Stop Blaming Others for Your Failures Papa John

John "Papa John" Schnatter took a page out of the late Attorney Johnnie Cochran's bag of defense tricks when he pulled out the race card as the blame for his company's drop in pizza sales. To be clear, John didn't come right out and say, "Those black niggas in the NFL are messing up my money" but that's what he implied. 

During a recent conference call with investors, the 55-year-old Schnatter blamed low pizza sales on the NFL Players protest.  You know the protest I'm talking about...where predominately black players are taking a knee during the national anthem to protest the injustices committed against blacks in this country.  Thanks to the ignorance of Donald Trump,the protest got turned into a protest against the anthem itself and the military, which is definitely NOT the case.

During this conference call, Schnatter is quoted as saying "The NFL has hurt us by not resolving the current debacle to the players' and owners' satisfaction."  As a result, he says he is pulling ads from some of the NFL games for the remainder of the season.  He blamed a 24 percent drop in his company's stock to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell not being able to control those black players who are exercising their rights under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.  He, like Trump, has made this an issue about disrespecting the anthem, while closing their eyes to the FACTS behind the ongoing protests. 

Schnatter has, very cleverly (and stupidly) used the NFL protests to cite his company's poor sales performance. The fact that some of his products aren't all that great doesn't seem to be a factor.  I can tell you, first hand, how bad their chicken philly cheese pizza is. Without coming out and blaming it squarely on the black players, he knows the overwhelming majority of protesters are black and they are an easy scapegoat since he can rally the Trump base to be on his side and take up his cause.  And guess what?  That's just what they did!

The day after the Papa John conference call, the white supremacist website, The Daily Stormer, came out and pledged its support for Papa Johns's pizza and posted a photo of a pizza with the swastika symbol displayed with pepperoni.  The called Papa John's the "Official Pizza of the Alt-Right."

I bet Papa John's pizza sales will probably drop even lower.  Whether or not the majority of whites support the NFL black players peaceful protest, I do believe the majority will fail to support the company knowing they are supported by a neo-nazi, racist group.  Schnatter knows that too since he was forced to come out and issue another statement on the matter:

"We condemn racism in all forms and any and all hate groups that support it.  We do not want these individuals or groups to by our pizza."  

TOO LATE!

Perhaps the Trump base will keep Papa John's in business.  After all, he did support Trump's campaign financially. Perhaps the NFL owners will rally to his defense, since he has been the official sponsor of the NFL since 2010 and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, owns at least 100 of the Papa Johns franchises in Texas. 

One thing I do believe is, he has lost the support of the general public and the people on social media will not let him forget it.

Why Twitter Works for Me

I've been on Twitter since 2008.  To date, I have over 5800 followers and I've sent out nearly 50K tweets. (My goal is to reach 100K by the end of this year).

I LOVE TWITTER!  I know many people in my baby boomer age group like the so-called intimacy of Facebook. There you can search out long lost friends, former classmates and lovers and you can even find yourself renewing old rivalries or creating new ones.  Facebook does allow you to interact on a more personal level, however, Twitter allows you to send your messages well beyond the limited contacts you can have on Facebook, which is 5000.  With Twitter, your messages can be possibly seen by hundreds of thousands of people depending on who's in your circle and if you have a circle of trust.

So how do you develop a circle of trust with your followers?  For me, I want the people I'm connected with to know how much I appreciate their decision to follow me and let them know how much I value them by my re-tweets of their posts and general engagement.  I have established my very own Twitter Crew, who are the Rock Stars of my stream.

The problem I see with many folks on Twitter is they are so busy wanting to share all of THEIR good information that they forget the role their followers could play in helping to spread their message. It takes less than 140 characters to greet your followers daily just to let them know they're on your radar.

Once you have established the initial connection, give them a fun fact or positive message to help them get their day started.  I always start my day by saying "Hello" to my "Twitterverse" so they know I am ready to get the Twitter stream party started.  I then acknowledge my most active, engaging followers by giving them a shout out.  Why is this important to me?  Because I know people appreciate acknowledgement.  They want to know you see them when they pop up in your stream.  And even if they don't pop up when you're there, you can still give them a "holla" because they will eventually see it and acknowledge you in return.  More importantly, they will appreciate the fact that you took the time to recognize them during your time on Twitter.

