Everyone has a brand that they trust fully.  For me, one of those brands is Crest.  In fact I trust all products by Proctor and Gamble.  So much that we bought stock in the company.  Over the years the performance of their products has gained a large trust equity for me.

The benefits of trust equity is I would never hesitate purchasing one of their products.  This can be such a big boost to a company.  It makes it much easier to introduce new products and develop interest.  In many ways it also allows you to price your products at a premium to the market.  But how easy is it to lose this equity?

Well yesterday Carolyn went to the dentist.  During the appointment she discussed some brown spots on her teeth.  They easily cleaned but there was a discussion about different teeth cleaning products.  The hygienist asked about Crest Pro Health Rinse.  We did have that recently.  My wife asked about Crest Pro Health toothpaste.  The hygienist did not hear of any trouble with the toothpaste but she did mention how they were no longer providing the samples of the rinse due to brown spots.

So today my wife immediately started searching the web regarding this issue.  She was surprised at what Google brought to her attention.  Here is a news report on the topic:

I strive to read the Consumerist everyday, and I missed some of their stories on the topic.  Here are a few of them:

• I woke Up With Brown Spots on My Teeth
• Crest Refunds Teeth-Staining Mouthwash
• Crest Pays For Your Cleaning

A standard Google search reveals many more. It also revealed to me that there is a warning on the toothpaste that states “products containing stannous flouride may produce surface staining of the teeth.” I should clarify this is a “whitening” toothpaste that my produce surface staining? I never noticed that until this Google exercise. I think that has to do with the trust equity that this product has with me. I would have never even thought to look for a legal disclaimer. I also think we have all become immune to the legal mumbo jumbo that exists out there.

By the way here are the other warnings on the Crest Pro-Health toothpaste:

• When using this product do not use for sensitivity longer than four weeks unless recommended by a dentist
• Stop us and as a dentist if the sensitivity problem persists or worsens
• Sensitive teeth may indicate a serious problem that may need prompt care
• Keep out of reach of children
• If more than used for brushing is accidently swallowed, get medical help or contact a poison control center right away

The actual warning is under “other information” and it does state adequate brushing may prevent these stains which are not harmful or permanent and may be removed by your dentist. The next bullet is “this Crest is specially formulated to help prevent staining.”  This brings about the question of why the warning?

For many products, before buying, I usually search Google, read review or discuss with friends, but some have a trust equity that do no require that.  This equity does build up, but can easily come down.  Now I will probably still buy standard Crest products because I have a strong experience with them, but it will take a long time to build the equity when it comes to trying new products for this company.  Do you have companies or products that have built such a large trust equity?

I am probably not too different from most men, I really enjoy grilling.  But like most of my life there seems to be a story behind it.  So a number of years ago I purchased a grill.  It never really worked right.  When I noticed the trouble I played around with it but it never cooked properly.  I did not replace it because I did not feel like spending the money.  Believe it or not, the grill just sat unused for a a few years.  As we were doing some spring spruce up of the shrubs my wife noticed something.  There were a number of birds chirping.  After looking everywhere, she finally realized they were in the grill.  Yes a family of birds somehow set up their own condo inside the grill.  Needless to say we were not going to be cooking on that grill again.

When Father’s Day arrived I received some new grill equipment and I was told to go pick out my grill.  I really wanted to go out and buy a cool grill.  I love some of those big ones with stone side (I wish, as you read that, I could add sound effects from the show Home Improvement).  At the same time I could never justify the expense for a really cool grill.  Any chance to justify that was blown since I have not cooked on the grill for 5 or 6 years.   Last week one of my team members, George , told me about a grill that had charcoal and gas as part of the same grill.  I had to look into that.  Well on July 4 (yes I know a very strange day to buy a grill), I decided it was time to have a cookout.

