"Well behaved women rarely make history." --Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
[Note: I wrote this last week and I still feel the same way, so I figured I would go ahead and publish it. :::Shrugging shoulders:::] I don't feel like being PC today. I am over (O-V-E-R) lip service, false promises, wasting time and haters. Where are the action-oriented people? The ones that don't hate because you are doing something novel and new? The ones that don't just jibber jabber for the sake of flapping their jaws? The ones that know how to do business professionally? Where are the people that realize that we can collectively be of service to girls that need our help? The ones that don't care about Who Gets Credit, but Who Gets Growth? Where are these people? Do they exist?
I've been working on my camp project and volunteerism for awhile now and a number of irritating occurences have motivated me to write. I'm POed. It's official.
(1) I was blown off (how unprofessional!) by a local women's organization that didn't have the decency to return an inquiry, but they were perfectly willing to accept my annual donations for the past several years. I'm over them.
(2) I sent a proposal to a girls organization with a similar mission that I had previously contact with. Instead of a yes or a no, I was blown off (yes, again!). Oh yeah, someone from their Board of Directors contacted me a few months after my proposal to tell me that they wanted to "pick my brain" because they want to do a similar program. I told them I'd send them my fee schedule and haven't heard back. Good.
(3) I made a business arrangement with a local booster with contacts. She said she would fundraise (she was going to get paid) starting in January and on my third follow-up communication, she told me I fell off her radar over the holidays. WTF.
(4) I volunteered my time to a local girls group and some of the staff turned one of my survey questions into a race issue. Some adults always seem to find a way to ruin what could have been a positive experience. Ugh.
(5) Even some of my customers have made promises (that I didn't ask them to make) and didn't follow through, or at least tell me that they are no longer interested. Oh well.
(6) I met a local politican at a networking event and asked if she knew the best way for me to go about raising funds. She got all enthusiastic about my program and said she would help (yes, she said it). And then she passed me on to her Right Hand Guy and he told me he couldn't help. Gee, a politican that didn't follow through on something. How novel.
(7) A local church said "Yes! We're in!" and then they weren't. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. NOT.
(8) And then a pastor I met told me I would "definitely be hearing from the Youth Division leader" at his church, and I don't hear a message on my voicemail. (Yes, it's working.)
I could go on. But I won't.
Just be about what you say you're about. And if you don't roll like that, just stay the hell away from me. No offense intended.
Sincerely,
Tracey
P.S. Success is the best revenge.
