All posts by admin

Consideration, Government, Impressions

Blinded by Politics

Leave a comment

Welcome to a highly charged political combat on the streets of Montreal.

What is extremely disappointing, but expected, is the total lack of honesty or transparency in this debate.

After month of protests on the streets of Montreal, shameful violence, destruction of public and private property, interruption of thousands of businesses, loss of thousands of hours of work, tens of millions of dollars of policing, ostensibly over increased tuition, the Quebec Government passed Bill 78 limiting the protestors to be obliged to give notice of public protests, and forcing them to expose their faces.

The absolute hue and cry internationally has been frankly outrageous, with the UN decrying the loss of human rights, yet the true reason for the protests is being quietly covered up.

If you didn’t read my previous blog, then I will repeat myself, this is POLITICALLY motivated, and has absolutely nothing to do with tuition, the cost of higher education in Quebec being the lowest in Canada. Tens of thousands of students and citizens are being blinded by rhetoric.

So my question to you, my reader is this, what happened to the rights of the other 95% of students who wanted to complete their school year?
What about the business owners who have suffered huge financial losses due to this protest?
What about the loss of time and revenue of the tens of thousands of citizens (myself included) who have been inconvenienced by this, and are in fact totally against it?
What about OUR rights to safe streets, metro, without fear of being in the middle of a violent mob?
What about all the businesses and public property which has been damaged and defaced?
What about the tens of millions of TAXPAYER dollars being spent on policing and damage to public property?

Oh, I guess the 95% of the population who are trying to run companies, go to school, and live our lives peacefully don’t count. Our rights are being TRAMPLED by a group of radical selfish youth …

This was always and continues to be a purely political manoeuvre by the PQ and the unions to oust incumbent Jean Charest and his Liberal Party, and has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with tuition.

The problem is that the zealots are killing the city in which we all live by destroying the economy and our reputation internationally. They are driving tourists and business people out of the province, and once they have gone, they won’t come back, one only has to visit downtown Toronto to get a sense of just exactly what has been lost in Quebec. Toronto is absolutely thriving, with incredible new Hotel complexes, restaurants, theatres, and a booming financial market. Walk on Bloor, Queen West, the Theatre District, the Waterfront, and you will see endless new construction and tourists from all over the world.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to visit or invest in a zenophobic racist violent city, when Toronto is a few hundred miles away, with better weather, and the right to do business in the language of your choice. Go to the Indian part of town, Chinatown, Korea town, and see the multitude of signs in every language possible, customers all over the street with numerous shopping bags in their hands.

The Grand Prix, usually a major drawing card for wealthy tourists from around the world, was decimated this year due to the violence. Hotels, which normally are over-booked, had availability, the best restaurants had tables available, and shops on Sherbrooke Street were empty the Friday Night of Grand Prix weekend.

This is politically motivated, by both the unions and the PQ. Make no mistake. Listen to the interviews with the student leaders and the protestors, they are ranting about everything EXCEPT tuition.
The PQ is seeking new members and new future leaders, what better way than to create huge civil unrest and watch them?
The unions have taken a beating over the last few years, and the Liberals are speaking of cutting the bureaucracy, which is outrageously bloated, and needs to be cut by 30%, which, was Jean Charest’s platform for re-election…. Pauline Marois already lives in a castle, and wants to be ‘Queen of Quebec’ it should be obvious, but the rhetoric is so loud that no one can hear.

Do NOT be blinded by politics.

 

Consideration, Government, Impressions, Integrity

The Student Uprising!

Leave a comment

For far too many weeks, the City of Montreal and its inhabitants have been held hostage by a group of students who claim to be protesting an insignificant increase in the cost of tuition.

This will bring the costs to 1/3 of the tuition fees in Ontario, pennies on the dollar compared to International Students, and then, we won’t even begin to mention the cost of a University education in the United States.