I immediately went to the computer and read numerous reviews on the Char-Griller Duo, starting with Amazon and then shifting to many other review sites on the net.  I think I tend to shop like many people, first finding out what others think on a product.  I then started to compare prices.  I found Lowes had the grill for $299.  I was all set.  I then had to decide how to get it home.  So I drove over to Lowes and started to decide the best way to do it.  I decided not to take advantage of the free assembly, and I just picked up the grill.  Hey the box said easy assembly, I can do that.  Actually the assembly was easy, but time consuming for 1 person.  So that night we ate on the grill.  Now I did not pick up  a new gas tank because I had the one from the last grill, and it still had gas.  So I hooked it up and started to cook.  Just like the last grill it was taking a long time.  Based on this the next day I went to get a new tank.  What I did not realize was there was free tank exchange when you bought the grill.  Lowes was great about it and swapped a new tank.  While I was there I picked up the smoker attachment to add to my grill (insert Home Improvement noises here).  When I went home I attached the smoker attachment.  This was a little harder than the grill assembly and should have been done with multiple people.  Anyway once that was done I tried the new propane tank.  Wow now that is the way a gas grill should light up!  So that night I cooked on the charcoal side.  It was a first for me and I love the fact that I have the option.  Gas for ease and charcoal for taste.  What a fun concept for a grill.

The only trouble I had with this grill experience was the knob for the side burner was cracked.  It still worked, more of just a nuisance.  I shot off an email to Char-Griller, truthfully expecting them to ask for all kinds of info or refer me to call in.  I realized today I did not hear back, and I was wondering if I would have to call or something else to obtain the part.  Instead I came home to Fed-Ex package at the door.  I am always so appreciative of companies that make it easy.  Email is my preferred method to communicate and I had the part in a timely manner with no questions or verifications.  Very pleased Customer.  The grill is one of the best purchases I have had in the past few years.

Today was a sad day in music as Michael Jackson passed away at the age of 50.  I, like many, have said my share of Michael Jackson jokes, but I must admit he really changed music in so many ways.  Starting as a young boy through most of the 80’s his music redefined expectations.  The music video for Thriller redefined how artists wrote songs, and the visuals chosen to represent the music.  There will be so many tributes to Michael’s work in the days and weeks ahead, and it is not my area of expertise, so I will let others do that.

I have written a number of times how Customer Service needs to shift to be more personal and develop relationships, the same is true on the radio.  In recent years the way we hear music on the radio has changed dramatically.   You may not realize it, but many stations use computers to program and play music, and, on many stations, when there is a DJ, it is actually prerecorded voice tracks.  Now that is personal!  Today as I was driving back from Newark, NJ I was listening to a NJ station.  Like many stations they were playing all Michael Jackson songs.  It was reminiscent of when John Lennon passed away back in 1980.  I was only 8 but I remember they kept playing The Beatles.  The DJ popped on to explain what happened and provided personal insights in the career of a great musician.  I was lucky, I was listening to a station with a live DJ and it was an excellent experience to hear live updates regarding Michael and hear there insight.  I wish I remembered the station, but it was closer to NY so not a station I typically listen to.

A good friend of mine, Jason Lee, recently lost his job as the late morning/early afternoon host for Philadelphia’s Ben 95.7 FM (WBEN).  They decided to go with only DJ’s for morning and afternoon drive.  Well this started me thinking, how would stations handle this without a live DJ?  So I started to scan the stations in North Jersey, New York and Philadelphia areas.  What I found were a number of stations that did not have any different programming.  I guess they were not able to change the computer settings???  Other stations did change the programming, but did not have anything (at least while I was listening) to explain why they were playing all Michael, all the time.  That would cause me to switch stations just to find out what was going on.  WBEN at least had their afternoon drive time host record a spot explaining why the were playing Michael.  It was good to see that they recognized the moment and changed programming but I still missed personal interaction.  Out of all the stations I listened to, I was so happy to hear the ones with live DJ’s making a personal connection.  One station not only had a live DJ, but they also encouraged listeners to call in and share their own remembrance of Michael.  I enjoyed the tributes.  That was a great touch, and shows the flexibility of a live DJ.

In this tragic loss, I believe we may have seen an unlikely rebirth of the radio DJ.  I think it is time that radio stations start to connect with their listeners, and this sad event showed the reason why it is so important.  What did you hear on the radio today?

I wanted to share a recent exchange with a Customer we will refer to as Bob.  Today he sent a number of emails to my team with feedback centered around the web design of one of our websites.  I read the emails while I was at my aunt’s funeral.  They were colorful, but showed the passion this Customer has on the topic.  Although web design is not something I see changing immediately, the feedback was valuable.  Based on the specific content of the emails I chose to respond directly.  After his third email I responded with:

“I do want to thank you for all the feedback. We would be happy to share it.”

