In a coffee shop today, I discreetly observed an elderly man with his two granddaughters, young teens who had just finished a sports game. My heart broke for him as he tried to engage them, smiling as he talked proudly about one girl’s great kick, or recounting gleefully about a dexterous move the other pulled off in the game’s final minutes. He got only grunts and rolling eyes in response. They barely looked up from their phones, hypnotized by their screens. Many others around us were similarly glued to their screens, as they had coffee and chatted with friends. Neighbors… [Read More]
Archives for March 2013
A graceful breakup: is it possible?
“The lying, cheating husband sale”. A Canadian woman made headlines recently when she offloaded her husband’s possessions “while he is gone… with his floozie.” She placed an ad trumpeting the event, and offered, at no additional cost, for patrons to see her cheating spouse’s clothes. More specifically, the ashes of his clothes. In the driveway. You can’t deny her impact—she vowed he would return to a near-empty house. But it begs the question: is there a graceful way to break up with someone, or tell a spouse you want a divorce? I recall the campus lore of a scorned girlfriend… [Read More]
One Fabulous Tip on Public Speaking
Making a wedding toast. Presenting at work. Persuading a jury you really are an upstanding citizen (despite those drunken videos online). Public speaking is a fabulous life skill, and it needn’t be a daunting one to acquire. Whether we speak to agitate, educate or entertain, being able to speak in front of others helps across social and professional settings. What’s a Savvy Girl to do? I can’t recommend Toastmasters enough (& to be clear, I don’t get a cent for endorsement.) I thought TM was a stuffy organization, full of men in tweed suits and women in twinsets and pearls,… [Read More]
The Perks of Laryngitis (really).
I’ve just shrugged off a bout of laryngitis— and despite a red-raw throat, there were unexpected perks. First: not being able to talk at my usual 90mph. At the hairdressers’, our dynamic changed. We normally chat nonstop about life, movies, and the headlines—in between solving the world’s problems (if he’d added the ten-minute hot oil treatment, we would have nailed the mid-east peace process.) Instead, I listened. And without our rapid-fire volleys, we shifted gears. To the pain of seeing his elderly mother enter a home. To his worries that his son is struggling at school. Sure, we still laughed,… [Read More]