The students have moved to violence, disrupted classes in numerous Cegeps and Universities, vandalized the business of innocent store owners, broken windows, burned cars, thrown molotov cocktails, rocks, bricks, and just about everything imaginable at the police while taunting them and calling them names. Now they have amended their propaganda to include corporate and government greed, and have blockaded companies such as the National Bank, Power Corporation, destroyed the windows of hundreds of business owners, including Apple, which, would be funny normally, as probably 90% of the students are walking around with iPhones, but I digress.

Last week I attended a conference at the Conference Center on St Antoine Street in Old Montreal, and lost a great amount of time trying to get through the students and police, only to be totally inconvenienced again as I parked several blocks away to be sure my car  was not vandalized, and had to walk to and from the Center from there, while paying outrageous parking costs for the privilege.

There are some interesting facts which must be discussed:

  1. The school drop-out rate for French males in Quebec is the highest in Canada
  2. It is primarily French Canadian students marching in this protest,  one does NOT see any immigrants in this protest whatsoever…..
  3. the large majority of students do NOT support these actions, and are extremely angry that they are losing their semester.
  4. most of the English students are quietly attending their classes  when their schools are not barricaded, and are trying to write their  exams, graduate and find great jobs.
  5. when one photographs the ‘students’ one sees an abundance of very  expensive designer clothes, shoes, purses, iPhones, coffees, etc.
  6. a large number of these ‘protesters’ are not students at all, and  are over 40 years old waving Quebec flags and chanting for separation.
  7. when I was in a restaurant last week, several of the leaders of  the protest were at the next table having a costly lunch with imported  beer. None of their meals cost less than $40.
  8. these supposedly ‘poor’  put upon students are out in bars and  restaurants on Friday and Saturday nights on rue St Denis, rue St  Laurent, drinking and eating posh meals.
  9. the increases are pennies a day
  10. the same people who are having their daily life interrupted and the  businesses who are being destroyed are the same people who would  potentially have offered jobs to these students. Who could possible  want to hire them now?

The reality is that the PQ government and the Unions are really behind  this movement, and the students are ignorant pawns being played in a  huge ugly political power play.

Two extremely wealthy PQ leaders were out marching and screaming for  the Liberal leader to resign. The two of them have a hidden agenda and
both live extremely lavish lifestyles at the expense of the Quebec populace. Chauffeur driven limousines, elegant massive homes decorated  with fine antiques, fine dining on expense accounts, huge Federal and  Provincial pension plans, extensive insurance coverage, and more…..

None of these arrogant lying individuals who are using the students to  play politics could care less for the futures of these students, the  financial costs to the city and to private citizens, or the incredible  damage to our reputation internationally. Our tourism accounts for a  large part of our budget and this summer is going to be disastrous.  Hotels and restaurants are already complaining of a 20% drop and are  expecting it to continue to plummet.

Yes, the same institutions who could have been hiring all these students in summer jobs!! gone.

There are ‘do not travel’ notices on international travel bulletin  boards which is giving Montreal an international ‘black eye’.

Lastly, in their arrogant disgraceful game, they have not told these  little political puppets they are manipulating that if they are  arrested and convicted, they will have a criminal record and their  futures are extremely limited.They will not be allowed to travel to the United States, they will not  be considered for many Government positions, they will not be hired in  Financial Institutions, as criminals are not hired.

Today, companies are increasingly insisting on in-depth and extremely  rigorous background checks, most of this to ascertain if the candidate
has a criminal record. They use agencies in the United States, and the  information is shared internationally.

A good friend had the following suggestion regarding the situation:

Mr Charest, you are being far too easy on the students and the  antagonists…….you should tell them to report to school by next  Monday. (choose the date) if you do not report, you will not be able  to register for next year, or your student fees will be $10,000 per  year, or you can not register in any Quebec school. The Government  will  NOT be threatened by terrorists.

The Friday Ottawa Sun had a matrix which compared Quebec and Ontario  school fees. It was interesting to note that Quebec student fees were  30% (approximately $2,200) of the Ontario student fees.

