I like this story I read in The New York Times. Five house cleaning Mexican women decided there had to be a better way to earn a living. Due to their determination to enhance their life and their creativity they started their own Apple Eco-Friendly Cleaning cooperative.
From daily waiting on Brooklyn Street corner waiting to land couple of hours jobs cleaning houses to a weekly meeting brainstorming, reviewing their finances and progress.
Their creativity is due to advertising on recycled paper and make their own cleaning products, from ingredients like lemon juice, glycerin, borax and fruit oils.
When we say we’re from a company with a business card, they treat you differently from the time you arrive, I feel very good, very happy and I have very high self-esteem. [source]
If you are feeling blue here are two videos that will change your mood at once:
The first video is for 29 years old woman who heard herself for the first time. I watched it many times and I can’t stop watching it. Number of viewers of this video jumped from around 300,000 to close to 7 million in about a week only. After watching this video you can’t not be happy for her.
The second video is for 6 years old girl reacting to her Disneyland birthday surprise. I also found her reactions while pulling out the small gifts from the backpack were very hilarious. Watching the little kid screaming at her mother “how do you know I want this? How? How?” was very enjoyable to watch.
The United States built its nonequivalent economy (maybe till recently) by having the best customer services in the world. If I have to choose one service that I really love the most it has to be The United States Postal Service (USPS). Receiving the mail six days a week in my residence mailbox has to be the best customer service ever. Not to forget to mention that if a package doesn’t fit in the mailbox the mail man will deliver it to your doorstep with a big smile.
The Postal Service uses mini-trucks like in the picture below to deliver mails within the city limits. I like seeing these USPS trucks because receiving a snail mail will always have it is charm.
Due to the current economic crisis and to the advent of digital era of communication, the USPS is not in a better shape, financially, than many other private and public services in the US. This means if the government didn’t bail out the postal service it is possible that it will shut down. Their deficit will reach 9 billion dollar by the end of this year, 2011.
Unfortunately, some Americans don’t see shutting down one of the most efficient services in the country as something bad or maybe not as sad and shocked as I am. Probably because Americans take receiving their mail daily to their doorstep for granted, a service that looks like a futuristic dream for many countries.
Being someone who for almost 30 years of his life never got accustomed to receiving mail six days a week to his doorstep finds such service invaluable. In Jordan, one has to rent a mailbox in the post office to receive his mail.
Although, USPS is not a private business I once received a phone call from the post office at 9 pm to reply to a complain I filled out in their website about a late delivery. I sent a certified mail to someone and the delivery took longer than expected (3 days delay only). They called me to tell me it reached its destination and that they are sorry for this mistake.
You can never get such outstanding service for a very cheap cost. Emotionally speaking, bailing out the USPS should be a priority over bailing out big greedy corporates.
Click on picture to play video about the possibility of the post office shutting down
Jaraad 