Commentary

Mexico Revisted

/ Denis Wilhelm / Leave a comment

I think that this is the 10th time I’ve been in Mexico in less than a year. I love it here. The people. The food. The weather. And my favorite new drink ~ Michelada.

I’ve had the advantage of traveling on business and staying in some pretty nice places. And the “work” has been mainly touring retail shops in department stores after they have been installed. I’ve visited a couple of factories. And I’ve been to the corporate offices of Liverpool Department Stores which is a huge chain here in Mexico – think Macy’s.

But yesterday was ‘poco loco’. I started my day at Liverpool Santa Fe (which is in an upscale section of Mexico City. I was ‘invited’ by my customer at Jones New York® to join a merchandise and marketing training session. This is not really my gig (I’m the fixture guy) but I agreed to attend. I guess it’s hard to say no to a customer.

So there I was with about 100 Mexican merchandise coordinators and apparel specialists (whatever in hell that is). Everyone of course was speaking Spanish – everyone except me. The Director of Marketing for Jones New York® is bi-lingual and most people assumed I was as well. Actually some of my encounters were quite amusing. After some rapid-fire Spanish dialog, I would just meekly say “No habla Espanol”. I’m not certain what the response to that always was but I think it was usually Spanish for “WHY ARE YOU HERE?” I definitely heard “stupido” which I think means “You seem nice but you should go home.”

Later that morning I “helped” with a marketing presentation. The Jones® Marketing Director addressed the crowd, while I sat in a control booth and operated the computer that advanced the PowerPoint slides in her presentation which were then projected on 3 large screens in the auditorium. It sounds easy but it’s only easy if you speak Spanish. I did my best. Let’s just leave it at that. After the PowerPoint presentation I was allowed to take a seat in the auditorium for the Q & A portion of the program. I wasn’t expecting to have to answer any questions but once again I was wrong. And then it came – MY QUESTION. Rocio one of the Liverpool ‘Spanish speakers’ looked at me and said “Denis can you answer that?” I sort of understood something about maniqui (mannequins) and vestidas (dresses) and mesas (tables) and damas grande (large women). And when I gave my answer it was very very funny – I just have no idea what I said. Dios mio!

Later in the day back at my hotel I got trapped between floors in the elevator. After pushing the ‘EMERGENCIA’ button and saying very loudly “NO HABLA ESPANOL” “I’M TRAPPED! I’M TRAPPED! HELP! HELP!” The voice on the speaker asked for my hotel room number. Seriously??? Why did the voice need my room number? Then the voice said “okay Denis, we’ll get you out.” After about 5 minutes which seemed like 5 hours to a crazy, claustrophobic, uno-lingual speaker, the elevator finally moved. When I stepped out of the elevator it was about 10 inches above the floor and of course I nearly fell. What a day!

Jones New York Collections at Liverpool - Perisur

Today was much better. A conference call with my partners in the U.K. and then we toured stores. First Perisur. Then Coapa. And finally Satelite. My Spanish was much better today and I became the ‘official intrepter’. Jim who is one my Project Managers that is traveling with me understands no Spanish. I felt like an expert by comparison.

At dinner ‘esta noches’ I actually was quite fluent in Espanol.  Of course the Micheladas helped. And my guardian angel is always watching over me (his is not an easy job!).

Adios,

Denis

Why I Love The Green Bay Packers

/ Denis Wilhelm / 1 Comment

On an early autumn Sunday in 1991, not long after we moved to Wisconsin, we decided to go shopping at the local mall. Northridge Mall was the largest shopping center in Milwaukee with all the major department stores and over 100 speciality stores (according to the billboards on 76th Street and Brown Deer Road). It was about 2:00 in the afternoon when we arrived and the place appeared to be a virtual ‘ghost town’. When we finally inquired as to why no one was shopping, the kid at the Swatch® kiosk looked at us incredulously and said, “The Packers are playing!” Still not sure what that meant, I asked for further explanation. It was then that his annoyance turned to anger, “The Green Bay Packers” “Everyone is at home watching the game, duh!” He looked at us as if we were aliens – and of course we were.

