" THIS IS WHAT WE PAY YOU FOR?

Have you become anti-government?

Between sex scandals, lies, money laundering, cover-ups, no-action, lies, big promises, and everything else that seems to be wrong with government, do you still believe that government is where the answers are?

We supposedly elect these people not only based on what we think their moral standing is but that we believe that they say they are going to do something or make a change, and a general trust that that choice will benefit the community. We hire these people to lead, to make decisions and explore opportunities. It’s a lot of responsibility. One that definitely comes with criticism and a magnifying glass being held over you.

The big question at today’s State of the City and County luncheon was (and I’m paraphrasing) “what are the city and county doing to procure jobs for the region?”

Hmm.

You’re creating energy efficient buildings. Great!
You’re beautifying downtown. Excellent!
East Genesee Street no longer looks like Swiss cheese. Woo hoo!
But what will all that progress be for if people have to leave the area to find “good” work?

When asked, the people who should have some knowledge of this topic or at least somewhat of an opinion, danced around the issue and said that their constituents needed to tell them what to do and what we wanted.

Here it is loud and clear: WE WANT YOU TO WORK TO ATTRACT NEW BUSINESSES TO THE AREA. WE WANT YOU TO SHOW US THAT OUR HOPE FOR THE REGION DOESN’T STOP AT CITY HALL. WE WANT YOU TO TELL US YOU’RE WORKING DILIGENTLY TO SECURE NEW JOBS, NEW BUSINESSES, AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES.

Isn’t that part of what we’ve elected you to do? Isn’t that what we pay you to do?

And then you say that you need our support in all this? I would be happy to support something that allows for young professionals to at least get the sense that there are professional opportunities here for them. BUT you need to give us something solid to support first.

One gains trust and support by creating opportunities, making good on your word and achieving results. Stop telling us about how “good” you are and show us. Less talk, more action.

Don’t get me wrong, I know there are problems at both the city and county level that certainly needed to be addressed. The successes that the city has had with E. Genesee Street and the plans for the digester and the beautification of downtown and geothermal energy are all fantastic. These things are very important and their implementation is crucial to the city and county.

I understand that maybe there are things that are being worked on behind the scenes that can’t be discussed. That’s understandable and in some cases necessary. But to stand up there and say that we the people need to be the driving force for finding jobs to bring to the area? That’s unacceptable.

To stand up there and not even give the idea that someone may be working on something behind the scenes or that you have things in the works or that you even might see the importance of the issue. That's what is so frustrating.

The people are practically yelling, screaming, BRING IN MORE JOBS. And they are asking you what are you going to do about it? When are you going to listen? Or at least if you are working on it then, when are you going to start telling us that you’re working on it?

Sure, I know that it’s not as easy as it sounds, it takes wine and dine and solid information and preparation and time.

But how much more time do we have?

-Harkins


P.S. I am a firm believer that there are many more opportunities here than meets the eye or the local job posting board. But to not acknowledge that job growth (or job sustainability) is a major issue for the region and then to not answer the question and pawn the problem onto the community at large is wrong.


If you want to hear the State of the City and County, you can find the video on auburnpub.com at www.auburnpub.com/local_videos later today. "

" LISTEN UP

“I know you can hear me, but I’m not sure you’re listening.” – Martina McBride - Whatever You Say

I think the single most important thing a young professional can learn and practice is the art of listening. It is so important not only at work but at home and in life. And yes, I realize that no one will be the best listener all the time, but I think that being conscious of your listening ability is a very respectable feature, one to certainly not take lightly and one that takes more practice than you might think.

To value that person’s opinion, even though you don’t really agree with it or may not want to hear it, by truly listening to what they have to say is a tool that some may never know. It takes practice and patience and a self-awareness that can be hard to find.

For me, I know that I can get distracted pretty easily in certain settings. I know that sometimes there are keywords that take my mind off of what is being said because I have a crazy story to tell due to what just clicked in my mind. I also know that when that happens, it can take all that I have to try not to interrupt the other person so I can tell my story.

I work on it and certainly have become more aware of that short-coming for myself as well as more aware of how i listen to others. But what if you are completely unaware of your listening skills or lack there-of? How does that impact your daily life, your personal interactions or even your job?

Could your listening skills make or break your career? And it’s not just about listening but also about comprehension, respect, empathy, and many more factors.

If you are a young professional looking to improve upon this then where do you find this information? How do you find yourself with these qualities? Hopefully the people you surround yourself with have them and you can pick some things up. Or maybe you are lucky enough to go through a course like Leadership Cayuga (where I learned about listening skills). But mostly I think people don’t know that they aren’t truly listening.

