Indiana, is that east or west of 1962?

In a stunning move sure to incite debate Indiana has passed the "Religious Freedom Act."  Which really sounds benign, our country was founded on several inalienable rights, among them was religious freedom.  Apparently, this law is not really about the right to practice any religion.  From what little truth can be sifted from the growing pile of vitriol and hate, misinformation, and anger, this law is more about the practice of exclusion.

It seems business owners can refuse to sell products, or services to people who are of a different faith.  Using the the sanctity of "religious freedom"  a business can keep their stuff, and the consumer can keep their money.  Which is not "smart business" but it is possible, now, at least in Indiana.

Amazingly, the Indiana Soybean and Corn Alliance has recently reached an agreement to export agricultural commodities to Taiwan, mostly, one can assume soy beans and corn.  This makes a lot of sense, Indiana has soy beans and corn, taiwan could use some.  Everybody is happy.  But, the chief religions in Taiwan are Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.  None of which are probably the religion being protected.

Boldly, the Program Manager for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture attended the Dubai Wood and Machinery Show in the United Arab Emirates.  He was promoting Indiana hardwood, which is, surprisingly, a very important crop for the state.  He sees the "hardwood sector growing into a more global economy all the time."  Of course the "global economy" would be significantly narrowed if you filter by the protection of "religious freedom."  It is not clear, but it is a good guess that the chief religion in need of "protection" in Indiana is not Islam.

Of course, a state needs to generate revenue, doing so requires a healthy economy, and a healthy business atmosphere needs a vigorous exercise of exchange.  Pursuing markets for the products produced by the businesses is a requirement for any state in this age.  And protecting the rights of citizens is one of the most sacred necessities of governing.  Religious differences are clearly not a problem for the state of Indiana when pursuing its goals.  Does Indiana really feel that the small business owners should be allowed to discriminate, or are they just invoking the name of religion to camouflage bigotry?

Good tidings, kind of, a little.

I work in the distribution biz.  We distribute, mostly, designer driven, fashionable, somewhat useful home decor items.  In this business there is a wide margin of speculation, and no small amount of guesswork.  Sometimes too many things are ordered, and this can lead to some uncomfortable space considerations.  These become my problem, I am the "distribution center manager," a title that rests painfully on the brow.  You see, as a manager, I make a very good blogger, as a blogger, maybe not so much.

It was an accident, like most things in my life, that led to this job.  And, when I got here my first thought was "wow, these people are crazy, working all sorts of insane hours," and lifting and moving and carrying the weight of an entire industry in a small 4 story building.  But, I needed to stay a while, if my wife missed another vacation because I changed jobs it would have been war.  Eventually, they promoted me to manager, maybe because I was the tallest, that makes as much sense as anything.

For a long time the biggest problem was trying to use existing space to store increasing amounts of new stuff.  But, eventually, demand started creeping up on supply (see, that is a distribution reference, cool, huh?), it hasn't quite caught up, but supply is starting to sweat, and spends a lot of time looking over it's shoulder.

This means, in non distribution professional terms, that business is beginning to improve.  I have empirical evidence of this, too.  Check out the redundancy we have recently installed in our "Vitally Important Warehouse Dog Department!"  Never again will we be dogless while slaving and toiling to decorate the world. 

Our dog staff, here to serve you.

Anyway, here is where strong managerial skills are requisite.  Things coming in, going out, and being altered in between, taking big ones (full boxes of stuff) and making them into little ones (smaller boxes with a lot of different stuff).  A steady hand, a gentle voice, and a firm but fair demeanor is vital.

They have me instead.  I fall apart so quickly there are shrapnel injuries, and first aid is way beyond my abilities.  Band aid?  They are over there, employee disciplinary forms, please grab one of each.  After all, blood is filled with pathogens, and who knows where these people have been.  Please schedule your injuries during my lunch break, and it would be better if they could happen at home, I will be on vacation in July, can you wait?

An associate called in and said she couldn't work for a couple of days, she was sick.

"Dammit, I mean, are you sure?"  I asked sympathetically, as sympathetically as possible when thinking, "now, I am stuck doing her stuff."

"I went to the doctor, he said I have an acute, viral infection, and needed to take a couple of days off."  She said, a little angry, she has always been kind of a baby.

"What's your doctor's number, I will see if I can get you a reprieve."  Always the helper.

"You're not calling my doctor, Tim.  I will see you when I feel better."  Some people just don't want to be helped.

"OK, I hope you get to feeling better, by tomorrow." The power of persuasion, that is management 101 right there, my friend.  I am kind of getting the hang of this.