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My family has had this Toyota Corolla since 2/14/93. On July 11, my parents finally decided to trade it in for a new Camry. What a trooper it's been. 16 years, and it was still going strong. The main problem was that my dad wouldn't let us drive on the freeway with it for fear that it would explode...or something like that. So many memories I've had with that car. Trips to norcal, driving around with friends, driving to and from high school every day. Its mileage proves its years of hard labor.
Thanks for the 16 years of loyal service, old friend. May you rest peacefully in that car garage. And if someone else decides to pick you up, I hope they will treat you well. | | |
| On Friday afternoon I had one of the most discouraging, if not THE most discouraging, sales appointments yet. Before I was done with my CUTCO presentation, the woman stopped me and asked how I got into this business. I said I wanted a summer job, and I didn't get one, so I took the opportunity when I got VECTOR'S letter about new jobs. Then she said, "well, sales isn't your forte, I'll put it that way." Well, that was very shocking, even though I agreed with that statement. Then she asked me if I was an engineering student. Was it that obvious? I replied yes. Then she said, "Yea, I'd stick with engineering if I were you." Wow.
She did give me some good advice after that, though. She suggested that I should think of my self as an actor on a stage when I was presenting the knives. I need to be more animated. People wouldn't want to buy unless I got them excited with my "performance." I'm sure the woman had the best intentions behind her constructive criticism, but the first comments were totally unnecessary, IMO. This got me wondering...
Do you guys think there's any value in adding insult to constructive criticism?
I hear Asian parents do this a lot. They tell their children that they're useless and won't amount to anything to push them to succeed in school and whatnot. I'm very fortunate that my parents never did this. I personally think that insult is counterproductive. People are less motivated to do well when they're discouraged. Why would someone try hard at something if he doesn't think he has the capacity to do well in the first place? And who are we to say what other people's limits are? "Sales isn't your forte...I'd stick with engineering if I were you." Pshh. Just because you're not born with a particular talent doesn't mean you can't work hard to get semi-good at the job. How sad would life be if you only pursued things you were already good at? The world is full of stories about people who accomplished things they never thought they could. The Bible is full of stories about how God used people without extreme talents to do seemingly impossible things.
Well, now that I've written this post, I better be careful not to discourage others, or else I'd be a hypocrite, which absolutely has never happened before. That was sarcasm if you couldn't tell. | | |
| I just started working for a company called Vector, which markets for Cutco, a company that makes really high quality kitchen knives. Training was thursday to saturday. I work by scheduling my own appointments with people in their homes to present the products.
Having a sales job is particularly difficult for me because it demands qualities that I don't really have. I'm not a people's person. I hate being a burden on people's time, which makes me reluctant to schedule appointments. I'm not aggressive, so I often don't persevere with a sale as much as I should, and I end up not selling anything when other people probably would if they were in the same situation. I don't think very quickly, and I have a hard time reacting to the customers' responses that I wasn't warned about. Being in situations of close contact with others where there are high possibilities of rejection is absolutely exhausting for me. This is because I'm quite sensitive and I dn not handle opposition very well. I absolutely hate pressuring others (though I may do it unintentionally), which basically makes me a poor businessman. Our sales approach is designed to minimize sales pressure--we're offered a base pay so we don't have to worry about earning commission, and also so we don't push the customer to buy something. But all sales require at least a little bit of pressure, even if it's in the form of friendly persuasion. Persuasion...definitely not my forte.
Thursday was a particularly discouraging day. At every appointment, we have our customer fill out a verification form so the company knows we actually did the appointment. One of my customers vehemently refused to sign it, saying that he didn't want to get caught up in sales gimmicks and that he, in fact, hated salespeople. At the end of the appointment, he refused to give me any recommendations because he didn't want to market to his friends (or something like that). Also, I went up to one of my neighbors to ask for an appointment. He very bluntly answered, "It's not worth an hour of our time to hear about kitchen cutlery" even though I tried to tell him that he didn't have to buy anything and that I was doing it mostly for experience.
At times like these I wish I were one of those people who just can't be brought down. You know, those people who can endure the worst criticism and negativity and brush it off. Perhaps they had to endure situations like mine to get to that stage, though.