Customer’s response was:

“And I, in turn, want to thank you for your condesending attitude, which I too, will be very happy to share.  Oddly, you don’t seem to be such shit head on your blog.  Condescending, yes, but less of an asshole.”

Wow!  I really don’t get paid enough for this!  I was actually shocked  because this was certainly not the intent!  In addition, I never thought of myself as either condescending or an asshole.  I was stunned!  Okay, in retrospect, maybe I have been one of those when I received poor service.  You can decide which one.

There is no doubt that emails can easily be misinterpreted.  With the exception of SCREAMING emails, there is no way to clearly convey tone or emotion in print.  In today’s blackberry world, we are all emailing and texting as quickly as possible, aren’t we?  To avoid further miscommunication, there was only one thing to do.  I picked up the phone to speak with this Customer.

We had a productive conversation.  We discussed many aspects of the Customer experience, and how web design has an impact on this.  I explained my thoughts on sharing feedback and the manner companies respond to that feedback.  Occasionally decisions will be made that Customers will never like.  To me it then comes down to the way it is presented and discussed.  Bob’s feedback was regarding online ads.  There is always a delicate balance regarding revenue and impact to the Customer.  I explained that I was not sure the ads would go away, but what he was pointing to was more in design.  Hopefully as design is updated, something can be changed to make it less of a pinch point.  This is something that will take time.

At the start of the conversation he confessed that he was less angry with me and was developing a connection through reading this blog.  Specifically he connected to a story I related in a post “Frank, Where Are You.”  The story was about Lily pouring bleach all over my clothes.  I told him he should check out the Desitin story in the post “So is it Time to be Frank.”  In service the best interactions always have a personal touch.  I cannot tell you how often I hear, “How can you put yourself out there in social media?”  Many even say that they would use a different name.  People tend to be afraid of their Customers.  If you are afraid of Customer, how can you ever connect with them?  I have had strange things happen, including someone that bought my domain name as a “gift.”  He pointed it to the original Gia website, but since then he changed it to point to negative website about the company I work for.  Even with something like that, I still try to connect with Customers.  If my feeling ever changes, it will be time to look for a new career path.  That to me is what service is all about.

This has been a fun filled week for me on a number of fronts. The week started with the usual fun from Lily (see prior post “So is it Time to be Frank” for prior antics). On Sunday I had to clean the bathroom, something I have been procrastinating on for a long time. I finally got to work on it. Little did I know but so did my dear Lily. While I was taking a break for a couple minutes, Lily woke up from her nap and decided she wanted to help out. She went into the bathroom and poured a whole bottle of bleach cleaner in the tub. We are still trying to figure out how she opened it (had a child proof cap on it at the time). So when I ended the break I went upstairs. I went to get one of the bottles of cleaner, but realized the bottle was empty. Needless to say I was confused (not too unusual for me). We had a bunch of clothes in the tub because that was not being cleaned yet and we did not get to the wash. Well I noticed the clothes were wet. As I went through the pile I started to watch the color of every item run off. After going through everything in my head, I could not figure out how this happened to the clothes. I then called Lily (having a heart attack in my mind) I asked her if she was in our room. She said yes. I then worried that she drank some so then asked a number of questions on that. It turns out she was trying to create a bubble bath in the tub. I then realized many of my favorite clothes were now the wrong color. So it was good to see Lily helping the economy as I spent a lot of money at Kohls, Walmart, and LL Bean replacing some of the lost clothes. This was the start of a good week!

On Monday I was starting in a leadership program at work. This is an intense one year program for selected people within the organization. It is really amazing to even be considered and even more amazing when you meet the others in the program. There are some really great people that earned the same recognition. This first 2 day session concentrated on changes at Comcast, meeting top leaders and becoming a community leader. In fact my first project will be leading an effort centered around our “Comcast Cares Day” on April 25th. No it is not recognition of the work of my team, but rather a community event where Comcasters, family and friends get together and do projects to improve the community in which we live. I will have more to come on this because I can really use everyone’s help in meeting the goals of my first project for this leadership program. Thank you in advance.

During the leadership program I also had the wonderful experience of meeting a few people from a charity called “City Year.” As part of the leadership program, members of the charity participate. This allows us to learn about leadership in community organization and they learn from our business experience. This organization works within schools and the community to mentor, tutor and become role models to our youth. They are really transforming themselves and the communities they serve. If you have a moment check them out.