You can get so caught up with what you are thinking and feeling that you may not notice your own actions until after the fact.

The more I think about it, the more I'm certain that the better you are able to listen, the more you will be able to hear.

-Harkins

Looking for listening tips? Try these sites:
1.
http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2007/12/the_art_of_listening.html
2.
http://www.taft.cc.ca.us/lrc/class/assignments/actlisten.html
3.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/03/how_to_be_a_gre.html
"

" THE "R" WORD

I used to be able to go to the grocery store and get 10 or more things for $10 including bread and milk. In college that would have lasted me at least a week. In fact, I kind of made it a game to see how far I could stretch my money and how many coupon double shoppers club savings I could rack up.

Today it's not just a game but rather a way of life. Now I'm lucky if I can get just bread and milk for under $10. Ok, that may be a little extreme but that's how it feels some days.

Between gas prices, the cost of basic necessities like milk bread and eggs and our ever widening gap between wants and needs, it can be harder than ever to make ends meet.

Many young professionals have hefty school loan and credit card payments. Many more are trying to live the fabulous life on a young professional salary. It can be challenging.

The “r” word is spreading like wildfire. News of the economy has been all over national media outlets. This week’s downfall of the Bear Stearns Co shows that the reality looms near. If we aren’t already there, then it seems almost certain that a recession is ahead.

I read an article recently that indeed claimed we were already there and that the effects may be worse than many of us have ever known. (Read it here: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/03/15/recession_is_here_economist_declares/ )

It seems like the Feds are struggling to keep things afloat as much as the next person, with interest rate cuts and emergency deals. I read today that Borders may be looking to sell and while many of these big business deals and interest rate cuts may not directly impact us it’s still a sign that there are some tough times ahead.

Unfortunately I think we’re all feeling the crunch, and there may not be an immediate end in sight.

But what would a recession really mean for Young Professionals? A few less after work cocktails? Moving back in with our parents? Or might it mean something more serious like some of us would lose our jobs due to "downsizing"? Or perhaps there won't be as many jobs available for those who are just coming into the workforce?

I guess all this remains to be seen. Perhaps young professionals will be ok in the long run. But, for now, I'm still playing the grocery game, just in case.

-Harkins
"

" I respect your answer and I too hope you never find yourself in this situation. But, this might have been going on for the last ten years. I think counseling in this case is a little to late and a little over rated. "

" SCANDAL

There are some schools of thought that say to live in the moment is the best way to live. To do what you want, when you want, no matter the consequences. Which is a very romantic and inspiring thought....in the moment. The problem is though, that you are thinking of no one but yourself.

I think Governor Spitzer's actions were completely selfish. Selfish in the light of his family and to the State of NY. How could you not know it was wrong? How could you think that you wouldn't eventually get caught when you yourself helped to break up other prostitution rings?

How could you go into something like that and not think of how horrified, disgusted and betrayed your wife and daughters, family and general public would be if they ever found out about your actions? Wouldn't the thought of that alone just break your heart? Make you not want to do it.

And it's not just that he repeatedly cheated on his wife, he paid these women to service him. PAID them significant amounts of money.

If we as voters feel betrayed, I can't even imagine what his family must be feeling.

It's almost as if this person we thought we knew, just took off his mask and revealed a completely different person underneath. Ladies and gentleman we've just been hosed.

The part that is kind of funny to me (in a weird ironic kind of way) is that he's been saying all along that he was going to take the corruption out of Albany. Well, technically he did, he took it to Washington DC.

Unfortunately, while this affects us and our sense of trust in government officials, I think eventually we'll get on with our lives. We'll hopefully find a new politician to put our hopes for NY in.

Even so, there are three teenage girls out there who are old enough to understand what their father did and may never be able to have the same relationship with him again. That is the real tragedy here.

Think about it. Could you look your father, husband, cousin, friend in the face after you learned about something like this? Would you be able to forgive and forget?

You ask me as a woman and as a young professional, what would I do if my husband was caught in this situation? Well first off I hope to never be in a situation where I would have to deal with this. I can only imagine that I would feel betrayed and sad, angry and disgusted. I would feel torn between wanting to stand by his side and try to work things out and wanting to banish him from my sight and cut things off with him (both literally and figuratively).

In the end though I don't think that I would be able to be so quick to the divorce. I would want to try to go to counseling and to work on the relationship, especially if children were involved. However, I could also see myself always wondering where he was and what he was doing.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Should he resign? Yes, I think so. If not for the simple fact that he did something illegal when we expected him not to, then at least for the fact that if he is really serious about getting his family back on track then working full time and battling it out with fellow lawmakers is not the place to be. Home is where he should be.

In fact, it's where he should have been in the first place. Perhaps, then this would have never happened.

