The new HST

Now by nature I do not discuss politics, however on a day like today, wearing ASOS magenta pink faux-snakeskin heels, perhaps I should say something.

As many know, the new harmonized sales tax (HST) comes into effect tomorrow - July 1st - CANADA day (way to ruin a good summer holiday) - making many things in our lives more expensive, by 8%. As a result of this change our products become more expensive to customers as well.

As you may imagine, customers are not happy. They call our customer service department with wild complaints and accusations about the increase and fail to understand that the employees here have NOTHING to do with it. They are not on the other end of your phone line trying to rip you off, cheat you or steal from you. They are getting charged more in their daily lives too - and it is more work for them to input the new tax and adjust orders to reflect the new tax.

Give them a break, seriously. If you really wish to complain about increased taxes contact Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty and inform him of your displeasure. Better yet, don't vote for him in any upcoming election. Really look at each political party's agenda and motives before you cast down a vote. Then you will not be surprised by tax increases, changes, etc.

So enjoy Canada day and feel free to complain as much as you want about the HST - but do so to the people who deserve it, the people responsible - not customer service representatives who are just trying to do their job.

Perhaps Dalton should take a few of these angry calls, then perhaps he would understand the imposition he has made on a regular person's life.

He shouldwalk a mile......In (a voter's) great shoes.

Falling behind, trying to get ahead.

So I realize this is late. I have not posted since Wednesday and here's why: Thursday I was drafted to work in the warehouse for the day to kit-pack so I was nowhere near this computer (I was wearing black converse all-star high tops - CLASSIC).



Friday was dress down day and I was running around (in silver sandals) meeting vendors who were coming in and then got a project from my supervisor that stole the rest of my day.



Monday I took off as my first vacation day because my boyfriend was down visiting for a while from Ottawa.



So here I am late Tuesday trying to explain why I have fallen behind, whilst trying to get ahead of the game.



Today ( in Aldo black and white brogues) all I have done is work tirelessly on the same project I got from my supervisor on Friday that had to be completed by tomorrow morning. It was a TON of work but I just got it done. I couldn't have done it alone though. A gracious co-worker of mine really stepped up to help me and for that I owe her a great big THANKS. She has been working here since I was 6, as she often reminds me and was the first one to offer her extensive knowledge to me on this project. Without her, this project would have taken me an extra day and a grandiose headache.



It's not like nobody else could have helped - they probably could have- but they would not have done it with the patience and understanding required to help me learn.



Sometime all you need to do to get the help you need is ask - and when you get the help be ETERNALLY grateful. I owe her huge now and I would be happy to repay the favour any day.

So please if you need help, ask. If you are helped, be super thankful.



Owing a favour here and there is not at all a negative thing, perhaps I can help someway nobody else can and then I can pay it all back. It makes corporate life so much more enjoyable when you don't have to go through things alone, as I am quickly learning.



So again, the point of the matter is don't be afraid to ask for help...In Great Shoes.

What NOT to wear

I understand that as the days get longer and we see more sunshine that people will naturally dress for warmer weather, so please let me take this opportunity to comment on appropriate summer attire for work.

a. You should not be wearing cotton pink shorts to work. Cotton shorts are acceptable when worn with a smart or collared shirt and if those shorts could pass as business casual.

b. You also should not wear anything through or with which any part of your undergarments is visible. Bra straps, thongs, etc. have no place at the office. If you insist on showing your lingerie off, please purchase something of quality as I have no desire to see your 4 year old, $8 bra struggling to do its job.

c. Flip flops are also not cool. I do not wish to be able to audibly track your journeys around the office via your footwear.

d. (for any season really) Leggings are not pants. Feel free to look like an idiot in the comfort and security of your own abode but certainly do not make anyone at work suffer through it.

e. A general sense of pride and care for what one looks like in a day would be appreciated. Yes, I understand that you may work in a position where you only interact with customers via telephone but I (your coworker) still have to look at you.

f. A general rule of thumb, if you wore it to a club, don't wear it to work. Shoes may be an exception in certain cases.

g. In the words of a very sensible male coworker, "this is not a farm in rural Saskatchewan, so please do not dress like it." Class may be too much to be asking for but simplicity and modesty are not.

h. I support wearing fun dresses, colourful shoes and fun hair accessories to work - moreover I live for having fun with what you wear.... I would much rather see more colour in the workplace than more skin. Dresses with leggings and/ or cardigans can be invaluable!

I. Lastly, please look in a mirror before you leave for work. I know it's early - I hate it too, but a quick peek at what you REALLY look like before you leave the house could work wonders. Consider how you would judge someone else in the office wearing exactly what you are wearing.

Other than that be creative yet classy, fun yet functional and workplace yet wow.

It is all possible, I do it everyday... In great shoes. (Today, a pair of black Spring stacked heels.)

A note on training

Both yesterday and today I have had the opportunity to participate in training sessions, the first for a set of 3M products and the second for a Health Canada session on DIN (drug identification numbers) and SOP (standard operating procedures).

The first was led by a very bubbly set of ladies that I not only enjoyed listening to but actually learned a lot from - so on that front mission accomplished. It was a short session, only about 30-35 minutes but I learned a great deal about their products so it was well worth it.

The second session (today, to which I wore Navy blue and chrome Nine West peeptoe heels) was the kind I think everyone dreads - training on government regulated procedures. Although a necessary measure to ensure the safety and quality of all products sold by the Stevens Company, the session was very dry and drawn out. Now I don't expect the guy to sing and dance while he is explaining proper quality control measures but I certainly think he could have stepped his tone up a notch.