Further to that, a friend has been doing tax returns for many students  and noted that after all their deductions from the Quebec and Federal  Governments, they are actually only paying around $500 in tuition, and  many of them are living on loans or with their parents.

Time to stop the madness and wake up. This is a political play. The  students are puppets in a disgraceful protest.

Consideration, Impressions

Cocktail Party Etiquette

Leave a comment

Last night I attended a cocktail party or ‘vernissage’ at a downtown gallery.

The art was interesting, huge canvas’ with portraits – an interesting juxtaposition of old and new styles.

The crowd was extremely mixed from the very wealthy with their private cars and drivers at the door, the parvenues,trying to show everyone how ‘cool’ they are, and desperately fluttering around seeking the attention of the rich and famous. Lawyers, fashion designers, media types, business executives, a singer, and a fairly large contingent who couldn’t possibly afford even the smallest item for sale, who, I can’t possibly imagine how, were invited.

The food, which I must say, was excellent, wine was flowing freely, and the crowd so dense that the party finally spilled into the street as the gallery couldn’t hold them all.

A couple of wags were overheard between mouthfuls of food which they were absolutely shovelling into their mouths, that they adored coming to parties such as this one as the food was excellent, an  overabundance of wine, and their supper was well provided. They served themselves to several platefuls of food, and endless glasses of wine, one was staggering and showed no signs of slowing.

By the time I left, the group of them must have each consumed at least 4 glasses of wine, 3 platefuls of food, and were going back for more.

So, what is the correct etiquette at this sort of function?    I was brought up not to be pushy and aggressive when it came to free food, that to savagely attack food at a party is the sign of extremely bad manners.  I had one plate of food, nothing whatsoever to drink, not even water.

The question is,  inasmuch as it is being offered, should you feel free to eat and drink as long as the food continues to be served, with the absolute knowledge that you have no intention whatsoever, or even worse, no means to make a purchase in an art gallery??

Personally I find their behaviour quite appalling and would be embarrassed at exhibiting such behaviour……thoughts???!!!

Business, Consideration, Integrity

Busy in Meetings

Leave a comment

…….And still more on the subject…….

Have you noticed that some people are perpetually in meetings and always are heard to exclaim loudly (heavy sigh!!) how over-worked they are, and how they have to bring work home at night?

Have you ever asked the question as to ‘why they are in the meetings in the first place???’ !!?

Daily in large corporations, emails go out en masse to everyone even remotely involved in projects. Many insecure individuals take this as an invitation to attend, even though they will not participate or contribute to the success of the meeting, and inevitably scurry off to yet another meeting, increasingly stressed out as the day progresses, and the work is piling ever higher on their desks. By the end of the day they escape to the sanctity of their homes, exhausted, exasperated and having accomplished absolutely nothing during their business day.

What needs to happen, is that Managers take control of their meetings along with the attendance, and question the validity and presence of most of the individuals. More ‘stand-up’ five minutes with fewer attendees, and a shortened agenda, as well as an official ‘note-taker’ of action plans, and the mandate to actually follow-up the status.

There is the unfortunate impression among many people that being invited to never-ending meetings is an indication of their importance. This is a colossal waste of time and resources. Canada is considered as a country which is in-efficient compared to many others, our productivity is fairly low. Cutting meetings to focus on delivery of work is certainly one way.

Once attendees realize that someone is mandated with following up on attendees and deliverables people will stop attending endless meetings, and there will be an improvement in the efficacy in corporations.

Business, Consideration, Integrity

Hiding Behind the Secretary

Leave a comment

If you have a sense that there is a continuing theme in my recent articles, you are absolutely correct.

I speak with endless people in a day, from all walks of life, and interestingly, from a vast cross section of industries.

The common theme which runs through many conversations these days is the total lack of civility and respect for other people, and the endless game playing as people strive to give the impression of being more important than they really are.