-HARKINS "

" It looks like #5 is the best for Young Prostitutes anyways. What does the Young Pro think of the N.Y. State Governor? Being that your a woman and a Democrat. I can understand feeling sorry for his wife and kids but, as a Young Pro, if you were put in this situation with your Husband what would your response be? Where I worked and with my wife it would be short and sweet, your Fired and I want a Divorce. "

" BEST CITIES for YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

I thought I'd get a bit more back on topic with today's post. Even though I have much more to report on my alternate life - the world class baker - I won't bore you with that for a while. :)

I've seen this article on MSN come up a few times entitled the Best Cities for Young Professionals. The link brought me to an article from forbes.com by Matt Woosley. (http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/103153/Best-Cities-for-Young-Professionals)

They took years of data from the most elite schools, businesses, and jobs plus a heck of a lot of other stuff and tabulated it to create this list of the top cities for young professionals.

1. New York City
2. San Francisco
3. Atlanta
4. Los Angeles
5. Washington D.C.
6. Boston
7. Seattle
8. Minneapolis
9. Philadelphia
10. Denver

All fabulous cities in their own right, all seriously expensive to live in, all can be seen as the epitome of "making it".

When you come from a small town, sometimes all you hear is about "getting out of this (insert your favorite word here) place". Moving to a big city like NYC is viewed as "making it" no matter what it is you are doing there.

My feeling though is that if you aren't able to do the work you want or you can't make rent or put food on the table, then what's the point of living there?

Another more viable option for most young professionals would be to move to "Middle America". Where real life happens and a you can get a hamburger and drink at the local spot with the change from your car.

There are so many opportunities here and it gives you a great place to start your career, save some money, meet some great people and then if you still feel the need to move away at least you'll be able to start a little higher up the totem pole and with some cash in your pocket.

With a quick Google search I did find someone with similar sentiments. Blogger Ryan Healy writes about his desire to do something he is passionate about rather than just scrape by in the big city. (http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/08/14/twentysomething-forget-the-big-city-try-middle-america/)

Don't get me wrong there are pluses and minuses to every place you live and living in NYC certainly has it's perks. Mainly the shoe shopping. ;)

But given the choice I'd take Auburn any day. I think there are more opportunities here than most people think and it's a great place for YP's to gain experience and build a career.

And the shoes? Well I'll travel for that. ;)

-Harkins "

"
I made Cinnamon Raisin Swirl bread last night. From scratch. It came out so nice, the top is perfectly browned, the loaves are huge, and when you cut into it you can see the cinnamon spiral.

I'm so excited. I brought some to work this morning and have been dipping it in my coffee. It's great I love it.

Now, how many young professionals do you know that A. would bake anything from scratch B. would be so excited about it that they would spend their first night without other work to do making said bread or C. even knows how to cook?

I got thinking about this last night as I was eagerly waiting for the dough to rise the first time. If you didn't learn to cook from your parents or grandparents, where do you go to learn basic kitchen knowledge?

I was blessed to have been raised with a vast knowledge of baking, cooking and kitchen smarts. Both my grandmothers and my mother all knew their way around the kitchen and I paid attention.

But if you're a young professional trying to make it on your own and didn't pay attention or maybe your parents didn't cook and you ate out a lot as a child, how do you get past the Mac & Cheese?

I've thought it would be nice to start a business where young professionals (or anyone) could come and I would teach them how to make meals and cookies and such. Essentially passing on my knowledge to help others escape from a life of processed foods. Unfortunately start up capital is pretty low and I'm almost certain there are already classes like this available, I just don't know about them.

In any case, what I really want to know is, how did you all learn how to cook?

In the mean time, I'll be enjoying my bread and coffee. :)

-Harkins
"

" ROYALTY

Last night I watched a portion of that show on ABC about the Royal Family. I can't remember what the exact name of it was, but that's not important.

In any cae, I was surprised to learn that Her Majesty the Queen was crowned as such when she was only 25.

Twenty Five! I'm twenty five! At my age she was traveling the globe meeting with political and state leaders and being crowned Queen. A position I learned, that she has never taken lightly.

While I understand that at the time, her father had been ill and she had probably been preparing for this her entire life, I still can't help but think about what a tremendous responsibility that is on a 25 year old.

Knowing that your position and more importantly your actions while in that position affect not just yourself but are a reflection on the countries you oversee is a lot to take on for anyone at any age.

While 25 isn't terribly young, it certainly is still a time when you're still learning about yourself and the world around you. Talk about being a young professional!

I'd love to learn more about those early years of her reign, how she handled herself, and what it was like. I think it would be neat to learn about and maybe something to learn from.


-Harkins



















"