This Has To Be Lucky 🍀

Three threes 😎

As always more to come.

Feedback is a Gift

Once upon a time, I was a new quality manager.  My job was to oversee the auditors and provide a monthly summary to our executive.  WT was a very approachable fellow who always joked around.  Taking liberties one month, I sent my summary email with the tag line:

Feedback is a gift and today is your birthday!! 

The next morning my boss, CJ called me into his office.  Well okay he called me over to his desk because he didn’t have an office.  He gave me feedback on my email.  Apparently it was MY birthday.  My tag line did NOT go over well.

I was embarrassed.  I wanted to clear the air.  Go apologize to WT.  I meant well, I was trying to soften the blow of the month’s less than stellar results.   CJ told me DON’T do anything else … just to NEVER do that again.

Mind you I didn’t modify the official report.  My lame attempt at humor was in the cover email.  Ha!  I still laugh … today is your birthday … because it’s funny.

Years later … or maybe fast forward to June, I saw WT in the hallway at work.  Though I no longer work with him, I brightly smiled and said “Hey W.  Happy birthday! Wink wink.  Get it?”  Surprisingly he did.  We had a good laugh.

And that’s the back story.  Because I’m rambling.  I save my one-liner posts for Wednesdays.  Today is Friday.  Haha.  I slay me.

Okay!  Here we go, here we go now.

I participated in Write Club 2019.  I didn’t place but this year they did something different by offering feedback.  I got about eight word docs with my 500 or less story followed by critiques.  I’m in heaven y’all … hog heaven that is … or I’m high on cotton … lol.  That ain’t right.  I’m something else … tickled pink.  Yep, I am tickled pink.

The first critique was good.  I made his or her top 45, not top 30 but man y’all that’s close when the top 30 compete for reader votes.  My entry was written in an hour-ish, rough draft, not polished.  Yep I’m telling on myself.  I joined for fun with zero expectation of placing.

Guess what critique #2 said?  It said and I quote “this looks like a draft and not a polished piece or perhaps part of a larger story??  Maybe with more context this would make sense.” Winning!

The remainder were neutral.  Several said I had grammatical errors throughout.  Did I think this was #SoCS?  uh ya!  That’s my style.  And I did a head hop thing at the very end.  “Just how did Missy know what Stella was thinking?”  Well geez Louise, mind reading of course.

But I jest!  I LOVE my feedback and I’ll do better next time.  I know what to work on.  Not being facetious either.  Constructive criticism makes us better.  Now I am off to eat b-day cake and ice cream. Maybe play a little pin-the-tail on the donkey.  Hit that pinata.

As always, more to come.