I purposely go to pages of my followers to see what they've tweeted and if it's interesting to me, I will re-tweet it.  I do have some followers who only re-tweet messages from others so I find unique and creative ways to give them a shout out.  I have one follower @jimjavor, who I call my Re-tweet King because he ALWAYS re-tweets my messages.  He is definitely one of my favorites.

The other thing I love about Twitter is being able to connect others to each other.  On a daily basis I give ((shout outs)) and I purposely link people together who should know each other.  One day I'll do authors/writers or health experts.  Sometimes I connect fellow baby boomers and bloggers---just so they know they are connected with someone else who shares their passions and expertise.

The one thing you want to be careful of is people who only follow you because they want to use you and your followers to get their own messages out.  I have those folks in my stream but I am quick to dismiss their intentions when I see they are not actively engaging with us.

As a baby boomer who didn't grow up with social media, I've had a lot to learn and I'm still learning because this platform is every-changing.  Thanks due in part to #45. (but that's another story all together).

My point is when you demonstrate to your followers that you are providing service beyond yourself, they will be more inclined to support your endeavors.  And I have to tell you, I do love it when I get those messages of appreciation for my efforts to expose them to my other followers.  One other fact: Both my books:  How to Get on the News Without Committing Murder and The Baby Boomer Millennial Divide:  Making it Work at Work went to Number 1 because of Twitter. @bevmahone

Recently I received a direct message on Twitter from someone who said they had a difficult time understanding my brand because my my page was so cluttered with tweets of other people. I thought about the message and wondered why I had to be limited to a specific brand.  After all, I'm a baby boomer expert, an author, a veteran journalist, a grandmother, wife, etc.....so I have a variety of subjects I am very well versed in.  Finally, I wrote back saying, "it's all about service to others." Besides, I with my Media/PR background---that's what we do---only I'm doing it for FREE.

Millennials Are Changing the "Business as Usual" Way of Thinking

Whether baby boomers like it or not, a changing of the guard is taking place and millennials are leading the charge.

They are not thinking or behaving the way they are expected to.  Perhaps it's because the "old way" of doing things doesn't work for them.  Most baby boomers had traditions and values passed down to them from their parents.  Not true with millennials because a lot of their baby boomer parents were too busy focusing on careers, keeping up with the Joneses, and being helicopter parents.  

So now we have a generation who is rising up to make their own mark in the world.  And they're doing just that.  It shouldn't surprise us that social media and social media campaigns have inspired them in ways their older parents and grandparents can't seem to understand or appreciate.

For instance, according to an article written by NerdWallet, when a number of young activists learned that Wells Fargo was among those providing financing towards the construction of the South Dakota Access pipeline at Standing Rock, they immediately withdrew their money and deposited it elsewhere.  The same goes for Justin Garrett Moore who transferred all of his savings to a black owned bank and spear-headed a #BankBlack campaign.

Soon television executives, sports owners and venues may feel the brunt of this new millennial power.  A recent report released by L.E.K. Consulting indicates millennial sports fans are bypassing cable television and totally abandoning traditional sports for online video game tournaments and other "eSports." These changes are likely to have implications on viewership for professional sports leagues like the NFL, MLB and NASCAR, and networks like ESPN, Fox Sports and individual teams.

"The old model is under pressure," says Alex Evans, Managing Director in L.E.K.'s Sports practice and a co-author of the study. "Traditional sports organizations rely on TV, especially cable TV, to attract new fans and to generate revenue now through ownership of regional sports networks. But they will likely come under increasing pressure to change their model, especially 5 to 10 years down the road. 

So it looks like OLD habits may not be so hard to break.

No Ticket No Meeting With Our North Carolina Senator

Senator Thom Tillis decided to come out of hiding this week and meet with his constituents.  On Monday, he held a ticket-only event for his "political base."  These were the so-called good republicans who will sit very quietly in their seats and allow the politician to tell them all kinds of half-truths and alternative facts without demonstrating any anger.

The angry crowd was outside begging to be heard but because they had no tickets, their concerns fell on deaf ears.

