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Naughty & Nice List

~ Linda Leier Thomason ~ Leave a comment

It’s that time of the year to reveal Naughty and Nice Lists. list
This year our family relocated, traveled off shore, celebrated a birthday milestone in Las Vegas, housed in temporary living quarters, and purchased and furnished a house. Our business interactions were greater than usual. Some were pleasant; others not so much. Here’s who left an impression and landed on the lists.

NICE LIST
• Patty Bain, Area Sales Manager, Lodging Dynamics Hospitality Group. Patty directed us to ideal temporary housing at the Omaha Towne Place Suites while we were looking for a house. Prior to our relocation, she advised us on how to best use the space and make the most of the temporary status. She greeted us with a welcome basket and checked in on our family often-good ole’ fashioned customer service wins every time! If you or your group needs lodging in Omaha, contact Patty at patty.bain@ldhg.com.
• Megan Owens, Realtor at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, is dynamite! Of all the agents in Omaha, we chose Megan because we consistently favored her listings and the way she staged them for sale. In addition, she was patient with our ever-changing relocation date and very responsive to our communications. Megan’s greatest trait is her superior listening skills. She quickly grasps your housing needs and works tirelessly to find you the ideal location. She has tremendous focus, energy, and business savvy. She’s well networked and respected in the Omaha real estate market. She’s mighty and will not disappoint. Contact Megan.
• First National Bank Omaha has met our mortgage and personal banking needs since the relocation. There’s always a hesitation after moving to find a new bank, especially after we had such an outstanding banker in Lauren at First Premier in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. However, the mortgage banking team led by Becky Sandiland bsandiland@fnni.com couldn’t have done one thing better to land on this Nice List. Without a doubt, this financing experience was the best we’ve ever had! It was so favorable that we decided to do our personal banking there with Faye Gerteisen fgerteisen@fnni.com. Hats off to First National Bank Omaha for hiring great staff, training them well and then allowing them to serve customers in a way that retains them for a lifetime.
• Looking good makes you feel good and Ashly, Designer, at Beauty First Nebraska keeps us presentable. She’s cheerful, enthusiastic, and just a great all-around stylist. Start 2016 off with a new cut and style by making an appointment with Ashly at 402.496.1787.
• Susan Anawski, owner of Prestige Travel, has been a life-saver for the traveling Thomason Trio on multiple occasions, and not just in 2015. When an airplane mechanical issue delayed an offshore family trip, Susan, yet again, rescued us and worked magic to get us to our location and secure us vouchers for our next trip. I know many think they can do better than a travel agent, and we did too, until we employed her services and found out why she’s the expert, and we aren’t. Traveling in 2016, contact Susan at 605.367.4000 or prestigetravel@sio.midco.net. No matter where you live, she can gladly assist.

Naughty List

• Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM). What a major disappointment to find out the one you’ve been pining for doesn’t care about you, even after you’ve spent a very large amount of time and money on them. We have placed five orders with NFM and there is a 100% failure rate on post-sale activity. Furniture arrived chipped with the pieces taped to the underside. Others were damaged in the move. Pre-paid assembly was not completed. Scheduled delivery times were off by 8 hours, on and on and on. The worst part of this rude awakening is that the Mart employs some pretty capable designers and sales people. Too bad they aren’t supported with after sale counterparts who share their skill set.
• Hy-Vee. Wow! Major downer! We were introduced to Hy-Vee in Sioux Falls and spent every grocery dollar there. We were so loyal we knew the staff and vice versa. We loved the culture and the way they supported the community. Fast forward to Omaha and the three stores we frequented seem like they’re foreign to the Hy-Vee experience in South Dakota. Let’s just say with so many choices in Omaha, we’ve moved on because our shopping dollar doesn’t seem to be appreciated or valued at the Omaha Hy-Vee stores. We miss “the smile in every aisle.”
• Caesars Palace Lost and Found Department. We stayed in Caesars for Alex’s 21st birthday celebration. Despite the horrible smoke on the no smoking floor and drunken guests pounding on our door on multiple nights, all agreed it was an ideal location. However, never plan to leave anything behind at Caesars because you won’t get it back. Ever. A necklace was left when we checked out before 6 am. We called from the airport gate and followed all of the correct procedures. It took days to hear back from the hotel and when we did it was through a form email. Three weeks later, the case remained open. We know it’s never being returned. Ironically, when we checked in, we found the previous guest’s credit card on the closet floor. Knowing that not everyone is always honest, we called the card company and informed them of our finding rather than return the card to the lost and found department. Foreshadowing at its finest. Lesson learned-never travel with something you cannot part with.