I even asked questions, trying to stay involved but received no exciting answers. The instructor simply said what the government had told him to say and that's it. It is insane how clinical and thorough government regulated documents seem to be, yet truth be told they are all a lot of common sense and definitions for jargon and acronyms. Nothing is electronic, it's not allowed to be. Everything must be signed sealed and dated in hard copy in a white plastic binder, placed in the approved offices for employee reference. The government is forever concerned with efficacy though is oblivious to the concept of efficiency. This is where I feel my education is more a burden than an asset.

I have been taught that in this information age we have the ability to do things more quickly and efficiently than generations before could ever have dreamed - which is entirely true. The issue they don't teach you is that your bosses, and your bosses' bosses come from those generations and they make the rules. I understand that large companies cannot simply mature overnight and adapt new technologies instantly, however steps must be taken.

My generation would be taking those steps as quickly as realistically possible but the bosses generations would prefer to discuss it, have meetings, presentations, votes and manager input on everything before the first step could be methodically planned, forecast and then taken. The government fits right into your bosses' generation - not a specific political party or leader but the institution itself and therein the people who are employed there daily.

So for me it boils down to how do we effectively move forward in business and in government with constant resistance from people who simply didn't learn the same things that students of today do. Can we condemn our bosses and our bosses' bosses for simply being of a different frame of mind? Of course not. Nor do I propose by any stretch that this difference of opinion be called ignorance.

These higher ups have paved the way in business and have succeeded (for the most part) in getting this far. Their efforts, big and small have allowed recent graduates like myself to sit in lovely cubicles and blog about work experiences.

I think have to agree with Albert Einstein here (that chap knew what he was talking about from time to time) when he said, "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

What we need to question is simple. We need to discover and develop harmony between learned experience and knew knowledge. Question what works, what doesn't and what can be improved. We need the higher ups to be open to fresh perspective while recent graduates absorb the lessons of their valuable experience.


Frankly, we need to learn to move forward together, in harmony, not at odds with one another over how, when and why.




So that's what I plan to do...In great shoes.

So perhaps if I am to write a blog about my adventures in great shoes, I should figure out a way to post a picture of the shoes I am currently wearing. Working on that.... today black blowfish flats, the most comfortable flat I have ever worn.

For now I wish to discuss the oddity in my new working life that is Monday mornings. They are death. The weekend was a small, cherished salvation away from the early alarms and rushed lunches I experience Mon-Fri. I was so relaxed sitting outside yesterday (reading Valley of the Dolls) that I almost believed I wouldn't have to go back to work, but here I am again at my cubicle Monday afternoon.

Thankfully I am not the only one. Every one of my coworkers is in a zombie-like state, going through the motions with a cup of coffee attached to their hands or simply complaining that they have a bad case of 'the Mondays'. I am not going to lie, I always thought 'the Mondays' was a stupid expression used to delineate the fact that you were tired and lazy but now I have seen the light. Monday is simply a hard dose of reality. It means your restful weekend lifestyle is quite literally yesterdays news and you must return to productive society.

It's not all woes though, if you don't complain and just try your best to get stuff done, it's lunch time before you know it, followed by days end a few hours later.

So here's to sucking it up and being alive Monday mornings....in great shoes.

And so it begins

It's just before noon and I can hear my stomach grumble. More than that, I'm pretty sure the guy who works at the cubicle beside me hears it too.

I'm hungry because I didn't eat a proper breakfast, one piece of toast with peanut butter at 7:05 simply didn't cut it. Wow, even typing that out seems odd - 7:05. 7:05 AM. Just over a year ago I would have seen that time flash across my microwave clock on the way in from the bar. Brussels was like that though. Lazy school days that began at 2pm and finished at 6, leaving plenty of time to shop for groceries afterwards, relax with a glass of red wine (that only cost me about $6 a bottle) and then cook and have dinner with my roommate around 8. Then by 9 friends would join us for conversation and some dessert, a few more drinks and we would head out to the bar or club by midnight - to quite literally dance and drink until dawn.That was the life.

Fast forward one year and I still woke no earlier than 10am to get ready and catch a bus for an 11 o'clock class. That hour of prep time included breakfast, a shower, the Ellen DeGeneres show and a personal debate over fashion, hair and shoe choices. Thankfully the Ottawa buses were fairly reliable, and I only lived a 10 minute ride away from Carleton, my university. The nightlife in Ottawa was far less glamorous than that of Brussels, mostly due to provincial laws that prohibit bars serving alcohol past 2am (thus putting me in bed by 3 at the latest). However it was still fun, exciting and a staple in my existence.

Now, I have graduated and am part of what most people like to call the 'working world'. The alarm rings at 7:05, I rush to shower, get ready, eat and be out the door by 7:45. Goodbye Ellen, leisurely shower and relaxing morning. Now I rush to be in the car on time so my dad (whom I carpool with) doesn't leave me behind. I never do my hair anymore and my makeup gets applied in the car but there is one thing I simply cannot compromise on, no matter how rushed I feel - my shoes.

Even though I sit in a cubicle most of the day I still feel incomplete without a pair of great shoes quietly waiting to be seen from under my desk.

So as I begin my journey in the working world, I have decided to write this blog chronicling my daily climb to the top of the corporate ladder, steep as it my be, and I will do it...In great shoes.