I knew who the Green Bay Packers were. I just didn’t realize how devoted the fans were. Coming from St. Louis where devotion to The Baseball Cardinals is almost a religious experience I began to understand. But that kind of passion for football was something we were not familiar with in St. Louis. A few years earlier the Football Cardinals had departed for Arizona (good riddance) and so did our interest in the NFL.

So we went to a Packers game later that fall and it was transformational. There we were surrounded by a sea of green and gold. Cheeseheads. Painted faces. Cheering crowd. Adoration. And this was in 1991! Before Brett Farve. What I learned to love about the Packers most that day was their fans. Die hard. Crazy. Dedicated. Wonderful. “Let me join! Let me join!” kept running through my head.  And I did. And I will be a die hard, crazy, dedicated, wonderful Packer fan until I die.

Never too young to be a Packer Fan

 

Here’s why I  love The Greenbay Packers:

  • It’s a team that is owned by the fans.
  • Green and gold are fun colors.
  • Cheeseheads look good on anybody.
  • Brats.
  • Beer.
  • Lambeau Field – football should be played outdoors and in the cold.
  • Aaron  Rodgers.
  • Super Bowl XXXI and XLV.
  • Packer fans love the team through the heydays and the dog days.

The Packer fans are loyal and the players never seem to forget that. When Aaron Rodgers was named MVP of  Super Bowl XLV he thanked the fans.

I would just like to be among the first to say “You’re welcome Aaron, it was our pleasure!”

Go Pack Go!

Denis

P.S. For those of you that are counting ~ this  is my 100th blog post!

Remember When…?

/ Denis Wilhelm / 1 Comment

Remember when Valentine’s Day was Saint Valentine’s Day?

According to legend and some archeological evidence, Valentinus was a Roman priest martyred in 269 for marrying Christian couples. While awaiting his execution, he penned a farewell note to the jailer’s daughter, signing it, “From your Valentine.”

He is the Patron Saint of greetings, young people, love, engaged couples, and happy marriages. He is also the Patron Saint of fainting, epilepsy, plague, bee keepers and travelers.

Funny how Hallmark® has focused on just the love and greetings business.  I guess there’s not much of a market for fainting or plague cards anymore. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time that I celebrated bee keeping either. So Saint Valentine the man has been forgotten or has been replaced by Cupid I suppose. But when I was a kid we still called it Saint Valentine’s Day and I guess I’m feeling a little nostalgic (or old) today.

I love history and I think it’s important for people (my kids and grandkids anyway) to know how things came to be. Growing up I told my children that EVERYTHING has a history (I can see their eyes rolling now). But it is important and I usually start with our family.

Like many Americans our family originated in Europe. On my mom’s side the journey from France included a time in Canada until those madcap fur traders decided to make the journey down the mighty Mississippi to settle here in the midwest. My French Canadian ancestors can be traced back to some of the earliest residents of our hometown. On dad’s side our German ancestors came to America about a hundred years later. Dad likes to say the Germans came over to clean up the mess that the French had made (that joke never gets old – I suppose my eyes are rolling now).

Things are a little murkier on my wife’s side of the family. Some Scottish and English ancestry and maybe Dutch. More importantly her great-grandmother was Native American – Choctaw I think. As best as we can tell some of her people were likely forced to march the “Trail of Tears” and settle in Oklahoma (shame on you Andrew Jackson!)

Every family has a history. Every town has a history. Every nation. Why is it important? Why must we remember? I think because we owe to those that have come before us. I think we honor the “saints” in our own families when we simply remember them. We’re here because of them – because of their search for a better life; because of their need to be free of religious or political persecution; because of their adventurous spirits; or simply because they “came along for the ride” on the ship or wagon or canoe. Some of our ancestors came here because they felt they had no other choice escaping famine or debtors prisons.  Some literally had no choice: shackled as the property of others. Some of their stories are heartbreaking. Some are heartwarming. Some are awe-inspiring. But they should all be told. Their stories are our stories.

Tell your stories (ignore the eye rolling) and honor your history and your people.

