one that should take priority…

Overly fit and well build people in Gyms

I started going to the Gym a couple of years ago. This was as a result of some pictures I saw of me at my sisters wedding. And I do enjoy now my regular visits to the gym, mainly whilst I travel and at 6 am. There are 2 reasons why I go to the gym at 6 am, which many people find insane.  First of all I am a morning person and I like getting up early. Second and perhaps the most important one, there are no fit people in the gym at this time of the morning! Even though I’ve been going to the gym for 2 years, I am an average build person who just wants to work out to stay fit. But like the rest of us, I usually feel intimidated by overly fit people who attend the gym. My argument here is simple, they are already too fit! They don’t need to be there! My routine at the gym consists of 25 minutes of cardio followed by 10 to 15 minutes of weightlifting, a very simple routine. I love doing it, except when I am running next to someone who is going twice as a fast as me and has hardly broken a sweat, or when I am trying to lift my 8 kilos dumb bell whilst the guy next to me is lifting 25 kilos in each arm!  You know what I am talking about, the stuff that makes you feel like you are not trying hard enough! But you are, they are way pass the trying hard stage. So let’s ban overly fit people from gyms or at least separate them in their own area where they can then intimidate each other whilst us average people can feel happy with our small achievements!

I could go on and on, there are so many other things I would ban to make our lives a little bit better; Talent shows that don’t look for talent (they are fun but shouldn’t call themselves talent shows), Automated answering services (they can drive you insane trying to get to the right person), Customer Service Lines that start with 0800 and 0845 numbers (you end up paying through the roof to complaint when it was their fault in the first place!) and many more.

All I am suggesting is to look for ways to making this a better world for all of us to live. Yes these things may not seem as important as banning smoking, but imagine the day when you sit to see a film and there is no big hair do in front of you and the atmosphere is fart free… wouldn’t that be something?

Remember, you need to voice your thoughts, so if you have things that make your life a misery, write about them, let people know what can make this a better place to live for you and me… maybe together we can change the world!

Airport Security, friends or foes? SPANISH VERSION BELOW

There are many jobs out there, which I often think “Why would anyone want to do that for a living?” but I guess it takes all sorts to perform different jobs in this world.

Amongst these jobs is Airport Security, which in my opinion is one of the hardest, thankless jobs I have seen for a long time. But yet when you stop to think about it, it is one of the most important jobs there is and performing this correctly and to standards saves thousands of lives every day.

Airport Security has always been an important aspect of travelling and their job is to keep passengers safe. As we all know, airports became increasingly tougher in their security after various attacks and attempts to breach safety and September the 11^th changed entirely the way we travel. Since then checks made before you board a plane have taken an entirely new high. All these rigorous checks have been put in place to make sure disasters like those seen in the past do not reoccur again. So when you are an Airport Security Agent, your only job is to make sure all planes take off and land safely. Our lives are in their hands!

When you are a frequent traveller you get used to going through security and know what is required of you. For those going through airports every week, this is a routine you are used to and expect to be asked to take off and remove everything. When you think about it, everything we have to take off or unpack is because someone in the past has tried to bring a plane down with it; shoes, laptops, and liquids. I just hope no one ever tries anything with their underpants, imagine having to takes those off at the checkpoint!  So it has become a complex and lengthy process and whether you like it or not, you need to take everything off and out!

Now, for the less frequent traveller this is something that may be see as an inconvenience and a bother. But what they fail to see is that thanks to these rigorous checks and dedicated people, we are all safe to travel.

I was witness to an incident recently whilst travelling through Heathrow Airport. It was 7 am on a Monday morning and I am going through airport security in terminal 1. I have my routine, I know what I have to take off and take out. Just a few places in front of me there was a couple that were travelling I guess to some holiday destination (I am stereotyping here but they had that look of “I’m on holidays!” the sun glasses, book, camera). They are taking things off and out and as they do the security agent on the belt asked the girl to take off her boots. This is standard and everyone who travels regularly knows. She started to make a fuss about having to take her boots off and the security agent explained to her why she had to. So she did and in a mood and muttering something towards the security agent she headed to the other side. As she goes through the metal detector, sure enough she blips. And she does not look happy. She stands a side and she gets scanned. Her male companion goes through and he also blips. So now they are both being scanned. As I walk through, I don’t blip and I hear the girl say, why didn’t he blip? I mean, what a question right?

Less than amused, and having been scanned and searched, they are free to collect their things. But as you can imagine, she has brought liquids bigger than the 100 ml allowance and she is told that either she goes back and checks them in or she is loosing them. And an argument starts, as it seems these are expensive and she is not prepared to loose them. She was not prepared to go back and check them in so she became very rude towards the security agent and in the end she threw them on the table muttering, “You keep them! You need it more than I do!” The agent took them and placed them in the bin as they are not allowed to keep these and she flipped when she saw this. She walked away in rage blaspheming towards the security agents.

I have seen this behaviour several times in other travellers and I do understand why people feel this way. But what I do also believe is that people should realise that they are only doing their job, and not picking on you wishing to give you a hard time. Their job is to keep the skies safe and for that we should be thankful that they take their job seriously.

But even those who know the drill and walk through without being stop, how many times have they stopped to say thank you as they pack their belonging and walk toward the departure lounge? I can tell you from my experience not very often. But when we walk out of the plane we thank the airline staff. When we are in a shop and someone helps us, we say thank you. When we get off a taxi we say acknowledge the taxi driver with a thanks. Even when someone opens a door for us we say thank you, so why not to these individuals who day after day stand there in duty saving people’s lives? Because we take for granted what they are doing and we see them as a foe and not a friend!

As a frequent traveller, a husband and a father, I salute these unsounded heroes, this men and women who every day keep our skies safe, who every day meet thousands of passengers who ungratefully pass by and never say thank you, thank you for what you do to keeping us safe.

I would like to challenge everyone who reads this article to change your mindset and from now on as you walk through Airport Security, whether it is every week for work or once a year for your vacation, to take the time and thank the person who just saved your life. You may get a strange reaction as they are not used to people being nice to them, but if we all start today, then this will become a very rewarding and satisfying job.