Why are people on the internet so angry?

Remember in high school those kids that hated anything that was great. That would never say anything to anyone's face but always had a thing to say behind someone's back? The greatest birthday present of all came when blogging became popular. Now these people who love to hate stuff can spew it out loud online! Why are they so angry?

The worst thing a person can be is dishonest. That's why it always makes me kind of sad(not mad) when I hear what people comment on the Internet. The other day I was on Boston Barstool Sports who always post incredible attractive women as their smokeshow of the day(solid blog idea). All the comments were about how she was too fat on the hips or this or that. The reality is most of those dudes probably haven't gotten laid in their lives and woud probably stalk that girl via text if they talked to them.

I just have never understood why people hate so much stuff. It's one thing if you live in a 3rd world country but we have these normal people hating stuff left and right. Do they not realize who they are what reality is? It just confuses me. Why not be positive and realize if a person has something that the masses read they are doing somethign right and that they are hating on this because they actually like it. Any blogger out there should  know that when you get bad comments it means you made it. 

There is so much hate in life and I don't understand it. Maybe they aren't going to the Potomac River enough or watching enough Wonder Years. I'm not sure. Why can't we all just chill and get along. We need to realize there are some people out there we'll never get along with and just not associate with them. Just chill out, listen to Bob Seger and appreciate life.

The Importance of Hiring People with Disabilities

“Hiring people with disabilities is not a them/us issue, it is a we issue”

-Kathy Martinez, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy

On Tuesday, April 10, I attended the CACI Learning Series on Hiring People with Disabilities with several other member of the Recruiting and Workforce Planning team. Our very own Denyse Gordon hosted the event and did a great job. The guest speakers for the event included CACI Executive Vice President Gil Guarino and Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy Kathy Martinez.

Assistant Secretary Martinez has an impressive background. She was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the third Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 25, 2009. As head of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Martinez advises the Secretary of Labor and works with all DOL agencies to lead a comprehensive and coordinated national policy regarding the employment of people with disabilities.

Martinez’s accolades are plentiful, from being executive director of the World Institute on Disability to being appointed a member of the National Council on Disability by former president George W. Bush. Martinez has an amazing personal story of how she came was able to achieve such a high position in the federal government.

First off, Martinez was born legally blind. Growing up, people told her that she had only three career choices: to become a counselor, work at a call center, or serve as a typist. However, she did not accept that for herself. “Many people would think it’s okay if I just collected disability benefits, but I wanted more,” Martinez said. With this attitude, Martinez was able to put herself through college and became involved in the disability rights and independent living movements in the 1970s. She has been working primarily as a disability rights advocate ever since.

At the CACI event, Martinez made some great points on why hiring people with disabilities is so important, including:

· Twenty-four percent of families have persons with disabilities in their household.


· Hiring people with disabilities impacts market share. People with disabilities are the third largest market in the U.S. One way to tap into this market is to employ these candidates at CACI.


· People are working later in life today and can acquire disabilities with age. It’s important that companies seek out this talent.


· People with disabilities bring fresh ideas and different ways of solving problems.


· People with disabilities able to adapt to circumstances and can help a company’s strategic plan.

This Learning Series had a huge impact on me. Two of the biggest things that stuck out to me during the interview were when Martinez quoted Olympian Scott Hamilton, who said, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” That is so true. Attitude is everything: we have to change our attitude and stereotypes of persons with disabilities or nothing will ever change.

Also, I thought it was interesting when Martinez talked about the word “accommodations” when discussing people with disabilities. She said this term can come off as rude and make people nervous, so she prefers calling tools employees need to function in the workplace “productivity tools.” These are something both people with disabilities and people without disabilities need. It is these types of small culture changes that can make a huge impact on assimilating people with disabilities into the workplace.

CACI does a great job of hiring people with disabilities and I am proud to be with an organization that has a vested interest in employing them. It’s important that we all make the effort to bring more persons with disabilities to the CACI team. I look forward to CACI being a model company for this excellent initiative for years to come.

For more information on how you can help, please go to www.whatcanyoudo.org.

One bad email can ruin your career

I've worked in the HR/Recruiting arena for over 4 years now.  If there is one thing I know for sure it is that the cliche "don't burn bridges" is never more applicable than in the employment sector. One bad email or bad comment can leave a permanent black mark on your career forever. 

Think about it. Every time you apply to another job the employer is going to ask for your former manager's name. While not every one's holds grudges, in my experience even the slightest slip up can mean the difference between getting a job and not getting one.

