Intentionally Vicarious: Having more fun than anyone else you know!

Speaking of unintended consequences... We all need to be aware of the "Benefits Cliff." It just might be the most perverse scenario that creates a really, REALLY massive disincentive to the working poor.

We've all had bad experiences with the nightmare of so-called "Customer Service." Not that I want to play Can You Top This, but I'd be surprised - and have tremendous sympathy with you - if you actually can top my recent interaction with AT&T. The issue I had was double-billing of $829.99 for a new iPhone 16.

Here's an overview of what happened:

• AT&T double-billed me for an iPhone 16

• I invested a total of 10 hours, 53 minutes with a 1 Chat Bot & 21 Human Chat Agents

• The Chat transcript is 34 pages long

• I abandoned an effort to call AT&T Customer Support after being cut off following 32 minutes on hold (Why would I expect the phone company to have a well-functioning phone system???)

• I miraculously found a place online to file a formal, legal complaint with AT&T's Office Of The President (Trust me, you want the additional info I'll provide below...)

DO NOT get swept up into the money-chasing, "Simplify & Polarize" strategy of the politicians and political media. The fact is, 85% of America is in general agreement about what abortion policy should be. That's right, 85% agreement.

Political polarization in America is a MYTH!!! Follow the money and it's easy to see how the media manipulates into believing this baloney.

Living and/or working in an echo chamber is safe and comfortable, but unconscionably lazy and dumb. It is SO, so easy to intentionally - or accidentally - place oneself in an environment that constantly reinforces pre-existing beliefs and opinions, and at the same time prevents consideration of alternative ideas and perspectives.

Listen up to understand just how scary an echo chamber can get...

It's the BEST of times. Not even close. It's HUGELY better to be alive today than ever.

I just got an invitation to connect on LinkedIn from a guy whose profile headline is, "A preeminent expert in leadership development through inclusion." Not just any expert, a preeminent expert! Are you as impressed by that as me?

Simple, profound and extremely helpful for career planning. Dive deeper and Ikigai becomes a set of guidelines for your whole life.

As we all slowly begin to emerge from our shelter in place lockdown we need to continue to examine and think about what happened, what we did in response to this pandemic and what we should do next.