My team really started to take the lead in places like Twitter and working to take over the efforts that we have started this year. I have to say I was never more proud of the great members of my team and their efforts to make sure our social media efforts are fully operationalized. So if you have not seen me on Twitter, I have been there, but my team has really been taking the reigns. This will allow me to concentrate on strategies and improving the overall experience for our Comcast Customers. My other team members on Twitter are @ComcastBill @ComcastGeorge and @ComcastBonnie. I also have to recognize my other team members because they have been doing the same in the areas they participate in: Sherry, Kim, Mark, Detreon, Vinisha and Steve. They helped myself and Comcast lead the way into social media for businesses, but now they are helping me become a stronger leader. This is why it all starts with people!

So that is what has been happening with me. I hope I can count on your support and help for my upcoming project for “Comcast Cares Day.”

Nobody seems to want me to blog about “Maggots in our Mushrooms.”  I have been planning that post yesterday and today, but tomorrow is another day.  Normally I am up on the blogs mentioning Comcast but today someone beat me to it.  I received an email with a link to a TechCrunch blog:  “Survey of Insular Media Elite Says Twitter is Better Than Facebook for Business.”  First let me say that I am not shocked that Twitter is better for business than Facebook.  We are in both spaces and we definitely know Twitter is a better space to engage with your Customers.  There is an easy reason why Twitter is so good:  “What are you doing?”  Think about all the market research that goes into answering that very question.  Now you can go to Twitter Search and get the answer to the question.  As a business you can easily learn how people use your product or interact with your company.  

This TechCrunch post was about an Abrams Research Study of over 200 social media leaders.  There were other interesting, although not shocking, tidbits in the survey.

1. Which social media service would you be most likely to pay for?

1. Facebook 32.2%
2. Linkedin 29.7%
3. Twitter 21.8%
4. YouTube 13.4%
5. MySpace 1.5%
6. Digg 1.5%

2. What social media service would you advise a business pay for?

1. Twitter 39.6%
2. Linkedin 21.3%
3. YouTube 18.8%
4. Facebook 15.3%
5. Digg 3.0%
6. MySpace 2.0%

3. Which social media service will be the first to die?

1. ImInLikeWithYou.com 41.1%
2. Bebo 12.4%
3. FriendFeed 8.9%
4. Meetup.com 8.4%
5. Flixster 6.9%
6. Digg 5.0%
7. Last.fm 3.0%
8. Other 14.4%

None of the information above was shocking to me, but certainly interesting.

Now to the “shocked” part of my day.  I know it seems that we have been mentioned with regards to our social media efforts.  Recently Mashable labeled us one of the the top big businesses in social media, and I was wowed by that.  I have always been shocked by any press or blog posts.  I never considered myself to be a “social media” person, just a simple service guy talking to Customers.  I tried to learn as people provided feedback.  But this report was based on a survey of top social media people and for them to label the work of my team with the likes of @Zappos, @BarackObama, @CNN, @JetBlue, and @ScottMonty is amazing.  There are such great people representing companies that are on the list as well as others that are not.  I am just amazed and thankful for such recognition.  It is a credit to all those that helped me and the amazing team I work with each day.  I do not think I will ever be comfortable with all the discussion about me but being on this list really made me feel very special today and I want to thank everyone for that.   This has been a wild ride and it is really my team and all of you. Sorry for the wordiness but I am actually lost for words today.  Thank you.

Here is the complete list:

4. Which corporation has done the best job of using social media? (Respondents were asked to choose

one; these were the most popular choices, ranked accordingly)

1. Zappos (online shopping site)
2. Obama (campaign and presidency)
3. CNN
4. Comcast (“Comcast Cares)
5. Jetblue
6. Dell
7. Burger King
8. NPR
9. New York Times
10. Ford

This is a post of the kind of luck I have.

I thought my drive home yesterday was an adventure.   I had to stop at Wawa to pick up milk, so I also picked up  a family soup.  Well I drove the 5 minute ride home.  I got out of the car and went around to the others side to pick the bag of milk and the soup.  To my surprise the entire container of soup spilled all over the mat in the car.  Yes a very large container of potato soup now completely empty.  I was so happy that I purchased rubber mats.  Of course that was dinner, so it was time to find soemthing else.

I made it through that, but I did not even realize what a nothing event that really was until this morning.

