I don't think it matters if a person gets a promotion, wins and award, receives some nice flowers from a loved one at work; buys a house; completes a degree, etc., chances are that individual could be the victim of the ugly face of jealousy and/or resentment from a few negative people of hate!

The "little minds of the world," as I like to call them, and they seem to be everywhere doing their damage. Nobody has cornered the market on hate! It doesn't matter what field you're in: business; politics; entertainment; sports; and even the family, in-laws, co-workers...negative people are everywhere!

For many years, I have been a woodcarver, and I have participated in over 40 arts and crafts shows around the state of New Mexico, where I am from. And, I have sold my work in a few shops and galleries as well. Because of this, I rarely ever talk about my work, and I pretty much keep everything to myself, because I know what will happen...jealousy and resentment!

One day, the telephone rang, and at the other end, was a writer from the Albuquerque Journal, calling to see if I would be interested in him doing a story on my work. At that time, I had never done anything like this, so I gladly accepted. A couple of days later, we had agreed for him to come over. We had a nice chat for about an hour, I showed him samples of my work, and he took a few pictures.

At the time, I was working for an engineering company (over 100 employees), for about six years, and as I said earlier, I never discuss my work with anyone. So, the people at work didn't know anything about what I do. About two days after the interview, the half-page story came out in the morning newspaper (with photos), and I was pleased with how it came out.

When I reported for work that morning, is when my nightmare had just begun! I was astonished at how I was treated! Many of the fellow employees saw the story in the newspaper, and it didn't take long for me to get the cold shoulder. People were distant to me! Those that would come over and have a chat almost every week, would just keep going! I was appalled at what I was seeing and feeling. A few people were rude to me, and a couple of people were down right hateful to me and told me to go talk to a newspaper reporter!

I felt empty and hollow all morning, and this was one of the worst days of my life! Up until that time, I had done my work for over ten years, it was featured in the newspaper, and THIS is what I get in return! There were a couple of people who were nice to me, and it helped to ease the pain, but I didn't expect anything like this. If I would have know the behavior would be like this, I would have never done the story. I should have left work at noon, but I didn't and it was the longest day of my life, and I was glad when I was over!

For me, the question was if this ever happened to me again, that is, have the opportunity to have my work featured in a newspaper or magazine, what will I do? At the time, I had no idea.

About three years went by, and again, I was called by a writer at the newspaper, and she wanted to feature my work. And, now came decision time...would I do it or not? I remembered that awful day like it was yesterday and it was so painful. But, I had a lot of time to think about what I would do. I told the reporter YES I will be happy to do it! And, we made arrangements to get together that week. A couple of days later, she came over, and we had a nice time, and she also took a few pictures to go with the story!

THIS TIME I WOULD BE READY FOR THE PEOPLE AT WORK!

I still worked at the same place and there were pretty much the same people working there, and I was NOT going to let the "little minds of the world," ruin my life! As before, the story came out in the morning newspaper, and I went to work standing tall. I felt good about my decision to do the story. I have zero tolerance for people of hate!

I went to work and nobody talked to me, and I talked to nobody, and that's the way I wanted it. I was proud of what I had just done...challenge the "little minds of the world!" This was MY day, and my feelings were a lot different that the time before. This time, I was ready for this bunch! But, the sad part, is that it would never be the same at work again. All over a couple of articles in the newspaper? But, this was the problem of the negative and people of hate...not mine! It turned out to be one of my proudest moments...to confront the "little minds of the world!"

* * *

One morning, I was driving to work and I was listening to a talk show on the radio. The guest of the show was a long time broadcast reporter from one of the networks, where she had worked for over 25 years. And, during the interview, she talked about, when she would visit one of the affiliate television stations outside of New York, she would make TEN enemies as soon as she walked in the door!

This was amazing to me, as I listened to the story. Why would she make enemies? She was a successful woman; she was a successful woman in a man's world; she was famous; she made a lot of money; she was very attractive; she was well liked and popular, and negative people were jealous and resentful toward her! She told the interviewer that she could do nothing about the problem, except that she could not please everyone...so she doesn't try!

After six job layoffs over a decade, I worked as a temporary employee at over 20 different companies. And, I have to say, that everywhere I worked, I saw a lot of negative work places. And, that's how I think America is getting, and maybe George Bush, Sr. was right when he said, "We need a kinder and gentler nation!"