There is a very thin veneer of politeness on the surface, but with only a small scratch of the surface one unearths a very shallow shell.

We hear people constantly complaining about how busy they are, how tired they are, how over-worked they are, yet these are the same people who take their holidays, their lunch hours, which usually run well over an hour, and are inevitably out the door by 5pm, and unreachable.

So the question is, what is it that they are in fact doing all day long???

Middle Managers are hiding behind secretaries who screen their mail and their calls, and who rarely  are polite about it. Callers are interrogated as to who they are and the reason for the call, and whether or not Mister Self Importance knows them or not, in such a condescending fashion as to ensure the caller never calls again.

There are some statistics being quoted these days that it takes 7, yes 7 calls before someone calls you back.

The perceived prestige of the Manager, at least in his mind, is that he is a Senior Executive, Master of the Universe, and that his precious time is not to be wasted by anyone inferior to him.

This incredibly arrogant game playing is just that. If one looks at some of the most successful entrepreneurs, the joke is, of course, that almost of them answer their own phone. I know numerous individuals who are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, some of whom were millionaires by the time they were 18 years old.  Do you actually think they would allow a secretary to screen their calls and ascertain who was important enough to speak with them? They would be horrified at the mere suggestion, one lost call could represent a business deal which would represent millions of dollars. How on earth is a secretary capable of judging the importance of the call??

Do you really think people like Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and others would allow this type of behaviour? Certainly not.

The most striking thing I have learned is that the more successful the man, usually the more accessible.

Steve Jobs of Apple always had an email address at Apple where he could be reached. Ideas for new products always appreciated. How else to drive the development of new innovative technology than to listen to the ideas of your clientele. ………Steve@Apple.Com

He was one of the most creative innovative men in the world, he took simple products and made them so simple that no instructions were required. They were totally instinctive…

When I acquired my new iPhone, using it was obvious, easy and a joy. The applications available in the hundreds of thousands speak for the incredible success of the product.

Yet, daily we are confronted by middle managers, who are employees and not the creators of companies who have such delusions of grandeur that for some obscure reason, they lock themselves away from the world, trying to give the illusion they are the Masters of Industry, all the while they are in fact isolating themselves from reality, and proving to some of us how totally inconsequential they truly are.

Consideration, Impressions, Quality

Food Allergies

Leave a comment

This blog is not directly related to day to day business, however it is being posted as a reminder to people that food allergies go way beyond peanuts and other nuts. It has become increasingly clear that a lot of people are not aware of a couple of other allergies which are equally dangerous, being shellfish such as lobster and shrimp, and blue cheese.

Unfortunately a lot of people add blue cheese to hamburgers, cole slaw, cheese plates, salads and even chocolates. As it is not easily visible, and mixes easily it is extremely dangerous.

If you are among lucky people who have no food allergies, I can only say I am extremely jealous, as food allergies are tiresome, irksome, and generally a total nuisance, however, they can also be the difference between life and death.

Shellfish luckily tend to be more obvious, as due to their bright colour they are harder to disguise, and most people will proudly announce a seafood plate.

I was recently reminded of an incident which occurred at a party over 10 years ago where one guest brought a salad with blue cheese dressing and didn’t bother to tell anyone. It was placed on a serving table with no explanation, and we were invited to help ourselves. I made the mistake of taking some, as one would presume that salad was a healthy option, not this day. I took one bite and my mouth lit up …..it is hard to describe, the best way is to say very unpleasant tingling…..luckily I was near a sink and I quickly spit it out and rinsed my mouth, then I gargled. To say I wasn’t elegant is an understatement. From there I quickly took an antihistamine and hoped that I had been lucky enough to get it all out of my mouth. I announced to the room loudly that Blue Cheese could be fatal to me, so that in the event I passed out  and they called the paramedics, it would be clear of the problem, and could be properly ventilated. I was extremely lucky.

