March 2010 - Posts
What is wrong with this lift?
My blogs are a bit like buses. You wait ages for one and then three come along at once. Sorry about that.
I took this picture and thought I would pose the question. What is wrong with this lift?
To find the answer scroll down but give the question some thought before you find the answer.
I believe there were two things wrong. I confess you can't see one. Any ideas yet. Scroll down again, don't you hate people that do this...lol!
The answer is that there is no mirror on the back wall so that means I can't see what is behind me when I want to get out in my wheelchair. Not an issue when it is quiet but it is first thing in the morning when you have a busy lift and lots of people going down to breakfast. The second issue is that the announcement about which floor we were on was so low I could not hear it. Fortunately I could see the lift floor counter but imagine if I could not see it. I could be going up and down for ages if there was nobody to help. It is simple when you think about it.
Bolts not screws!
This is another example of a poor standard in a hotel bedroom. It happened to me as usual!
I had just used the toilet and put my weight on this support to stand up. I am an above knee amputee and so these supports are vital. However, it came away in my hand and I was lucky not to have a fall and seriously hurt myself. The problem is that these items are not put into the wall properly, they need bolting into the wall. Now the really incredible thing is my following conversation with the Hotel General Mananger. For a year she had tried to get this changed but her Health and Safety people told her it was perfectly safe. Also a group of people with disabilities did not pick it up when they went round the new hotel.
This is why it is so important for hotel manangers to get proper advice from people that really understand, that is regular hotel users with a disability. I like to give my advice free when I stay in hotels. I do it quietly but put across my point effectively. However, when I return and see nothing has changed I find the block is a hotel policy/brand value and head office. In this hotel for example it was just waiting to do a snaggiung list with the architect. This is twelve months after the hotel was opened. No wonder the general mananger was pulling her hair out as the list now went into many pages and I suspect lots of customers had been inconvenienced as a result.
It is time for a laugh
This may well be the first Professor of Laughter. Her name is Stephanie Davies and her company is known as Laughology. She recently did a team building session for one of my clients and so the picture (I am sure she will hate my photography...lol). Her presentation started by getting everyone up on their feet to get their tickle muscles working. The audience was soon warmed up and ready to listen. Stephanie used to be a stand up comedian, a male dominated industry where she had to give as good as she got. But this has stood her in good sted as it is a challenge to keep up with her jokes and asides. Everyone in this industry needs to bring more laughter into their life. Just think about it for a minute. If we are happy we enjoy going to work, we are more productive, if the whole team is happy they will achieve even more. This will soon transfer to customers and they will enjoy coming back time and time again. We are also more creative when we can see the funny side of things, just think about it for a momment. It is not rocket science so why do so many managers walk around as if the world was about to end.
I am training to be a Laughbologist under Stephanie's guidance. I believe and hopefully live the philosophy.of Laughology as I know every leg joke going. As an above knee amputee that may not be surprising. But as I often say you can cut off a leg but you can't cut off a sense of humour. We all have that ability inside us and it is very easy to positively infect others. So lets do it more. And if you want to know more about Laughology then contact me.
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