Senator Tillis and Senator Richard Burr must've thought they would have it relatively easy over the next four years with a republican controlled Senate and House. But then Donald Trump became President and everybody's world got turned upside down.  Their staunchest supporters are now starting to question their party loyalty.

The fact that Tillis has been unwilling to meet his constituents face-to-face until now and the fact that he made his Town Hall Meeting a ticket only event is very telling.  Either he and Senator Burr know they are in a world of trouble and don't want to face the music or they are going to see how long they can ride the storm with their good, ol' southern republican base.  

Speaking of Senator Burr, it is obvious that he is not and has not willing to listen to the voice of the North Carolina voters.  I was among hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people who called his office to ask him to vote AGAINST the confirmation of Betsy DeVoss as Secretary of Education.  But what he do?  Read his statement below which he posted on Facebook:

Betsy DeVos has dedicated her life to improving education, so I am glad she will continue to fight for all children as Secretary of Education. Attempts by Senate Democrats to stall the President’s nominees only distract from the very real struggles of North Carolina’s families seeking the best education for their children.


Maybe Tills and Burr will come to their sense before long and act like true representatives of their voters.  If not, we will do the same thing #45 says he is committed to doing:  We will drain the swamp to make sure they don't return to Washington.

Did Your Employer Thank You Today?

It's 5:00 pm, my work is done and I just realized that my Supervisor didn't take time out today to say, "Thank you Beverly.  We really appreciate the work you do for the Company.  We are grateful to have someone with your dedication and commitment and, yes, your maturity."

No, not one of the managers I work for bothered to acknowledge that today is EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY.  Instead they sent out emails telling us we should have "no excuses" for not giving the customer the best customer experience EVER!

Yes, the first Friday of the month of March has been declared Employee Appreciation Day with a purpose of strengthening the bond between employee and employer by having employers recognize and thank their workers. Not acknowledging it is truly a sad commentary on the state of the work environment I'm in and perhaps in many companies around the country today.  Employers are so caught up in the bottom line of "profit" that they forget those who help them achieve their financial goals.

Why is Employee Recognition important?  According to a article by Justin Reynolds on the TinyPulseBlog:   "Employee recognition is strongly correlated with productivity. According to a recent study, 69% of employees say they’d work harder if they felt as though their contributions were valued. Even so, our 2017 Employee Engagement Report found that only 26% of workers feel strongly valued at their jobs. That’s a problem. Planning a special event should help your workers feel like they are appreciated at least a little more."

Because I work from home, I feel more isolated than others who go into the office daily.  That's why it's even more important that Managers do what they can to make everyone feel like they belong--rather than to make us feel like we're on a plantation for the "Massah."

I'm a baby boomer on my way to retirement so I probably have a thicker skin than my younger peers.  Imagine how Millennials must feel knowing their work goes unnoticed day in and day out---especially since statistics show they do crave recognition for what they do.  

Employers must find ways to do a better job in keeping their employees happy and appreciated.  Sometimes all it takes is a personal email, phone call or "stop by my desk" visit to show you care.

Don't Be Hoodwinked by Your Insurance Plan

I had a very unpleasant experience with my insurance company recently which prompted me to write this post.  

I woke up one Saturday and was suffering from severe back pain.  I wasn't sure if I should go straight to the hospital or to an urgent care center.  My insurance plan says I can talk to registered nurse 24/7 if needed so I called one.  After going through a terrible automated phone system to identify myself, I finally reached a nurse who had me identify myself all over again while I was suffering excruciating pain. She finally determined I should go to an urgent care center.

Here's where the it got messy.  Because I have an HMO Plan, I only have in network benefits which means every doctor, every clinic, every hospital I go to must be in the network of my insurance company.  If I fail to do so, I will be responsible for 100 percent of the expenses.  I checked for urgent care centers in my area. There were 14 listed within 10 miles of my zip code.  I wrote down two addresses and called the first one, only to discover they were closed.  I figured the second one was good so I had my husband lock the address into his GPS and off we went.  The GPS took us to the Wal-Mart area and when we arrived at what we thought was the location we discovered it was an ABANDONED building.  I then looked up the center's phone number through my insurance company's website and called it.  Guess what?  The number was disconnected.  Now, how did that happen?  Who is responsible for checking to make sure the numbers and addresses are updated?  We then found another urgent care center not far and went to it---not knowing for sure if they are "in network."  But even if they aren't I will not be paying that bill because of this fiasco!