Straddling both lists is Delta Airlines. They cost my family a day at an offshore resort because of mechanical failure discovered by pilots before we were to leave on the first flight out of Omaha. Per the pilot, the issues should’ve been noticed and fixed the evening before. Yikes! However, Delta did right by speaking the truth during the day-long delay and issued travel vouchers for future travel to all passengers. On another trip, Delta baggage handlers destroyed our luggage. Once again, they processed the claim in a fair and expedient manner and offered what seemed to be a sincere apology for the damage. So even when a company makes mistakes, and they all do because humans work there, if they acknowledge their mistakes and make reasonable amends and explanations, it sits better with the consumer, or at least this one.
Who lands on your Nice List?clap Who is on your Naughty List? Have you told them? It is my policy to always inform a company when they are about to lose my business. Hy-Vee, Caesars and the Nebraska Furniture Mart were each contacted and reasons for the loss explained. As a former CEO and small business owner, I value customer feedback-good and bad. Wouldn’t it be an ideal world if all businesses did? If someone provides you exceptional service, let that be known as well. Everyone wants to feel appreciated, even at work.

Let’s hope your Nice List has more members than your Naughty List and that those on this Naughty List will work hard to make the Nice List in 2016.
©Copyright. December 2015. Linda Leier Thomason
All Rights Reserved.

School Shooting In Rural America

~ Linda Leier Thomason ~ Leave a comment

First Year Teacher Shares Incident Experience

Sarah is a first year teacher and daughter of a veteran police officer. She knew of crime but never realized she’d be so close to a shooting until a student opened fire inside her school during her 1st month on the job. This is Sarah’s account of September 30, 2015 in rural Harrisburg, South Dakota, population 5000.

I’ll never forget this day. I was supervising a study hall of diligent students when just after 10:00 AM; the intercom came on with static and white noise. Quickly following was the administrative assistant’s voice saying, “We are in lockdown. We are in lockdown.” She did not yell, but panic was heard in her voice. In fact, still today, over and over in my head, I hear how she said those words. Instantly I knew this was not a drill. Instead, a real incident was happening somewhere in the school.

Immediately I instructed my classroom of 25 students to get as close to the back wall as possible so they were not in direct site from the door. As they moved, I ran to shut and lock the door, turn the lights off and close all the shades. The next few minutes of uncertainty felt like an eternity. Students rightfully asked if this was a drill and what was going on. I had no answers. Finally our principal, who I later learned had just been shot, came on the intercom announcing the person causing the lockdown was apprehended and authorities were enroute.

All breathed a sigh of relief knowing with near certainty we were no longer in danger. Then I realized my loved ones, who’d in all likelihood heard about
the shooting, were probably trying to find out if I was okay, only I didn’t
have my cellular phone. For once, I was thankful for social media because I took to Facebook to contact my friends and family, letting them know that my students and I were safe.

I was on the job a month when this incident happened. I never imagined having to follow active shooter procedures ever while teaching, let alone in the first month of my career. The staff had practiced a lockdown drill just two weeks prior to the shooting so I knew what to do in the classroom that day and automatically did as we were taught.

September 30th I became a more confident teacher. Confidence in the classroom and relationship building with students typically come with time and success. Ironically, this experience jump-started both. I know, if faced with a similar incident, I will be confident in my actions. That morning those 25 students and I bonded and I feel closer to them now then I think most teachers in their first month of their first year could wish for.

I will admit that on the day of the shooting I really didn’t have any feelings about it. But the next day, when seeing the students and our principal, who thankfully was only slightly injured, I was overwhelmed by the enormity of what happened and the realization of how it could have been much worse for all.

October 1, 2015 when I got home from school, I learned of the Oregon college campus shooting and what happened the day before at our school really hit me hard. I thought to myself how easily that could have been my school, and my students. Yes, all of us at Harrisburg High School went through a traumatic event but it could have been a tragic event as well.

I was thankful then that I am close to my family. Some of my co-worker’s families live in other states and could only communicate through telephone or text messaging. I was lucky enough to have my family in the same city, offering me support and talking me through this incident.