Peace,

Denis

Snow Day

/ Denis Wilhelm / Leave a comment

Day two of my capitivity.  Blizzard conditions! Ice! Thunder! Thunder and snow???  How strange!!!

This isn’t a fun snow day. No fluffy flakes of snow waiting to be transformed into smiling snowmen. No sledding in the park. This is ice. Treacherous. Dangerous. Stay in your house and off the streets – ice! And for a ‘follow-up’ they’re predicting blizzard-like conditions. How wonderful!

Looking out my lonely window

Our offices were closed yesterday afternoon and we’re home today and maybe tomorrow, too.  Snow days were fun as a kid but working from home while also watching weather reports “ad nauseam” and keeping one eye looking out the window is exhausting. This ‘multi-tasking’ is very challenging. I’m also thinking about all the work piling up at my office that couldn’t be transported home. So much for telecommuting (or whatever it’s called).

Plus I don’t know why but I can’t stop looking at the weather and I’m afraid that I’m becoming obsessed. I’m concerned about folks who have to work in this mess (my nephew particularly) but also healthcare workers, police, road crews, mail carriers (the irony here is that I won’t risk falling down trying to walk to my mailbox to get the mail that the mail carrier risked his life to deliver). What’s really crazy is that retail stores are open today. How miserable for the Walmart/Target/Macy’s associates that risk life and limb to get to a store that is likely empty. But God forbid that someone not “show up” for work! So much for common sense.

I just finished a conference call with our manufacturing partners in Guadalajara, Mexico – it’s 80 degrees and sunny there. On the contrary, we’re expecting -6 degrees tonight and 12″ to 20″ of snow. So it’s time for a little ‘pity party’. I think I’ll take a break from work. I’ll have some hot chocolate and maybe some cookies or a muffin. Perhaps I can ‘eat’ myself happy. 

Snow days were fun as a kid. Now I just feel like I’m under ‘house arrest’. “Oh, look it’s starting to snow again!”

I guess after my snack and my nap I’ll work on my jigsaw puzzle. I don’t know, maybe this isn’t so bad after all…

Peace,

Denis

It’s That Time of Year Again

/ Denis Wilhelm / Leave a comment

Taxes, Colonoscopies, and Employee Reviews. Three dreaded annual events. I’d sooner do my taxes and have my colon “snaked” than write those blasted reviews. Every year I hate writing employee evaluations. And every year it only seems to get worse.

No matter how you color it; you can give them fancy names like Employee Improvement Process or Personal Development Plan; you can have the employee “take ownership” by doing a “self-assessment”; it still boils down to the same thing. These are ADULT REPORT CARDS. And they come with the same terror, surprise, delight or indifference as when the receiver was in fact a student.

I personally hate reviews for two reasons: First, you can only use the words paradigm, strategic, self-motivated, and mentor in so many sentences. Secondly, when the review is actually being given, I can’t help but think that the employee is only hearing “WAH, WAH; WAH, WAH, WAH” – like the adults in the Peanuts cartoons.

But again this year, like so many years in the past, I will give it my all and try (really try) to find positive things to say and to address “areas of improvement” so that the members of my staff can “grow in their roles as leaders in our organization”.  Which I suppose is better than saying, “You don’t suck; but you still do a lot of stupid stuff”.

For those of you that share the treaded task of giving employee evaluations, I just have one piece of advice: Keep it short and sweet (if possible). Everyone that’s done a crappy already knows it – why bore them with the details? And the ones that have done a good job would rather that you just show them the money.

So enough already with the “WAH, WAH; WAH, WAH, WAH”!

Peace,

Denis

Teachers

/ Denis Wilhelm / 2 Comments

On Tuesday evening during his State of the Union address, President Obama spoke about school teachers. This is what he said: “Let’s also remember that after parents, the biggest impact on a child’s success comes from the man or woman at the front of the classroom. In South Korea, teachers are known as ‘nation builders,’ here in America, it’s time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect.”