It costs thousands of dollars to hire someone. When you factor in the costs to advertise the position, the salary for the recruiter sourcing for candidates for the position, the candidates salary, training, benefits, sick leave, etc. Managers aren't going to take any chances when bringing someone on because there is just too much to lose with a bad hire. With all the qualified applicants out of jobs right now, it is more important than ever to make sure you always maintain a professional attitude at all times.

So what constitutes a bad email? Let's just say using sarcasm and curse words to reflect your opinion on a company is not a good thing( people really do this.) Also, don't be pushy. I get emails often(which I won't put in writing) that demand me to find them a job.  Do you think I want to help those guys now? Sorry, but the world doesn't revolve around you.

I don't think the average person realizes that every action they take has consequences when it comes to jobs. Even though you may think you are some recruiter's buddy that doesn't mean you can talk to them like you were talking to your boy at a sports bar.  You have to always remember that the recruiter is answering to someone who trusts that recruiter to bring him a reliable and professional candidate. We have hundreds of people to choose from, so unless you're some kind of Steve Jobs reincarnate you better realize that everyone is replaceable.

Next time you are pissed off at your boss or at work in general just get off your chair and go for a walk outside. Seriously, the worst thing you can do is write an email when you are mad.  That is a permanent mark on you and something that can't be taken back. Most Employee Relations cases use email solely as their evidence to hire or fire someone. Live to fight another day and realize that even though a person may be a jerk it doesn't do any good dropping to their level. I've found the best way to shut people up is be extra nice. Jerks don't know how to handle that.

You may think all this is obvious, but trust me I see it everyday. At a time when finding a job is harder than ever don't make it harder on yourself by sending angry email.

Love Actually is the greatest movie of all time

I just got finished watching the greatest movie of all time, Love Actually. Cynics will say it's too corny or that it's not "realistic". You know what I say to that? Who cares? I go to the movies to feel good and be happy. If I wanted to see realistic stuff I'd just go out my front door or turn on the latest horribly depressing news story.

Why is this the greatest movie of all time you may ask? It has all the elements that make a great movie. Comedy, romance, realistic issues in relationships, drama, great acting, great music. What else can you ask for? For me movies are all about the characters and the relationships they have with each other. It's not as much about clever endings or twists.  These people are people we can relate to. When I was a kid I had a crush on the girl down the street. I could definitely see myself running through the airport to find her. It's the romantic in me.

The relationship between Liam Neeson and his son is my favorite in the movie. The way Neeson manages to still believe in love and be there for his son despite the recent death of his wife is inspiring.  Or what about Hugh Grant and his secretary. That scene when the curtain goes up and shows them making out makes me tear up every time.There are just so many relationships in this movie that people from every situation can relate to. Whether it be heartbreak, new love, cheating, dealing with loss, jealousy. It has everything.

I never thought a movie would impact me as much as Forrest Gump but this has.   Whatever your favorite movie or movies are they should be movies that make an impact on you well after the final credits have rolled. Here are my top 5 movies of all time.

 1.Love Actually
2. Forrest Gump
3. The Fugitive
4. Office Space
5. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Honorable Mention:

Ace Ventura and Dumb and Dumber. Besides Office Space, the two funniest movies ever.

The Notebook- Does Love Like That Exist?

This is a follow up to my friend Sarah Sheldon's incredible story of how her grandparents met, fell in love, and stayed in love until their last day's . Please read this at it is much more powerful than anything I could ever hope to write.

"So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day." -The Notebook

I love "chick flicks" and I am happy to admit it. In fact, I don't understand why more guys don't like them or rather don't admit they do. Don't you go to the movies to feel happy? I do. That is what these movies do. But I digress....

Tuesday night I watched the Notebook for the first time in years. For anyone who hasn't seen it I won't go into details on the storyline, but it is basically the best love story ever this side of Love Actually. As I was watching the story of Allie and Noah I got to thinking, could this happen in today's world? Does the true love they had for each other still exist? Or has it ever existed? The answer to both of these questions is; Absolutely.

Let's talk about love for a second. Love makes no sense. The people that look best for us on paper often turn out to be totally wrong for us in the end. I've always thought my dream girl would be a 2pac loving, kayaker, that plays basketball and likes Dunkin Donuts, but we probably wouldn't get along. Chemistry is not something that can be explained, it just happens.

I disagree with the old adage that there is one person for everyone. That's simply not true. At the same time there probably are only about 100 people in the world that you truly belong with. Only a lucky few of us ever meet that one person, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't stop looking.