I believe one of the biggest factors in this situation was that the student doing the shooting was new to the school. No one really had a chance to know him. And it is hard to say why he chose to use this act of violence with the limited background information we had on him.

What I can say is that parents should always be mindful of what their teenagers are doing and who they are hanging out with. As a sister to a brother seven years younger, I know keeping tabs on teenagers can be challenging because they don’t always want to talk to their parents. As a teacher I try to develop relationships right away with my students so they feel comfortable opening up to me about their struggles in and outside of school.

I don’t know if I am really the right person to dispense warning signs indicating a child might be considering an act of violence. I will say parents should try their best to be involved in their children’s lives and to pay attention to how they normally act. If abrupt change is noticed, it would be best for all to sit down right away and talk about it. As a teacher, and also someone who not too long ago was a teenager, I do know students absolutely want their parents to be involved and to talk to them, even though they may appear resistant and non-receptive.

Today I feel safe at Harrisburg High School. How I enter the school and go about my day has not changed. Honestly, being in lockdown was the last thing I ever expected when I decided to be a teacher. Yet, September 30, 2015 changed so many things for me. Teaching is as much about my learning as it is educating my students. That day I both taught and learned and I’m more confident for the experience.
What message would you like to convey to Sarah and all teachers? Leave a comment below.

©Copyright. October 2015. Linda Leier Thomason

All Rights Reserved.

If you’d like to contribute as a guest, contact me at llthomason60@gmail.com.

An Open Affair With Vermillion

~ Linda Leier Thomason ~ Leave a comment

Vermillion, South Dakota you’ve been holding out on me!

You finally revealed the depth & beauty of your soul on my third Family Weekend visit. Had I known the secrets you were keeping, I’d have spent much more time with you. You secretive, sly one! These past two years I’ve only seen your dorm rooms, your downtown and your DakotaDome. This year the depth of your character and the beauty of your surroundings were disclosed. You let slip the history of your beginnings and plans for your future. Know I crave more of you and desperately long for our next meeting.

Let’s be open about our affair. The past two years we’ve visited a student. This year we toured with the same student-now a university employee. Together we awed over your Shakespeare Garden, the time capsule and the National Music Museum-all new and exciting parts of your university-only drawing us closer. We drove by the president’s house, saw the burgeoning athletic fields and experienced a football team win with an energy-filled fan base, unlike past years. We traversed your southern bluffs and succumbed to your Missouri River sunset. There was a freshness and a real excitement in our connection this time. So much so that I want to openly hold hands with you in public and announce my joy with each visit. I’ve been enriched getting to know you and want to share all you offer.

Here’s Why-

architecture usdHistory & Architecture

USD was founded in 1862. Campus architecture and well-maintained grounds reveal pride in this rich history as the first post-secondary institution in the Dakotas.

I equally enjoy old and new. Your perfect blend of historical and contemporary buildings delights me.beacom

 

 

National Music Museum

music usdWho’d think a city of 10,000+ would boast a National Music Museum? This hidden gem is fully accredited by the American Association of Museums in Washington, D.C., and is recognized as a “Landmark of American Music” by the National Music Council. Its collections contain more than 15,000 instruments from all cultures and historical periods.

Music moves my soul and this place cements me in the history of music.

Restaurants With Characterwhimps

Just a short drive from Vermillion is the unincorporated Burbank, South Dakota-home of Whimps. Nothing fancy here- just fast, signefficient and friendly service in a nondescript hole-in-the wall building with an overflowing parking lot. Locals know where to eat, and now I do too.

Priceless Views

moonA dead-end gravel road framed in golden fall colors won me over. How dare you have kept this from me for two years? I’m totally smitten with your bluff views and your sandy beaches-all seen with you on a night when the moon was full.

You knew my history of coastal living, yet withheld this natural beauty until you were sure of my commitment. Your mystery intrigues me.

Your academic buildings on a historical campus. Your national museum. Your manicured grounds. Your character-filled eateries. Your picturesque surroundings. Oh, the many layers and textures of your existence.

How can I let you go & leave you behind?sandMy devotion is real.

I will return to you… Vermillion, South Dakota.

Surely there is much more to you, yet to be revealed.

The affair continues. Openly.

If you are a Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) staffer or tourism official and you’d like to have your community reviewed and promoted, please contact me at llthomason60@gmail.com.