It would appear that I offended someone at the party, and as the expression goes, couldn’t give a rat’s aXXX about their feelings. As they put my life and the lives of others at risk through total ignorance. So to all you readers,  this is a reminder to be extremely careful about planning group meals. Inquire about nuts, peanuts, shellfish and blue cheese. Anyone allergic to mould or Penicillin is violently allergic to blue cheese. If it touches the back of their throat they will choke to death within a few short minutes.

Hallowe’en will be here in a matter of days. Leave out the Peanut butter cups, leave out the candy bars covered in peanuts, and save a life. Children are very careless, and don’t tell the truth when it comes to candy.   Some people I know actually had a child die at their party because one child snuck  peanut butter and chocolate candy In their backpack and then shared it when the parents weren’t around. The child was dead before the paramedics arrived.

Somehow I think having one person’s feelings hurt is preferable to a dead dinner guest or a dead child.

Your thoughts?!!

Business, Impressions, Reading

How to read the newspaper

Leave a comment

As with many things, my comments and observations have been twisted beyond recognition, so for those who have heard a mis-interpretation of my actual words, I am publishing this article on my blog for all the world to see. There are a couple of people out there who will certainly recognize themselves out there, and a few who will certainly remember a couple of lively evenings ! Unfortunately vocabulary and personal attitudes can easily blind one from the ability to open one’s mind and enjoy the musings of others.

Arrogance comes in all shapes and sizes.

As of today’s date, we have been in a global financial recession for the last 4 years. Every day you open the newspaper and are virtually attacked by a variety of headlines, some researched, but many unfortunately, paid for. As newspapers are a business, they tend to conveniently omit to mention that many of the ‘articles’ or ‘headlines’ are in fact paid articles.   Disturbingly, many publishers don’t realize that they are contradicting themselves sometimes within the same section on the same day of the same newspaper.

“ABC Company’ closes an important deal in Illinois for $386 million, creating 1000 new jobs. Sounds absolutely wonderful doesn’t it??    However, several pages later in a thumbprint size notice, is a mention that the same company is laying off 1500 people. WHAT?  The reality is that for every ‘new job’ they create, they receive 37.5% of the first year’s salary from the Quebec Government, for ‘job creation’ . Net gain, minus 500 jobs. Appearance in the press, awesome. …. And as with many things, first appearances tend to sway those who aren’t really listening or paying attention, but are naïve enough to believe everything they either read or are told.

“XYZ Bank” just declares a loss of $650 million…..sounds horrible…….but buried on page 4 is a summary of their most recent acquisitions and write-downs. In fact, if one was to put the two articles together it was actually brilliant business……but unfortunately making a headline was more important for the junior reporter than doing his homework.

“Office space being hammered by the recession’ …yet once again, a few pages later, we read that premium office space is fully leased……so are we describing prime space, B space,  what exactly?   Hard to know…as the two  articles are totally contradictory.

I am not pinpointing any city, any newspaper in this commentary, as I happen to regularly purchase newspapers from London, New York, Toronto and Montreal not to mention no end of business and fashion magazines from around the world.  My observations are extremely broad, and what essentially I am saying, is that before you quote a fact gleaned from a newspaper, reference the source and the facts. Things are not always as they appear.

Business, Government, Impressions

Open letter to L’office de la Langue Francais and our blind Quebec Politicians

Leave a comment

Have any of you been to Ottawa or Toronto over the last few years?

Did you drive or simply fly on a government jet, be picked up in a limousine subsidized by the Quebec taxpayer, and taken directly to your destination?

Did you actually look out the window?

Did you SEE what is happening?

Did you actually pay attention, or was it just so much noise?

Did you see the skyline in Toronto?

Did you walk on the streets?

Did you hear the multitude of languages being spoken?

Did you see the International Big-Name designer shops lined up along Bloor Street, all full with paying clients, or notice that they are moving into larger and larger premises to accommodate the booming local market?