Back in the day there were less options. There were no phones or emails to communicate in between dates. You had your time with the girl or guy and then had to wait until the next time you saw them to continue  your courtship.  Yes, technology has changed love, but it hasn't changed its inner core. Sure, you can text, email, skype, and whatever else kids do these days, but you actually have to be with that person for love to grow. 

The culture of love has changed a lot as well. The divorce rate is 50% with another 20% probably only staying with each other out of comfort. With online dating people from all over the world can now get together. People are marrying at a later age and some choose not even to get married. We have grown into more of an independent culture, which is in itself is a good thing. However, where does that leave true love?

I've never felt about anyone like Noah felt for Allie, but I do believe she's out there. I think love conquers all. Life is unpredictable. You have bad days and good days. But if you find love nothing else really matters. If at the end of the day you can go home to your Allie or Noah everything is okay in this world. We should all strive for this kind of love because all of us deserve it. Remember, you never know when you'll meet that one person that you can't live without.

The Beauty of Bromance

There is nothing quite like a good old-fashioned bromance. Guys often don't express their feelings to each other because it isn't masculine or accepted in society. Screw that. While romantic love with the opposite sex is full of ups and downs and usually ends up in heartbreak, your relationship with your "bro's" last a lifetime.

My best friend in the world Jim( Jimbutta) Gallant came into town last weekend from Medfa, MA. We had a blast playing beer pong, jamming out to 2pac, Tom Petty, and Billy Joel, and reminiscing about the college days. I miss him already. In college, we did everything together. Drinking beer, listening to Roxanne before a night out at Charlie's, talking about the girls or lack of girls in our life. It was bromance to the extreme.

I have the same thing with Pogo and Dan now (Milano is coming close into that category). I can shoot the shit with them and say anything. You don't worry about being late to something, or some petty BS fight you get into. You work things out as dudes.
Why don't guys express emotions to each other? Why can't we do the same things as girls (without the physical stuff because that would just be weird). Why can't we be that open? Who started this whole societal acceptance thing and why did it happen? I can tell you right now that if you get any guy drunk enough they will talk about how much they appreciate and love another person as their friend. They will do it because they mean it. Fortunately for me I was brought up with a family that encouraged me to be honest and open about everything.
My favorite bromance activity is kayaking on the Potomac. Pogo and I have had some of the best discussions ever out there on the water in the red canoe. Another favorite is watching Patriots games and eating Wings with Jimbo. We would sit for hours not saying a word and it would be perfectly awesome. Also, discussing girls and life with Dan. That's my boo! Milano(Tuna) and I have pretty much just met but I can tell there is a potential bromance down the road. At any rate the beautiful Filipino girl at Adams Corner will keep us coming back.

Bromance's last a lifetime. The best friendships are with people you don't see for years at a time but when you see them again it is like nothing changed. They are forever. On the other hand 50% or more romance's do not. I am a hopeless romantic. I believe in love more than anyone else I know probably. At the same time if I don't ever find that love at least I know I will have guy friends that will always be there for me. Wing men for life.

Your Hero Should be Someone You Know

Who is your hero? Unfortunately for a great many of the people out there they would probably say a person they have never met. I always joke about Larry Bird, 2pac, or Indiana Jones being my heroes, but they are just people I'm in awe of. They haven't been there to listen to me on a bad day or help me with my homework.  I don't know know who they really are.

My hero has and always will be my dad. To me, he's the greatest person who ever lived.  He was there to help me with my homework in school. He's been on hundreds of kayak trips with me where we talk about stuff going on in the world and life in general.  He was there to cook dinner every night for the family after a hard day at work, and still find time to help me with my Spanish afterwards. I'm horrendous at Spanish by the way.  I remember the nights playing Parcheesi and listening to Oldies 100. I remember him driving me to Langley High School blasting "Hell 4 A Hustler" by 2pac. Ya, my dad even listens to 2pac, but only the hardcore songs. 

For all the great things my dad is, he's the most humble person I've ever met. He has a very successful career, yet you would never know it if you saw him on the weekend. In fact, I remember one day when he visited me at college he laid down under a tree and a cop came up and thought he was a homeless guy. He puts his family first, second, and third.  He's always there to talk to when I need him. He always supports me in all my endeavors. 

To me a hero is someone you know, someone you have spoken to, someone who has made an impact in you life. It doesn't have to be your parents or even someone in your family. Some people have crappy families. It could be a teacher, a coach, some random guy or girl you met at a party.  Everyone needs someone to look up to. Who is your hero?