Copyright. October 2015. Linda Leier Thomason.

All Rights Reserved.

 

Check Under the Hood

~ Linda Leier Thomason ~ 1 Comment

I bought a 4-door silver Plymouth Fury in 1979. I bought after being without wheels as a college freshman and relying on others for rides. Dad decided I needed to learn how to change a tire, open the hood and “check under the hood.” To this day I’m not exactly sure what I was checking for other than if there was enough oil and if it was clear. I went through the motions to make him feel better about sending me on the highway, praying I’d never have to really use the lessons he was teaching. Luckily, I’ve only been stranded once hoodand it wasn’t for anything under the hood. It was a flat tire fixed by a kind farmer on North Dakota’s Interstate 94.

“Check under the hood” has stuck with me but the meaning isn’t as literal as the initial lesson taught that hot August afternoon on the farm’s gravel driveway. Instead it’s come to mean maintenance and protecting one’s investment. And as I age, holy smokes, I’m doing a lot of “checking under the hood.” So much so that some days I’d like to invest in a new model, one with fewer maintenance issues. And, I’m not talking about the vehicle either. Rather my body. Relate?

Today my annual physical is much like a 100,000 mile vehicle check. It takes a whole day and involves looking at everything from front to back to top to bottom. What needs further testing? What needs repair? What needs replacement? Question the recommendation. Get a second opinion. Make another appointment. See a specialist. Extract a part. Import a part. Sticker shock! Yikes! You get it.

Despite all this, I keep “checking under the hood.” I drive my vehicles until the wheels fall off-that’s a whole ‘nother story. Warren Buffet and I share that in common-if it ain’t broke-why replace it? Begrudgingly I schedule annual physicals, dental appointments and other wellness exams each time hoping to leave doing my best impersonation of a smiling Mary Tyler Moore tossing her hat jubilantly in the air celebrating life and all its glory.mtmoore

“You’re gonna make it after all”…just keep “checking under the hood.”

Copyright. October 2015. Linda Leier Thomason

All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

“Straight Outta Compton” via Omaha

~ Linda Leier Thomason ~ 2 Comments

Look at me! I’m a petite, white, middle-aged professional. So what’s a woman like me to do in Omaha, Nebraska on a Thursday evening?

How about break social norms and sit in the Marcus Theater and see “Straight Outta Compton”-the R rated biography film about life in southern comptonLos Angeles County in the 80’s and 90’s, as portrayed through gangster rap group N.W.A.  As usual, I did no research on the movie before taking a seat. Of course, I’ve heard the media hype about the film and the threat of riots at theaters that thankfully never happened. But I knew nothing about the film’s content.

We sat down, looked around and didn’t see anyone matching our profile. It’s not well-known that Ken and I follow hip hop artists and enjoy rap music. In fact, with blinds closed, almost nightly we get our exercise by busting moves in our kitchen to every style of music. A few years back we owned a DJ service in the Deep South where it was necessary to know, appreciate and play everything from Tupac to Biggie Smalls to shag music, entertaining party-goers of all types. So while we might look like misfits, our comfort level and historical knowledge of N.W.A. is right on target.

Even after 2.5 hours I didn’t want “Straight Outta Compton” to end. I craved up-to-the-minute updates on the main characters. I left revved up; my heart literally beating faster. I get how young black men can get jacked up by the lyrics and rhythms of the music, especially in large group settings. The language in the film is crude and vulgar as are the interactions with groupies after concerts, leaving no doubt in my mind that what I was seeing actually happened and most likely in a more exaggerated form than what was allowed to be shown on film. The police interactions were horrific and the behavior of the N.W.A members surely wouldn’t make their mother’s proud. Yet, despite all of the turmoil and individual challenges, many of the N.W.A. members are by today’s standards quite successful. Ice Cube is a well-known musician, actor and film and record producer while Dr. Dre is a record producer, rapper and entrepreneur who recently sold Beats Electronics to Apple Inc.

All can learn something from “Straight Outta Compton” regardless of your profile or musical interests. It might make you uncomfortable. Go anyway. It is my experience that the more uncomfortable I am with the content of a movie, the stronger the message is. I squirmed. I was appalled. I grooved. I left charged up. I gained insight into the plight of young black men in major urban areas and I encourage you to go see what you learn from the film.

EXPRESS YOURSELF!

Copyright August 2015 Linda Leier Thomason