Author Archives: Author Julie Seedorf

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About Author Julie Seedorf

As human beings, we are always a work in progress. From birth to death we live, hurt, laugh, cry, feel, and with all of those emotions we grow as people, as family members, and as friends. I'm a dreamer and feel blessed to have the opportunity in my writing to pass those dreams on to others. I believe you are never too old to dream and to turn those dreams into a creative endeavor.” I live in rural Minnesota and am a wife, mother, and grandmother. Throughout my life I have had many careers or should I say opportunities at jobs where I have learned different skills such as working as a waitress, nursing home activities person, office manager, and finally a computer repair person eventually owning her own computer sales and repair business. Add my volunteer activities such as Sunday School Teacher and SADD advisor and more and it's been a full life. I never forgot my love of writing and quit my computer business in 2012 after signing a contract with Cozy Cat Press for Granny Hooks A Crook, the first book in my Fuchsia, Minnesota Series. I currentlyntly have written nine cozy mysteries, three children’s books, participated in three group anthologies or mysteries, and write three blogs about various subjects.

Comma Challenged

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Icelandic comma left (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I, like, to, write, but, I, am, comma, challenged! That’s right. I have a hard time with comma’s. I put them in, take them out, put them in, take them out.

Comma’s can change the entire context of a sentence and as a writer I am always unsure of where I should put my comma’s. I need to go back to school and brush up on the proper way to use comma’s and other detailed things that have to do with the proper use of words. However,  I don’t want to. Thank God for editors.

My editor at  the Albert Lea Tribune brushes up my writing. My editor at the Cozy Cat Press hopefully brushes up my comma’s. Of course if I put a comma after every word as I did in the first sentence I might get chastised a little.

The problem I have with more learning is time. I work full time, I write, I have a household to manage and I have volunteer activities that are important to me. I can make myself crazy worrying about my comma’s or I can put my heart out there with my writing and let the chips fall where they may.

I know there are mistakes in my books. There are people, that when they read a book they check grammar and spelling and yikes, comma’s. When I read a book I don’t notice those things unless they greatly impact the story, because I am interested in the story, the emotion or the suspense.

If I worry about the grammar and comma’s of the writer I can’t lose myself in the story and that to me is what it is all about. Unless something is very poorly written, I don’t notice because I am lost in the imagination of the writer of the book. I am lost in the reality or fantasy of the story.

If I take the time to worry that I might make a comma mistake or a grammar mistake that will be critsized by the reader I would never write.

So, criticize, my, use, of, comma’s. I, admit, I, am, comma, challenged. Look, beyond, a missing, or, misplaced, comma and, find, the, story. It, might, be, so, much, more, important, than, comma’s.

Customer’s Have Role In Customer Service Too!

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Column: Something About Nothing, by Julie Seedorf

“The golden rule for every business man is this: ‘Put yourself in your customer’s place.’” — Orison Swett Marden

I have written about customer service and how important it is in a business. Recently I have pondered what it means to be a customer. Maybe we need to change the Golden Rule and put ourselves in the checkout clerk’s place.

A few weeks ago I was shopping in a fabric store with my daughter-in-law. It was around 8 p.m. As I walked up to the checkout I had to wait for a customer and the clerk to finish a transaction. It didn’t take long, but when it was my turn the clerk apologized to me for the wait. I replied that it was no problem. The conversation continued, and I remarked that she was probably tired at this time of night after working a long day. She replied that she had started work about 4 p.m. so it wasn’t so bad. My next comment was: “That’s good. I don’t hear that too often at this time of night. Usually checkout people have worked long days and aren’t quite so cheery.”

I don’t know what there was about that sentence that meant anything, but the next minute the woman was saying to me, “I could just hug you. You have no idea how much what you just said means to me. Thank you.”

I, not knowing exactly what meant so much to her, replied, “I’ll give you a hug if you want.”

The clerk reached across the counter and gave me a big hug and with tears in her eyes thanked me again. We finished our transaction, and I left the store. I must admit I have never had a reaction like that before making a purchase, but I felt good leaving the store. She had a smile on her face, and so did I.

I have concluded customer service goes two ways. Yes, companies need to give good customer service to keep their customers, but what do we as consumers have as our responsibility? Is it our responsibility to be rude to a service person, even if at times they are rude to us? Maybe they have a reason to be rude to us. We have no idea how many rude people they have had to contend with before we met them.

If I think about the number of people many customer service reps and clerks come in contact with during a day, I might understand their attitude when at times they do not seem very friendly. We, as customers, have a tendency to want our way and to want it right now. When something isn’t as we think it should be we complain loudly and not always graciously. Meeting this woman gave me pause to think about my interactions with clerks, customer service people and even telemarketers. Yes, there have been times where my impatience with a service has resulted in my treating the person trying to help me rudely.

In fact, it almost happened the other night. I was on the phone with a service technician who did not understand my problem. He tried taking me through all of these tests. I explained that the tests he was taking me through would not find the problem because it wasn’t relevant to the problem. He told me it didn’t matter because the company made them go through all these steps before they could report a problem, even if they knew it wasn’t the problem.

