Living-Deliberately.com

I was recently in Knoxville and saw this sign in a few places. This particular billboard is in the center of the city, not far from Magpies‘, where I get truly fantastic mini-cupcakes (which, btw, to those of you following my cupcake baking exploits, have completely spoiled my desire to make them at home. Peg’s are just toooo good!).

But anyway, my friend and fellow cupcake-conspirator were in the city getting our afternoon fix of mini Red Velvets when he pointed out this sign to me and my stomach did an involuntary turn from happy bliss to utter revolt-ion.

ARE THEY SERIOUS???? This sign is so tremendously offensive on so many levels. My first thought was how it actually came to be. I mean, step-by-step, this revolting concept had to hit a lot of desks before I saw it in the city. No doubt many minds considered this particular Ripley’s gimmick, graphic design, presentation, from the exhibit designer right on down to the guy who put the sign paper up.  DID NOBODY CHECK THEIR SENSITIVITY CHIP???

Who’s grand idea was it to include a premature infant in this picture? Does anyone really believe that there are actual incubated human babies in the Ripley’s Museum? And next, who (and praytell was it the same creep as the first “genius”) decided it would be a good, rational design choice to juxtapose it with a LIZARD? What parallel are they drawing, and thus wanting us to also draw?

Ripley’s makes it’s money on the “freakish” element of it’s exhibits. I get that. So…are they saying that an incubated baby is a freak? A side show?

Added to the “What the Bleep Were They Thinking?” element is the fact that this sign is only a few miles from a Children’s Hospital. Parents needing to go through town will see it. Parents with little tiny lives they love dearly in those very incubators.

It’s disgusting. Ripley’s is the kind of place I may have taken my “gross-out” loving kiddos. But those same kiddos had a sister who spent her life in a Children’s Hospital. Another one of them has been in and out frequently. I want to raise children who are AWARE of and COMPASSIONATE to the quiet, often invisible, dramas going on behind those hospital walls, being saved by the kind of science Ripley’s is poking fun at.

Because if their intention was to display the “marvels” of medical science and what it can do, they certainly didn’t communicate it with this billboard. Equating infants with reptiles and presenting it all as something to be gawked at is repulsive. Which, is what I am: Repulsed right out of ever going there.

My sister pointed out these trees to me. The two of them have grown together to create one image from a distance…unified yet separate. If one is cut, the other will be exposed and odd. Together, they are broader, stronger, more beautiful. Each unique and whole, yet harmonizing as one.

I’d like to dedicate this post to my friends, Randy and Sarah, who celebrated their anniversary yesterday. Trees, poetry, nature, harmony….they embody it all and it’s been an honor to be their friend. 

I’ve recently had lots of bank exposure. I have my little bank in my former town and it’s branch, closer into the city. I have a few different kinds of online accounts and frequently spend time getting all the accounts to work together, to transfer money where it needs to go and when necessary, make it either more accessible or less. I traveled a lot last month and kept an eye out for a bank, other than the giant Bank of America, that would have locations in all of the places I was. That is no small feat! Many states, many towns…I knew I was likely going to open yet another account so that I could have local check cashing, in my new locality. I wasn’t looking forward to it.

But there was  bright green sign that kept catching my eye. True, true it’s my favorite color: bright green. And, true, true, there was a branch location in every single town I visited. I’d decided to go with them just upon that.

Then came the day I walked in. I wasn’t enthusiastic. It was lunch time. I had all four kids with me. Going into a bank is usually quiet and echo-ey and I get “looks” from navy-clad professionals who look like they’re biding their time until lunch…or 4:30…wherever it is in the day. Lines are always long. Kids are always antsy. Waiting for the paperwork process is a pain the butt.

The *very second* I walked in, two bank employees got up and welcomed me. They did not get weird expressions of dread when they saw four children walk in with me. Across from the waiting area was a plate of fresh cookies and coffee. On every table and test was a big bowl of giant gumballs. I told them that I wanted to open a new account and within seconds I was sitting down across from a guy who seemed genuinely interested in doing this aspect of his job today. Right away they both expressed that they understood I didn’t want this to take a long time and that they’d do all they could to help me get it done and on my way.

He helped me open the account; she got my children washable markers and paper to color, and cookies and napkins. It was fast. It was easy. After he introduced me to the tellers I’d likely be working with, I left happy. Even after cookie crumbs and gumball drool, they still did not seem at all fazed or exhausted that some woman brought her four busy-bodies in. In many other businesses, that would have gotten me looks of fatigue, stress, dread, and the unique, “eewwww…..your kid just got goo on my desk…thanks for making my day even harder.”

Two days later I got a hand written thank you card from him, well written and with a phone number included, should I have any questions. My debit card also came, already pinned. We did that in the office, which was groovy because I loathe waiting weeks to get my card and then more days later to get my pin separately, and then have to relearn yet another number. It was great to choose my own ahead of time.

That day I went to the drive in teller. They asked me first if I wanted the kids to have lollipops. And I got a service call, just to check to see if I was indeed happy with my Region’s Bank experience.

The day after that I walked in alone, to get some paperwork notarized. The same employeed recognized me, noticed I didn’t have my kids, and asked me how they were doing. She described their cuteness to the employee she took me to, so that I could get my needs met. At this point, I was feeling a little guilty I hadn’t spent the same amount of effort to learn their names!

You know that point where they say, “Is there anything else I can help you with today?” I think it’s been a long time since I felt like the person asking it was genuinely interested in doing more than the bare minimum. It occurred to me that these Regions folks actually like their jobs! They enjoy their days there! And it shows in how they deal with people.

Two nights after that I got a call from a hired-survey center. The deal was to answer a series of questions using a scale from 1-5; 5 being the highest. I gave Regions a straight “5″. Yes, they made me feel like my buisness was important to them. Yes, they made me feel like I was a person, and not just business. Yes, they seemed to sincerly want to help. Yes, they greeted me right away (don’t you hate walking into a place where no one will make eye contact with you?). And on and on.

It seems a little odd to be so excited about something like a bank these days. I think it’s bigger than that though. This company has obviously given some thought to branding and the new generation, which uses conversational marketing and the relational economy to stand out in their field of competitors. They aren’t striving for the status quo, which would probably still give them a successful bank business. They seem to want more than that. They intuitively understand the connectivity this day and age is seeking. Their sincerity shows. They are indeed, Living Deliberately.

It’s refreshing, in the most spring-green of ways, to not have to dread a regular chore in my routine. Going to the bank is a happy spot in my day…not just for my kids, who know they’ll get free lollipops, but for their Mom too, who won’t be treated as if she were just another faceless customer handing over her hard-earned money. So a big THANKS to Regions Bank, and in return, here’s the biggest personal referral I can offer!

• today it occurred to me that we throw away too much compostable content around here…
• I could smell dirt when I stepped outside this morning…
• I had an urge to soak something….like beans….
• Sarah posted e.e cummings…
• I feel an itch to paint in tones of pale greens and yellows…

Maybe this is what the start of healing looks like?

All three of the houses I’ve bought and lived in during my marriage sit vacant and on the housing market at the same time.

It’s as if my history, present, and future are one giant loose end, sitting silently and open, awaiting some kind of life-breathing inhabitation to direct their course.