Here are some things you should know during your annual insurance enrollment period (or any time you sign up for insurance):

1) Be sure you understand how your plan works.  It may say it will pay 80/90/100 percent of eligible expenses but ONLY after you satisfy your deductible.  Make sure you are reading the fine print. 

2)  Check your deductible.  More and more plans are moving to higher deductibles which means you will have to pay out of pocket costs until you reach the deductible.  So, if you have a $5000 deductible, guess what that means?!

3)  Be sure you know what type of plan you have.  Is it an HMO or PPO?  An HMO plan (like mine) means you have only in network benefits and if you go outside of the network you will be responsible for paying the entire bill.  It also means you have to select a Primary Care Physician and that PCP is responsible for making ALL referrals.  If he/she doesn't refer you to someone in your Plan's network of Providers, you will both be penalized.

A PPO means you have both in and out of network benefits.  You don't have to declare a PCP and you don't need a referral to see a Specialist.  You may still need a referral in some cases so it's always best to check with your insurance company about that.

4)  Check to see if your plan requires any pre-authorizations for specific testing like MRI's or CT Scans or for some types of medical procedures.  Failure to do so will cost you dearly.

5)  Don't be afraid to ask questions about your plan  to your insurance company.  You'll save yourself headaches and some money if you take the time to get educated on exactly how your plan works.  

6)  Take advantage of any rewards/incentives the plan has to offer.  Some employers offer discounts on your premiums so find out what they are and sign up.

Don't let yourself get hoodwinked by your insurance plan because plans as we knew them 10 and 20 years ago have definitely changed---and it's not always for the better as I have discovered.

Dear Uneducated Blue Collar Rural Poor White People

Dear uneducated, blue collar, rural , poor white people,

Since you're uneducated I promise not to use very big words because you probably won't understand the meaning and I don't want to further insult you.

What you did on Tuesday, November 8, 2016 was show the world that although you might be classified as dumb, ignorant and stupid, you were pretty darn smart when you got Bobby Jo, Cooter, Cletus, Mary Lou, Savannah Jean and everyone else in rural white america to drive their pick-ups down to the polls to vote for your man, Donald Trump.  And to think the pollsters and all of the so-called intelligent think-tankers got it wrong.  They said "There's no chance in hell that buffoon can win!  The country will never stand for a bigoted, racist womanizer who says he will make America great and white again."  Hello No!  That won't happen.

But ha! ha! uneducated, blue collar, rural, poor white people....the joke was on Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, and the rest of those liberal, communist, mainstream media jokers because, once again, you showed how darn-tootin' smart you were by believing in Fox News as much as you believe in the Bible and you showed up at the Trump rallies fired up and ready to punch out anybody who protested against him.  And some of you made national headlines Ya-hoo!!!

Trump spoke the language you've been speaking and wanting to hear from a Presidential Candidate since you heard your pappy tell you about George Wallace's campaign slogan of"Segregation now, Segregation forever!" back in 1968.  He was a real son of the South for down-trodden southern whites.

Dear uneducated white people, you also showed those lazy, no good, no votin' niggas and those prissy little college-educated white women that your voice would be heard at the ballot box and you did it loud and clear.  You can be proud of what you did because for the first time in a long time YOU actually made a difference. 

You can now be proud to know you have some claim to the White House--yes it's the WHITE house.  It doesn't matter how many times your President has disrespected and sexually assaulted women because your uncle Bobby Ray, Billy Bob and Bodean have probably done it so many times they've lost count.  And I bet you are now looking for all those nude photos the First Lady-elect posed for as a model (if you don't already have them).  

The next four years should be a good ol' hell raisin', take off your kkk hoods time for ya'll!

But dear uneducated, blue collar, rural , poor white people, I hate to tell you the joke is going to be on you.  And don't say I didn't warn you.

Peace be with you.