That got me thinking about teachers that I know and have known. It called to mind some of the great teachers that I had as well as the great teachers that my kids had, too. It also gave me a greater appreciation for friends that are teachers.
I think that as a nation we place a higher regard on the latest tech gadget or apparel or toy or sporting equipment that our children “need” rather than focusing on the quality or commitment of their teachers and schools. Simply looking at funding for education it paints a poor picture of our nation’s values. But great teachers just keep doing their jobs with little praise and often with inadequate compensation.

I believe that we dismiss the sacrifice that good teachers make for our children. Too often I have heard people say things like, “Teachers have it made, where else can you work nine months of the year and get paid for summers off?” Or there’s that old ‘chestnut’ – “those that can do; those that can’t teach”.  And yet we entrust teachers with our most cherished resource – our children. Our futures.

What’s my point?  I had great teachers that I know I never thanked. My kids had even better teachers than I did and I’m not sure we ever thanked them either.

So here goes:

  • Thanks Miss Boerding. You made me not miss my mom so much when I was a scared little 2nd grader.
  • Thanks Sister Fidesta.  You made Algebra and Geometry fun, even if the fun stuff had nothing to do with Algebra or Geometry. (Martaun and I still laugh about it!)
  • Thanks Sister Thecla. You made me love drafting, design, and graphic arts (and I built a career on it). Plus you were just one crazy lady!
  • Thanks Mr. Elmore. You taught Deb life lessons. We both loved you for it and we miss you.
  • Thanks Dean Crozier. You helped me realize that the world was much bigger than just Saint Charles, Missouri.

Thanks Cindy, Kathy, Peggy, Keith, Mary and all the other teachers that I know who are still committed to their students and their vocation. God bless you for the work that you do. You are nation builders – never forget that!

Peace,

Denis

Baby Smiles

/ Denis Wilhelm / Leave a comment

Last Sunday in church my grandson Noah smiled at me. That may not seem like a big deal. It certainly wasn’t the first time that he smiled nor was it the first time that he smiled at me. But it was the first time that he seemed to truly recognize me and that recognition garnered a smile. Of course it’s possible that he gives that same smile to the UPS driver or the cashier at the local market. But for that moment it seemed, to me anyway, that he was thinking, “Hey, that’s my Pawpaw and I love him!”  It was sublime.
 
I thanked God at that moment for his ‘baby smile’. His big sister and his cousin have been smiling (or laughing) at me for some time now. But this is a new chapter in our relationship. I love my grandkids and I love that they love me back! And now Noah is ‘telling’ me that he loves me, too!
 
Baby smiles are one of the best things that life has to offer. They’re wonderful. They’re sincere. And they’re ‘free of charge’. Who among us hasn’t been completely disarmed by a baby’s smile? How many times have you had a miserable moment/day/week/ only to have it whisked away by the sweet smile of a baby. And if that baby happens to be your grandchild – it’s even better! Trust me.
 
I know that Charlise and Anna and Noah don’t just smile at me. They have lots of people in their lives that they love. And I’m happy for that. But when they do reserve that one special smile for just for me I feel like the luckiest person on earth.

Smiling Noah

Baby smiles can’t fix everything. They can’t make the pain and suffering of this world disappear entirely. They can’t stop wars or end hunger or cure illness. But sometimes I wonder…? Could a baby smile be a diplomatic tool? Could a smiling baby breakdown political, societal, and economic barriers? When I’ve had a lousy day sometimes just looking at a picture of my smiling grandkids helps put everything in perspective. Maybe all the United Nations Delegates should be required to wear pictures of their children or grandchildren or nieces or nephews on their lapels. Perhaps the State Department should include photos of heads of states’ children as part of the advance teams’ paperwork. It’s possible some conflicts might be resolved if THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE realized how lucky they were to be parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles. And by securing peace in our world; they could insure continuation of baby smiles for generations. It’s just a thought.

How lucky am I? Just look at Noah’s smile and you’ll know.
 
Peace,
Denis

Winter Blahs

/ Denis Wilhelm / Leave a comment

Snow. Ice. More snow. More cold weather. More ice. Even more snow. Is there any end in sight? When will it be warm again?

Ughh!! More snow!!!

All I want is some warmer weather. I’m tired of the ice and snow on the roads and salt and muck being carried into the house. I feel like I’m living back in Wisconsin. I’m probably just suffering from some seasonal depression. BUT I CAN’T TAKE MUCH MORE!

