Tag: inspirational
Keep this philosophy in mind the next time you hear, or are about to repeat a rumour.
In ancient Greece (469 – 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom. One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance, who ran up to him excitedly and said, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students…?”
“Wait a moment,” Socrates replied. “Before you tell me, I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called, ‘The Test of Three.”
“Test of Three?”
“That is correct,” Socrates continued.
“Before you talk to me about my student let’s take a moment to test what you’re going to say. The first Test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what You are about to tell me is true?”
“No,” the man replied, “actually I just heard about it.”
“All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?”
“No, on the contrary…”
“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him even though you’re not certain it’s true?”
The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.
Socrates continued, “You may still pass though because there is a third test – the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?” “No, not really…”
“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?”
The man was defeated and ashamed and said no more.
This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.
It also explains why Socrates never found out that Plato was banging his wife.
The UK Mail has some fantastic photos of the Sarychev Peak volcano eruption.
This is my friend’s mother and father. As from Michelle:
“I share this story with you because I believe it’s important that everyone’s aware of the Aeroplan Policy; and because I’m incredibly proud that my Mom (Judi Landis) has fought the battle and won – she received her points credit (thanks to author Ellen Roseman, CIBC and not Aeroplan) earlier this week.”
You must fight for your rights and make sure that stupid policies in businesses are rectified. Watch your points. Defend your rights.
TheStar.com – Business – Aeroplan’s loyalty goes only so far, readers find.
April 18, 2009
Ellen Roseman
When Joel Landis died last August, he had collected more than 180,000 frequent-flyer points on his CIBC Aeroplan Visa card.
His widow, Judi, was hoping to take her grandchildren to Disney World a few months later.
She didn’t book the trip using his points, despite having his account number and password. “Wanting to do the right thing, I called Aeroplan to officially advise them of my husband’s death,” she says.
Joel’s account was shut down within 48 hours. She opened her own account and submitted a request in writing to have her husband’s points transferred to her.
Only then did she find out she would have to pay $1,897.06 to transfer the points.
“Aeroplan miles or rewards are personal and cannot be assigned, traded, willed or otherwise transferred,” the loyalty program’s terms and conditions say.
“However, reflecting its desire to express compassion, Aeroplan’s practice is to allow the transfer of miles.”
But compassion only goes so far. The transfer cost for surviving spouses of a deceased member is 1 cent a mile, plus a $30 administration fee (and GST).
Another Aeroplan member, a recent widower, thinks the policy is unfair.
“Most of the points we accumulated were through a joint CIBC Aerogold Visa account,” he says.
Since his wife was the primary cardholder, all the points were credited to her. But most of the charges were on his credit card, because he handled the accounts.
He called after her death and was told Aeroplan’s bereavement policy would restore the unused points to her account for a trip she was too sick to take.
When he asked to transfer the 60,000 points to his account, he was told there was a $600 charge.
“Excuse me? I said you have a `bereavement policy’ that protects her points, but that doesn’t extend to moving them to her widower’s account? I found this astounding.”
Judi Landis tried calling CIBC Visa to ask about restoring the points without a transfer cost.
“They had a hands-off approach,” she says, adding that the bank refused to intervene in a dispute with Aeroplan.
Still, I figured that CIBC had more “wiggle room” than Aeroplan in trying to keep a disgruntled customer happy.
CIBC competes fiercely with other credit-card issuers. Its Aerogold card, once the gold standard, is under pressure from other reward cards that are more flexible.
Aeroplan spokesperson JoAnne Hayes did not provide a comment, but deferred to Rob McLeod, spokesperson for CIBC Visa.
CIBC will work with the readers who contacted me to have their Aeroplan miles reinstated at no cost, McLeod said.
Landis wrote several times to Aeroplan’s chief executive Rupert Duschene. She never got a reply.
“When my husband died suddenly at age 62, we had just finished renovating the house. Everything was paid by credit card because we wanted to get the points,” she says.