In the end (cue Linkin Park), I am thankful that I got this job, because it's an amazing opportunity to grow. To work on developing qualities that I lack. To work on bouncing back from rejection and opposition better. To learn communication skills. To learn to see the positive side when I'd usually just focus on the negative. To become less dependent on other people's approval. It definitely beats lounging at home!
Rejection is a natural part of life, so I guess I should be thankful I have this opportunity to face it now.
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I've had this pencil pouch since...elementary school? Middle school? But alas, it is time to say goodbye. It has become torn and nasty. Thanks for all the years of faithful service, my beloved pencil pouch. Haha, it wasn't really beloved, but I thought I should try to be a little sentimental. | | |
| Israel reflection
Disclaimer: Much of this note will be written from a Christian perspective. I do not want to offend anyone. This trip was organized by a Christian organization with Christian intentions, so I cannot possibly separate out the religious aspect of my trip.
My family and I went to Israel from 5/26 to 6/5. We went with Melody of My Heart, a Chinese organization that makes worship albums and provides them free of charge to churches around the world.
This trip was greatly eye-opening, especially since I knew virtually nothing about Israel beforehand. I had learned from World History that the nation of Israel was established only about 50 years ago (1948 to be exact). Thus, I didn’t think that Israel contained that many historic locations. HA! How wrong I was! On this trip, we saw…*revisits the itinerary*…Caesarea Maritimia and Caesarea Philippi, Mount Carmel, the Valley of Armageddon, Nazareth, the Jordan River, the Dead Sea (though I think that’s in Palestinian territory), the mountain of the Sermon on the Mount, Jerusalem, and more! Truly, Israel is a historical country.
I had also, somehow, developed the idea that there weren’t any Jews who were Christians, and that Israel was completely non-Christian. Through this trip, I learned that there are Jews who have accepted Christ and are passionate about their country turning to Christ. I learned that there are missionaries from all around the world who share this passion for Israel. I learned that the Chinese feel a special burden to evangelize to Israel, completing an evangelistic circle (the gospel moved from Jerusalem to Europe, then to America, then to Korea, then to China, and now back to Jerusalem). I also learned that Jews who are Christian prefer to be called “Messianic Jews,” since there is a bad association with the word “Christian” after being persecuted by so-called Christians in the past.
I thought this trip would only be a tour, but it turned out to be a much more spiritual experience. We had at least one worship time everyday, and several more on some days. This was probably because of the type of organization Melody of My Heart is. There were frequent messages from the pastors that were with us. There was even a two-day conference during the trip, teaching us why Christians should care about Israel.
So…why SHOULD Christians care about Israel? There are many reasons, and I’m sure my understanding is very minimal. I probably should’ve read the book they gave us before the trip…Why Care About Israel? by Sandra Teplinsky (the author was one of the speakers at the conference). But anyway, the main reasons I got out of the conference were:
1) God made a promise to the Jewish people, and He does not break His promises. He promised Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” In Deuternomy 30:2-5, God promises:
“2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes [a] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.”
If the Jews are still God’s chosen people, we should care for them.
2) We will be blessed if we bless Israel. God promised Abraham in Genesis 12:3 that “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Sandra Teplinsky interpreted “you” as Abraham AND his descendants.
Before, when reading the bible, I never really paid attention to the locations. But there’s something about seeing those places and hearing about their significance that makes the locations so much more intriguing. I hope I will be able to pay much more attention from now on.
On the last day of the trip, we visited a Holocaust museum. I was not looking forward to the visit, since I remembered how depressing my previous visits to other Holocaust museums had been. Sure enough, it was painful learning again about all the suffering that the Jews endured…families being torn apart, living in impossible situations, being starved until their bodies looked like skeletons wrapped tightly in skin. But while I was in the museum, I was reminded of how admirable the Jewish race is. The Jews have been chased out, tortured, and brutally murdered for thousands of years. The worst crimes have been committed against them just because of their race. Yet they never gave up on their cultural identity and their traditions. Not even the Holocaust succeeded in wiping them out. And now, they finally have their own country, where they continue to keep their traditions alive. It is truly an awe-inspiring history.
Well, thanks for reading this long, long note. Notice the time I posted this…I need to recover from jet-lag ☹.
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