I know that spring will come again. And I know that there will be flowers and green grass and sunshine and blue skies. I’m just getting a little antsy.

You see, I’m not much of a cold weather animal. I lived in Wisconsin for 11 years and there were many things that I loved about our life up north but not the weather. From October to May – it was just an exercise in endurance. I just told myself each winter (all 8 months of it) that somehow I would get through it and somehow I did. Even the year that we had 25 below zero temperatures with windchills of 75 below zero – I lived and I saw spring again. But that didn’t make less it any less miserable. Cold is cold.

So now here I am now living 400 miles further south and I might as well be back in Wisconsin (at least up there they knew how to remove the snow and ice from the streets. Plus the drivers weren’t all complete jackasses when the snow started flying). But this cold weather snap that we’re experiencing feels too much like Wisconsin winter and I’m READY FOR SPRING.

Maybe I need to move to Florida. But all those old people driving around with their left turn signals on would probably get on my nerves. What’s a curmudgeon to do?

Stay warm if you can.

Peace,

Denis

Keep Calm and Carry On

/ Denis Wilhelm / Leave a comment

Keep Calm and Carry On was a poster produced by the British government in 1939 during the beginning of World War II intended to raise the morale of the British public under the threat of impending invasion. It was produced as a prototype and never used. The poster was rediscovered in 2000 and has been re-printed and sold commercially ever since. I recently saw it for the first time in my colleague’s office in  England. 

I think “Keep Calm and Carry On” may need to become my new motto. I certainly need to “calm the hell down” as has been suggested by those who shall remain nameless. And we must always “carry on”. Even in our darkest hours; we must carry on! It seems that I’ve been “carrying-on” for sometime now but “to carry on” means something else entirely I’m told.

Very British this idea of calm and deliberate forward progress. Stiff upper lip and all that. I like the idea of being undeterred; to remain steadfast in our pursuits and mission. Too often it seems that I run away or give up when faced with set-backs or disappointments. Perhaps if I would just “Keep Calm and Carry On” I would find that these ‘minor detours’ in life are not insurmountable and may even be character building (but let’s not push it!). Regardless, instead of shrinking from my responsibilites, failures, or hardships the thought of soldiering-on seems noble.

I’m hoping (and praying) that the next time life sends some crap my way I will remember to “Keep Calm and Carry On” instead of burying my head in the sand or crying into my pillow. Very well then!

Peace,

Denis

Love’s Pure Joy!

/ Denis Wilhelm / 1 Comment

Yesterday I got to meet my friend Sherry’s baby daughter. Just one day old. She is beautiful and Mama Sherry is awash in joy and happiness.

Roddia Sherie

Most babies are wanted. Most babies’ arrivals are highly anticipated. Most babies are excitedly welcomed into their families. But this little girl may be the most wanted, anticipated and welcomed baby I have ever known! She is a certainly a blessing to her parents and her family. And she will be celebrated as the miracle that she is. Praise God!

I was able to hold her yesterday at the hospital and like all newborns she is so precious and so beautiful. But it struck me while I was holding her that she is destined for greatness. I just had this overwhelming feeling that this little girl will change our world (not just Sherry’s and Rodney’s) and that her arrival is a sign of many more good things to come. What a welcome respite from the doom and gloom of the morning news. What a relief to know that good has once again triumphed over evil. Roddia is a hopeful and peaceful messenger of God’s love for us.  

Of course, Baby Roddia may not single-handedly bring about world peace or prevent hunger or cure cancer or stop global warming – but she might! She could be president someday. She most certainly will be grace-filled and beautiful. And her heart will overflow with love and kindness. That’s guaranteed – it’s in her DNA. Her “greatness” may be meaured in the small things that she does for others but her influence will reach beyond borders. Remember the words of Mother Theresa of Calcutta “We can do no great things, only small things with great love.” 

Sherry, thank you for letting me share your special joy. During those “hopeless times” I will remember holding Roddia and realize again that with God’s love all things are possible!

Peace,

Denis