In looking out the windows from my corner unit on the 34th floor at the corner of Bay and Bloor, my view is increasingly blocked by the sea of mind-numbingly expensive condos being built on every street. Many start at the staggering amount of $6 million, and go up exponentially the higher the floor, and the larger the unit. There isn’t one, but a multitude of them, and more being started as far as you can see, and I can see for miles and miles in several directions, as I look out over the north and western parts of the city.
The city is awash with massive construction cranes, some areas such as the Harbourfront are wall to wall construction cranes and massive new towers.

Walking on the street in Montreal one hears what has to be some of the most appallingly spoken French in the world, yet we continue to pass restrictive laws to protect it, all the while, business is following the path of least resistance, and is heading to Toronto in droves, where it flourishes in a multitude of languages, without the constant cost and aggravation imposed by the ludicrous and restrictive language laws in Quebec. Why on earth should a Chinese company employing Chinese speaking people be legislated to do business in French because they employ over 50 people? Well, not in Toronto, they are open for business, and language is NOT an issue.

I am in Toronto monthly, and due to the nature of my business, find myself constantly in a new area of the city. Every time I am amazed at the exponential growth and wealth in the city. Coming back to Montreal all one sees is decaying bridges and roads.

The shops on Bloor are so populated at times, that they actually run out of stock of the ‘hot’ items, yet these same shops no longer have a presence at all in Montreal which speaks volumes as to the disappearance of wealth from the province.
Montreal used to be the Banking centre of Canada, and now all the head-offices have relocated to Toronto, not having to worry about protectionism, and free to do business. Instead of French, one goes to an ATM and sees Cantonese, Mandarin and a variety of other languages, to serve their clients, depending on the area of the city. It can just as easily be Portuguese as anything…

Tourists and residents in Quebec are treated poorly by surly public servants and obnoxious shop clerks who want to assert their right to speak French, yet don’t think that the person in front of them could be a wealthy tourist, or even better, a wealthy individual looking at the city with an eye of moving and investing in it, opening a business, creating jobs. This short-sighted behaviour has them all scurrying down the 401 to more pleasant climes, and cities that are ‘open for business’ regardless of the language. As the old adage goes, money talks and money walks, and it hasn’t just walked but run away from this province.

When is someone going to wake up and make Quebec a pleasant, happy, multilingual place to live and do business, where we encourage new business and innovation, without outrageous and outmoded language legislation?
Why can’t we follow the EU model, and have a population speaking 4 languages…..or even more….multilingualism certainly hasn’t harmed the hundred million or more people in the European Community….

Uncategorized

The Travesty of Conrad Black’s Incarceration

Leave a comment

Conrad Black is a pompous puffed-up man who speaks in a supercillious manner using no end of words which are virtually incomprehensible to the average person. If one is well educated and listens attentively, he can actually be extremely funny in a rather dark sort of a way.

I have encountered the man on a few occasions at events in Montreal, Toronto and London, he is not the warmest of individuals, but one cannot take away the fact that he is extremely well read, and not in the least stupid.

We are living in interesting times, so far in the 21st century, we have experienced 2 recessions, this current one being of a magnitude that no one could have possibly imagined. To even conceive that we would have bank failures in the billions of dollars, and a mortgage crisis in the United States in the trillions of dollars, is beyond the imagination of most people . Not that many years ago, the concept of being a millionaire was beyond the dreams of the majority of the population. Today we hears of millions of millionaires, and now the new yardstick is being a billionaire.