It didn’t make sense to me, but it was taking up my time and lots of it. I realized that he was a cog in a wheel trying to do his job that was strangled by the red tape he had to go through because of a large company policy that didn’t give their workers the freedom to make common sense decisions. It wasn’t his fault, and he wanted to keep his job.

Yes, I have hung up on telemarketers. After my experience with this woman I have tried to think twice about doing that. Again, they are trying to make a living like you and I try to make a living. Those jobs might make the difference between a person having employment or being on the streets.

Maybe a telemarketer job is the only job the person on the other end of the line could find. After all, who would want to be abused on the phone time after time the way the general public treats telemarketers? They are the scapegoat for a business that most people dislike because telemarketing intrudes in our lives on a device that we pay for and should have more say in the calls we receive.

Our world of technology has us moving so fast that we forget about the human factor of wear and tear on the human when we actually have a warm body that interacts with the public.

Yes, I want good customer service. We have become frustrated consumers because businesses and corporations, and even our medical facilities have become large businesses that become difficult to navigate because they are too large. We take our frustrations out on the people at the bottom level of those corporations, folks who work the checkouts, customer service lines and are the first contact with a customer. These service people receive the brunt of our frustration, and they, most of the time, are powerless, bound by rules of companies that give them no decision-making power in how the structure is set up.

The next time you are in a checkout line or on the phone with a customer service rep, be as focused on the kind of customer you are as you are on the service you are getting.

Thank you to the person who gave me a hug and made me smile. You thought I was helping you, but hopefully you helped me to be a better customer no matter where I shop. You made a difference in my life.

Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net. Her Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/sprinklednotes.

When Children Speak, We May Want To Listen

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Family Funecha

Family Funecha (Photo credit: RG&B)

Column: Something about Nothing, by Julie Seedorf -Column from Albert Lea Tribune and The Courier Sentinel week of  October7, 2013

The phrase, “out of the mouths of babes,” was resonating in my mind one recent evening as I was kid sitting with my grandkids. It means a young and inexperienced person can be remarkably wise. I decided that maybe we, as adults, need to listen to those babes.

Along with that I found that my grandchildren had some wise and remarkable people in their lives that are shaping their young inexperience into helping them become wise and caring individuals.

I know their parents work with them on being compassionate, kind, polite and accepting people but many of their waking hours are spent in day care, at school and yes, even on the bus. They come in contact with other adults that help to shape their lives.

My daughter in a sermon recently said “My mother taught me not to hate or to ever use the word hate.” I didn’t remember that but I think I can honestly say that I do not hate anyone. I may not like everyone or agree with everyone but hate to me is a very strong word that I do not want to have any power or place in my life. I hope I help shape positivity in my grandchildren’s lives.

That leads me back to the conversation with my grandchildren. My granddaughter asked me what year I was born, what year my mother was born and asked what color skin my mother and dad and grandparents had.

I wasn’t sure where this question was coming from so I had to ask. My granddaughter told me they were studying diversity in their class. She also told me that they were studying the history of the times when my grandparents and parents lived in the United States.

It made her sad to hear about the problems we have had with diversity in our country. We talked about hate and her feelings. My granddaughter sees the differences but they do not matter to her. She sees beyond the skin and looks into the heart of people. She has friends of many different nationalities. I saw that at a recent birthday party for my grandson. He too has friends of many different backgrounds.

I learned so much listening to her. She is learning to care about people who are different than her from her parents and from her teachers.

The next conversation happened when I jokingly said to my grandson “You’re a snicklefritz.”

Now I think of that term is a term of affection. I was surprised to find out from the Urban Dictionary that this was also a term for a certain kind of marijuana. Anyway, when I called him a snicklefritz, meaning that affectionately, he said to me, “No, I’m a gentleman.” He was very serious, and seriousness is not his usual demeanor.

I, being surprised, asked him what a gentleman is. He said, “Someone who treats girls and others with respect.” He is 6 years old and that threw me for a loop. I asked where he learned that and he said, “My bus driver.” Again I was thrown for a loop.

My grandson continued on, “We have to take turns letting others on the bus and we need to show respect for the girls. That means no hitting, and sometimes letting them go ahead of us. We don’t yell at them.”

My granddaughter who is 9 chimed in, “Yes, he is teaching us how to be respectful of others on the bus. We have drills on the proper way to get on a bus.” Then my grandson continued to inform me that his friend celebrated his birthday on the bus yesterday. The bus driver has a Happy Birthday sign when it is someone’s birthday and they sing “Happy Birthday.”

My grandchildren’s bus drive is making a positive influence on my grandchildren’s lives.

When I mentioned the phrase “out of the mouths of babes,” it is because it was an eye opening experience as to how each person that enters and interacts with my grandchildren makes an impact on their lives, positive or negative. To these inexperienced babes, that is the way the world is supposed to be.

Those young, inexperienced of the world people, can have their lives shaped any direction. They are not born to hate, they are not born to lie, cheat, steal, curse and hurt their neighbor. We, teach them that when we interact with them. We can’t shield our children from everything but we can teach them how to react to situations that will change who they are negatively.

What do we mirror ourselves to the children we meet in our homes, in our jobs, in our communities?

I’ll leave that answer to you, for you, to decide what you want to mirror to the children in your lives.