“This is just an added bitter touch. For Aeroplan, loyalty only goes one way. It just doesn’t have a soul.”
Aeroplan should advise couples with two credit cards opening a single account to protect their assets in case one of them dies, she believes.
Even better, it should have a true bereavement plan.
“It would be reasonable to deduct a small portion of points or pay a flat fee of $135, as was the case for many years,” Landis says. “I should not be penalized for reporting my husband’s death, instead of surreptitiously using the points we jointly amassed.”
Write to onyourside@thestar.ca
- Every 7 minutes of everyday, someone in an aerobics class pulls a hamstring.
- Women over 50 don’t have babies because they would put them down and forget where they left them.
- One of life’s mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5lbs.
- My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.
- The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.
- The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don’t know what you are doing, someone else does.
- The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.
- Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.
- Sometimes I think I understand everything, then I regain consciousness.
- I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my knickers.
- Amazing! You hang something in your wardrobe for a while and it shrinks 2 sizes!
- Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like “You know, sometimes I forget to eat!” Now, I’ve forgotten my address, my mother’s maiden name and my keys. But I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat.
- A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills. She has 14 kids but doesn’t really care.
- My body is not all that communicative but I heard from it the other day after I said, “Body, how would you like to go to the six o’clock class of vigorous toning?” Clear as a bell my body said “Listen Witch…..do it and die.”
- The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing and then they marry him.
- I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are: Eating too much, impulse buying and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That’s my idea of a perfect day!
This is a true story about an over-weight 12 year old boy.
I came home from work one day. Like usual I was getting a snack and then going to go pick up my son from school. When I arrived home, I was surprised to see my son sitting on the couch watching tv. I asked what he was already doing home? He replied, “I got suspended today” as his eyes started to fill with tears. I said, “for what?” He replied quietly “for fighten’.”
(now my son is somewhat of a geek. In a good way of course. He knows more about computers and gadgets then making friends and social events. He is also over-weight).
“You got in a fight?!?” I asked surprised. (and out of sheer curiosity) I asked… “did ya win?” His eyes filled with tears and he looked down at the floor and softly said “no.” I felt so bad for him, and I had so much anger towards this unknown person who could have made him feel so badly. He continued to fill in the blanks of the story. He mentioned that some older kids from school tease him a lot. And one kid in particular started calling him “fatty”, “tubby”, “porky”, and so on. So I said, “Did ya punch him?” My son, still looking at the floor said “no, I never even touched him, ever.” I asked, “then why were you suspended?” He slowly looked me in the eyes and said, “because of what I said to him.” I was practically on the edge of my seat wondering what the hell could he have said that would’ve gotten him suspended. So I insistently said, “well? What did you say?” He smiled and asked “promise I won’t get in trouble for telling you? I already told mom when she picked me up from school and she said I shouldn’t use that kind of language and she would deal with me when she got home.” I quickly said “well, if your mom already is going to deal with you, then I won’t have to… so what’cha say?” He again smiled and held his head high and sat up straight “I asked him if he wanted to know why I was so fat? I told him that every time I fucked his mamma, she made me a sandwich.”
I could feel the pride of a father. The sense of victory without even haven been there. I wanted to hold him high. (he is way to big for that, I would thow out my back) anyway, I asked him if he had said it loud enough for the other kids to hear? He said “yea, that’s when the kid started hitting me.” I knelt down beside him and smiled I held my hand high and gave him a hard slapped high five. I looked him dead in the eyes and said “Son, you may have gotten your ass kicked today… but I think we know who won that fight. You son, are my hero today.”
This story is for all those kids who get picked on, put down, teased, made fun of because they are different, slower, shorter, fatter, skinny, not as smart. You don’t have to be the strongest, fastest, tallest, smartest… (don’t get me wrong, in this world it helps) But once in awhile, you get the last word in. So when that moment comes…. …its o.k. to say “I fucked your mamma, oh and she says to say hi.”
Sometimes you just have to do it!