So today I had my normal routine.  I get up around 6:00 AM.  For those that know me I am not a morning person.  I am very happy staying up all night, but not all too pleased to get up in the morning.  I enjoy my coffee, reviewed emails and updated Twitter.  Lily came down too so she watched TV.  Finally around 7:15 I went up to take a shower and finished getting ready for work.  Of course this is after my 3rd cup of coffee.  So I take a quick shower.  When I got out I heard Lily talking to Robyn on the monitor.  I was okay with Lily waking Robyn because it was time to go anyway.  I got dressed and went in to visit my two precious girls.   I just did not realize how precious Lily (Our 2 Year Old) really was.  I opened the door and to my surprise this is what I saw:

"Hi Daddy!"

You may not recognize the material that is on Lily, but it is Desitin.  Yes the same cream that is used on the cabooses of little ones.  Actually to be precise this is 2 tubes of Desitin.  Well it was more than just what you see.  It was on other furniture, throughout the floor.  Oh and it was even…

Our Precious Robyn

…all over our precious Robyn.  Do you know how hard it is to get Desitin off?

So this is a glimpse into what it is like to be Frank.  So how is your day going?

We have had our share of issues with doctors, but we never wanted their license to practice to be removed.  For those that do not know the story of our Angel Gia, she passed away during a liver transplant surgery 2 months before her 4th birthday.  Even though she passed away during a transplant surgery, I remain an advocate for organ donation.  Today on my ride into work I heard a reference to Richard Batista wanting his ex-wife to return his kidney or pay him $1.5 million.  The brief aspect of the story is Mr. Batista (a surgeon but I refuse to put Dr. before his name because he does not deserve it) donated his kidney to his wife in 2001.  According to his statements, shortly after the transplant she started to have an affair.  Mr. Batista filed for divorce in 2005, which is still ongoing.

Now we are in 2009 and Mr. Batista has decided that he would like to have his organ back or $1.5 million dollars.  Doctors are supposed to abide by ethics.  One I am sure you all have heard is that organs are not for sale.  Doctors are supposed to be above board on all of this.  Mr. Baptista, who I am sure is hurt by his wife’s actions, is being completely off base and is hurting his own profession.  He should understand this well, but obviously missed that class.  I believe he should have his license taken away for this ethical violations, and, truthfully, his poor judgement that will inevitably hurt organ donations for others that are in need.

Am I being oversensitive in this view? 

Please sign up to be an organ donor.

No matter your religion, or even if you do not have a religion, you probably have some traditions that you like to do this time of year. I celebrate Christmas, and I enjoy decorating the house with lights and putting up the Christmas tree. I also have other traditions, like ordering Chinese food for Christmas eve. That started because of a lasagna that burned one year. Now it is an annual event that I look forward to.
 

At the start of the season I always watch my favorite Christmas movie. Although I love Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story, my favorite is the original Miracle on 34th Street. As I have stated in many posts, I am a big believer in Customer Service. This movie shows true Customer Service. The scene where Kris Kringle refers Customers to Gimbels to locate a certain gift is a favorite. I also love how this drove 2 big competitors to realize the benefits of doing business in this manner. Wouldn’t it be great to see businesses run like that? I know it is something done at Zappos when they are out of stock of certain shoes, but I have not heard of many other companies that realize this would be a great long term approach.  It tells the Customer that you should always try us first because if we do not have it we will help you get it.  It is this personal touch that would increase revenue and Customer dedication.  Unfortunately companies probably view it as a short term cost.  I wonder if some of these leaders watch this movie each year?  Go into Macy’s today, all I see is fewer registers and sales people.  It is the same as going into Walmart, except you have to go to more register boxes instead of sales people building a relationship.  No wonder they were not permitted to use the Macy’s name in the 1994 remake.

Another tradition I have is playing a song, usually many times over.  I have never heard the song on the radio, but to me it is the meaning of the season.  I am very family oriented and this time of year to me is all about family.  I think of our Angel Gia throughout the season.  I miss her everyday, but especially this time of year.  At the same time there was nothing as special as hearing our Lily call out “Night lights” as we were driving around looking at Christmas lights.  I also love how we connect with so many of our our family and friends.  My favorite song is sad to some, but to me it brings out the true meaning of the season.  The song is ‘Dearest Santa’ by Bobby Vinton.  Here are the lyrics:

Dearest Santa

Would you listen and lend an ear
‘Cause I only come around once a year?
And this is for a very special cause
My name is Santa Claus

One Christmas Eve, I visited a home
Where children lived who’ve no home of their own
And though I brought them gifts galore,
This is what one asked me for…

“Dearest Santa, I don’t want toys
Or choo-choo trains with lots of noise.
I want a home like other boys
Christmas day.