We now read the newspapers with headlines screaming out about crisis in the billions and trillions of dollars. What on earth happened? Yet this week, another trader was arrested in London for losing 2 billion dollars, and potentially bringing down a financial powerhouse. Was no one watching? How is this possible? What happened to monitoring? Are there no guidelines? Any poor soul going to the bank today for a loan or to open a simple bank account is treated like the worse thief, and is required to provide endless proof of identification, and proof of the source of funds. Yet simultaneously in the financial sector, a trader under 30 can be manipulating the market, trading other people’s money and bringing down a huge financial corporation and potentially losing the funds of thousands of investors. Executives at the failing banks and investment firms have lost billions of dollars of the investor’s money, living large on massive expense accounts, flying on private jets, staying in majestic suites for thousands of dollars in only the best hotels, eating the finest food, and drinking only the finest wines, sometimes for thousands of dollars per bottle, then paying themselves massive bonuses. Yet to date, with the failures and subsequent bail-outs of some of these institutions, NOT ONE CENT has been recovered by the Board of Director’s to be returned to the corporate capital fund for the behalf of the investors.

The executives have walked with hundreds of millions and billions of both the investors and taxpayers money. The argument can be made that they weren’t brought up on charges, or indicted, so they are guiltless. But where is the morality in all of this?

Conrad Black built up Hollinger to a world class international company, along the way he created a lot of jobs, paid a lot of tax, and created wealth for his investors, which has for the most part been destroyed over the last 7 years. The magnitude of his sins are infinitesimally small compared to the executives plundering the banks and investment firms which they neither created or really invested in. So what real value did they bring?

Conrad Black is back in prison, much poorer, and slightly more humble. He will never be a poor man, or for that matter a humble one, but he certainly does not deserve what has been served to him.

Is there actually anyone out there paying attention?

Consideration, Integrity, Relationships, Socialites

Mean Girls

Leave a comment

Recently there seems to be a preponderance of articles in various magazines describing school yard bullies and the devastating effects they can have on the recipients of their mis-deeds, with an increase of teen suicide. It has escalated to such an extent that it is finally being documented, schools are finally becoming more aware and taking steps to limit it, and recognize the extreme damage that can be inflicted by these bullies.

What is not, however, being spoken about, is that these girls continue on in life to adults, and continue to be bullies, which is why we also hear of a level of competitiveness beyond compare. These women aspire to be the most popular, most pretty, and are absolutely vicious social climbers who will stop at nothing to attain the position of  ‘top dog’ within their group. The big question in my mind, is that once they have clawed and scratched their way through life to attain whatever perceived social position they are grappling for, then what???!

In life, there is always someone more popular, prettier, smarter, with a better husband,  better husband, better homes, better clothes, better trips, more popular children, more money,   more and better everything.  In fact, there is nothing that will ever make them happy, because they are always trying to attain the next level…..of what, it is  frankly not all that  clear.

They snipe at people for sport, criticize people they barely know, and are cruel for sport, insults to them are second nature. Sometimes they can appear to mask their insecurities as humour and can be wildly entertaining – stories of their lives and exploits described in a such a manner that they can keep a group of people spell bound as they describe their latest trip or event.

Kindness is a tool only bestowed upon those who appear to have something to offer.

Everything in their existence has to be bigger, better,  more special. They have to be ‘seen’ at only the best restaurants, and they insist on having the ‘best’ tables, they have to go to the best social events where they can rub shoulders with only the ‘best’ of society, only the best hairdressers and manicurists will do, for them the idea of going to a cheap corner store is not even contemplated.

Their groceries can only come from the ‘best’ shops, clothes , shoes, bags, hair styles and colours, jewellery   are carefully researched to ensure that they only have the best names and are on top of the newest trend.  Not for them being ‘seen’ in anything or anywhere which they perceive could damage their social image.

Why do they inflict such cruelty on their victims? It is a sense of empowerment, which only they think gives them the ultimate power over others, and elevates them to being Queen’s. The damage they inflict however can have dangerous results to their victims, from anorexia, cutting, suicide, depression, weight gain and a multitude of other dysfunctions. The victims are not always in a position to be able to withdraw from or ignore the bullying, or are simply not emotionally strong enough to recognize it.

It is only when these ‘mean girls’ are called what they really are by their peers that this problem can be rectified. Cruelness is never justified.