The Last Word…..I Promise

So I’m in the comment section of my blog (thanks Trey from Trabian for the comment) and noticed I had 71 items in the “Drafts” bucket. Those are 71 blog posts I never finished. I had no idea I had that many. Some of them are pretty funny, some are clearly duds, some were rants I didn’t dare publish, as in “I’ll never work in this town again” if I do. But here are a couple of random thoughts from the draft (trash) bucket of DeniseWymore, LLC.

Why Does Butter Need a Door? (not published on August 29, 2014 at 4:25 am)

I’m 52 years old, I am living in a 412 sqare foot apartment  – no, let me preface that – at the end of the day I sleep in an apartment akin to a hotel room. I have no microwave, dishwasher, garbage disposal or washer/dryer but I have a butter door in my fridge. It’s like a garage door…..for butter.

I feel obligated to join all dairy products in this exclusive space. So I also have my Tillamook cheddar cheese keeping the butter company.

But here’s where I am perplexed. Why does butter need a door? There has to be an historical reference to the coddlng of a stick of butter. You would have thought Paula Deen invited the butter door. I’m not sure of the total square footage of the average refrigerator but I’m going to guess that an inordinate amout of space is devoted to the preservation of a stick of butter.

I’m going to guess that it’s steeped in tradition. Some event in the past that defined a generation and therefore is passed down as folklore.

Why Pie? (not published on October 9, 2013 at 7:41am)

I’m in Vegas, went to MickeyD’s to get me some coffee (sorry Starbucks, I love me some cheap black coffee). And they asked me, at 6:30am, if I’d like Pie. And she asked it in a way that said “I hate you, I hate Pie, I hate my life.” I almost said yes.

Kindle Made a Run for the Borders  (not published on February 17, 2011 at 6:11am)

Yesterday Borders filed for bankruptcy protection and announced they will close 1/3 of their stores immediately. They also said that they will basically begin to “copy” the Amazon model to stay afloat. That’s their strategy.

I know hindsight is always 20/20 but it would seem that Borders filed bankruptcy because they stubbornly hung on to a model that was violently disrupted by the e-book technology, AND the iPod AND Netflix….

I don’t know for sure but I image the conversations in their board room went something like this:

“Well not EVERYONE is going to want a Kindle or an iPod or the convenience of their movies delivered to their home or on their computer…..so I say we are okay. We still have some loyal customers that consider Borders a gathering place and have to have a book in their hand, a CD to put on their shelf and the latest Disney movie to add to their collection.”

Sounds reasonable. And it may be true. But disruptive technologies are aptly named. History has shown us that they destroy industries.

Some examples of disruptive technologies:

• The automobile (horse and buggy)
• The telephone (the telegram)
• The debit card (paper checks)
• Digital cameras (film)
• The original cellphone (the land line)
• The iPad (laptops, books, CDs, DVDs, photo albums)

You get the idea. In my previous blog post I talked about the gigantic disruptive technology looming….the closed payment system that Steve Jobs is creating.

Sure, not EVERYONE will want it……………at first.

Credit unions have a reputation of being fast followers – not innovative leaders.

Time to crank up our differentiator.

Thoughts from the Deep End of the Pool (not published on August 11, 2008 at 6:05am)

Last night I was lucky enough (to be awake) to see the Men’s 4 X100 freestyle relay team kick some French-trash-talking booty. It’s so cool to see those moments “live” with family so you can say….”Remember when….?”

I admit it. Until maybe last week I probably couldn’t have told you who Michael Phelps was. Until about 12 hours ago I had no idea we had a Men’s 4X100 relay team that included Phelps AND was expected to lose to the team from France. Only an hour before the race did I find out that the French boyz were all “We’re gonna smash the Americans.” But that was enough to get us on the edge of our seats, whooping and hollering for the home team and high-fiving when “we” won.

As I’m getting ready for bed last night, I started thinking about why that was so emotional, why did I care? And did I deserve to feel so good for something that I had nothing to do with? I know, just go to bed, right?

It’s because we love to be part of a group, a club, a spirit, a team. It’s in our nature, our DNA, our psyche. It’s common bond that makes us stand up and cheer.

So why are credit unions so quick to kill it? The common bond?

In most cases, the founders of today’s credit unions are probably no longer with us. We no longer tell their stories, or remember their victories of those early days. When 6 school teachers trusted each other with their paychecks and little more than an entry in a ledger book and a desk drawer for safekeeping of the money so they could help each other get through life.  They dared to compete against the big banks, because they had a common bond.

And, if you’re lucky enough to work for a credit union today, you can say “we won.”

Don’t we owe them at least a “high five” for their efforts?

And…Wymore Out! (mic drop).

See you at 6thstory.