“Dearest Santa, I will be
Just as good as I can be
If you’ll give me a family
Christmas day.

“I’m so lonesome, I’m so blue.
Is there somethin’ you can do? oh…

“Please, dear Santa, don’t ignore
This little boy who’s begging for
A mother whom he’ll just adore
Christmas day.

“I would be so proud and glad
If I could just say, ‘Meet my dad,’ so…

“Please, dear Santa, heed my quest
And tell them I’ll behave my best,
That if they’d take me, they’ll be blessed
Christmas day.” 

So what are some of your traditions?  What do they say about you?

I have had 3 posts I having been trying to get the time to put together, but it just seems to be tough finding the time to do it right.  I want to write about the automotive requests for bailout.  Sorry @ScottMonty, but I think bankruptcy is probably the only answer, especially for GM.  I also wanted to post a cool presentation on engagement in social media.  Of course that is an easy one to embed, I just have not gotten around to it.

So I apologize for being so busy.  Today’s post is really just a random vent.  Partially due to changes in society and the way sometimes people over react.  Now before I vent about what occured I want to say that I actually love the day care that we take Robyn and Lily too.  They are Children of America.  In the past we used Malvern School which we really found to be horrible.  After investigating numerous options we did come to the realization that Children of America was the right choice.  Even after today I still firmly believe that.  We also like everyone of the teachers, including the one that this post is about.  The director of the center is phenomenal, which is not a compliment I would pay to many people.  She is a strong leader and a Customer advocate.  She also is great at dealing with the parent, kids and employees.

Well the story actually starts a little over a month ago.  Back in October this one teacher told my wife she was concerned regarding 2 factors: Robyn was not crawling and when she is cold her feet get blue.  At the time my wife explained that the doctor was not concerned about the circulation (we already discussed it with the pediatrician and she laughed at it) and we were not concerned about the crawling.  My wife further explained the reason we were not concerned about the crawling because when our angel Gia was around that age she too did not crawl.  Gia had a great physical therapist who we loved.  At the time she told us crawling is not a milestone and how some kids go right to walking.  Now that I think about it, Lily pretty much did this too.  She went on to tell my wife how studies have shown that babies that do not crawl grow up as poor readers.  I know my wife was very clear with her thoughts on the topic.  The next day I firmly explained that it is her job to inform us of what she sees, but until she receives her medical degree to leave the medical advice to the doctor.  This coming from someone who absolutely hates doctors (no offense to anyone reading this that may be a doctor, but I can write a book just on that topic!).  Anyway like good parents we still discussed with the doctor.  You can guess, the doctor laughed at this too.

We provided the doctor’s update moments after the appointment.

So that brings us to Friday.  About exactly a month after the doctors appointment.  She begins to tell me that Robyn has been happier during tummy time but she is concerned because of the crawling.  I quickly explained that the doctor is not so she does not have a right to be concerned.  She then continued.  So I interupted her and told her until she receives her medical degree I am not interested.  She then continued.  I explained that the discussion was over.   She tried to continue but I just walked out.  I did immediately bring this to the attention of the director, and I know she will care for it.

This really just brings me to some of my random thoughts for this post.  I am not that old, but when I was a kid I never remember seeing people overly worry about children meeting different milestones.  I never remember anyone that would act this way, whether at a day care or in life.  Yet over the years, mainly with Gia, I have seen numerous people provide their “insights” and thoughts on how a parent should handle things.  It seems like we have become overly involved sometimes in other peoples business.  I also wonder if we sometime over concentrate on some these medical concerns.  Did you know many schools and day cares do not allow peanut butter due to allergies.  I know these allergic reactions can be very bad and support the restrictions if it even helps prevent one incident.  I just find it interesting that this was never a problem when I was in school and now all of a sudden it is such a big problem.  I m guessing the allergy existed back then, but I do not remember anyone that had it.  Yet now I know a number of people that have it, or had it but then grew past it.  I have always found it interesting.  Is it just that I am a parent now and notice these things more?

Sorry for the random thoughts in today’s post.  Just wanted to take a little time to vent