Honoring the glue that keeps it together

Once upon a time, it was known as Secretary’s Day. Now that secretaries are referred to as administrative assistants, it’s Administrative Assistant Day, Administrative Professionals day 2009 and Admin Day. Does that simplify things for you? Just remember to keep it separate from Bosses’ Day and Arbor Day and you’ll do fine.

Today, April 22, is the big day. The liberation of time has freed them from the term “secretary” and given them a title with more weight to the verbal ton. Not only do they answer phones, take minutes, arrange travel, prepare memos and lend executives moral support, but they are often referred to as the “glue” of an organization. “Attaboys” are great, but extra pay keeps personal loans and debt relief at bay…

Lilit Marcus of SaveTheAssistants.com wants us all to take a moment to recognize everything secretaries do for the corporate world. In particular, bosses should recognize their secretaries with gifts. What follows is a countdown of just how special administrative secretaries should be made to feel. For the record, Marcus’s article appears in The Huffington Post. Here goes, professional administrative assistance collaborative secretaries. Oh, you’ll probably pick out my embellishments. Think of it as my gift to you (if I were an executive, which I’m not)…

Your Administrative Assistants’ Day Celebratory Checklist

1. First of all, it is tacky to ask your administrative assistant to pick out their own gift. It doesn’t matter that he or she is your right hand in the office, that they pick up stuff for your spouse and kids. “Go pick out something nice” actually means that you don’t give a flip about your surgically attached subservient. Get the gift for your administrative assistant yourself; it’ll be an adventure.
2. Don’t go practical. If “Look, Mr./Ms. Johnson, you mean a lot to this office, so I got you this exclusive ivory letter opener with heated, massaging pleather handgrip. Keep up the good work” is something you might say, expect said gift to end up between your scapula on the way out.
3. Don’t you dare call it Secretaries’ Day. Your secretary will hate you for it.
4. Cards are great, but not E-cards. Your administrative assistant is worth more than a viral video.
5. Some say that money is tacky when a gift is called for. However, in this recession, money talks.
6. I like this one… Marcus says you shouldn’t pen some inspirational ditty like “you’re lucky to have a job with this company under the current economy” when the same thing could apply to you, Mr. or Mrs. Executive.
7. Acceptable gifts include brand name chocolate or candy (unless diet or allergies make it a no-no), perfume (really? I wouldn’t do that), a gift certificate to Victoria’s Secret (sorry, can’t agree with you there Ms. Marcus… I’d find the shopping trip too distracting), or a dartboard with your picture affixed (a given, right?).
8. Money talks, get it?

Sometimes, even a gift will not be enough to remove the foul stench of abject hatred. Remember, once per year is not enough to let your administrative assistant know how important they are to your organization. So be nicer to them. Let them know in little ways that you value their work. They might just start giving you better gifts on Bosses’ Day.

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What can you get?

Send a ball is what the website is called, but once someone sends you a ball, you then have a ball of a time and want to send more to others you may know. The balls they offer to send out come in many varieties of colors and different sayings and you can even make up your own sayings. The balls come in the mail just as a ball and no packaging on it what-so-ever, so even the post man can see what you are writing to your recipient. The balls offered say things such as Bounce back soon, have a ball with your new baby, have a ball on your birthday, you have bounced into my heart, had a ball, have a ball, have a ball at your new home, and like I said before they even give you an option to make up your own message, which is a plus. The ball is able to say something you may not be able to and make that person smile and think of you whenever you are not there.

Who can you give it to?

Send a ball isn’t just meant for friends and family even though they work great for anyone you know. It can also be used as a great marketing tool that your business can use instead of sending a nice card; you can send a bouncy ball! What company wouldn’t remember you for sending that? It not only makes a lasting impression, because they will always have a ball around the office, but also a fun one that says you’re ready to show them with new ideas that will help improve their marketing technique. Send a ball is easy to use and can help anyone have a better day; just like a payday loan can help in an emergency brighten your day from the panic you were feeling.

Should you do it?

If you feel like making someone’s day, send them a ball and they will have a ball forever and they will always think of you when they look at it. I would recommend send a ball to anyone who is thinking of sending a card, and I would recommend a payday loan to anyone who is having a hard time paying their bills off. Sometimes all someone needs in hard times is a smile or help bouncing back to their feet.

The Biggest Gift Items are often the Biggest Targets

One of the largest gift ideas that many of us have for our loved ones is jewelry.  Now obviously, the jewelry that a lot of people like to be able to afford during the holidays goes beyond your average pearl or cubic zirconium earrings; we’re talking the high class, multiple thousand dollar diamond necklace, or bracelet, or ring type of stuff here.  Jewelry is a constant attention getter for thieves. On Thursday, December 4th, a diamond heist went down at the Paris location of Harry Winston Jewelers as night was beginning to fall and just before the store was about to close.  Harry Winston is one of the largest and high class jewelry companies in the world – some of the particular store that was robbed has a clientele list that lists names like: Richard Burton (the actor who was married to Elizabeth Taylor), Aristotle Onassis (Greek shipping tycoon, married Jacqueline Kennedy, widow of JFK), Nicolas Sarkozy (The President of France), the former Shah of Iran, Scarlett Johannson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hilary Swank, just a few.  The heist went down in a matter of only a few minutes, the robbers being very well prepared, and made off with €85 million, or about $108 million dollars, or over a hundred million payday loans‘ worth.  The robbers may not be likely to find a buyer for extremely high price jewelry including rings and watches that will be far too easily identified, but its likely mobsters will be able to find buyers around the world with the ill gotten gains.  Apparently, three of the robbers were dressed as females, so as to drag investigation efforts to a slower pace.  This is the second time the Paris Harry Winston store has been robbed in a the last year, as they were robbed almost a year to the day of about $16 million in cash and jewels.

Hopefully, Santa will bring these thieves a lump of coal – and a prison sentence

We all know what it is like to wish we had some extra money during the holidays.  It would be great to get everybody the things on their wish list, make the family happy, and see our wives or girl friends eyes go wide open as we put a big shiny rock on their finger, but we’re not going to rob anybody to do it.  However, we do know that if we have a sudden expense come up, in the holiday season or not, we have legal, affordable, responsible options to help us out, such as payday loans.