Microsoft Office 2010 Professional blog paying-it-

I;m back again!



As Zoë mentioned yesterday, we did not intend to be away from blogging for such a long time. Some days are easier than others, and I just have to say the last two weeks have probably been the toughest we have faced in our professional careers to date.



But it;s been a “good” tough in many ways. We;ve been spending a lot of time exploring a new recruiting strategy we;re devising: interviewing other Microsoft employees, pulling old data and metrics … and even more time writing, editing, crying (well, that one was probably just me), and writing some more. It;s been a fantastic growth experience for us, no matter the outcome.



We plan to blog a bit about our strategy in the next few days. It;s nothing revolutionary, but we do feel it;s ahead of its time in the corporate recruiting world … especially in finding and attracting the best technical talent. Now to just get someone else to believe that!



But on to the point of my post …



Thursday night, I joined a friend at her townhouse for pizza and finale of Friends. Not only had I had a tough week at work, but my social calendar had been pretty packed in the evenings (and trust me – that;s rare for me.) So, it was Thursday night at 10:00 pm, and I was dead tired. All I cared about was getting home and going straight to sleep.



While singing along with the local country station (yes, I;m from Tennessee … and I do listen to country), I drove home along 405, and suddenly, my back right tire blew. Luckily, I was near an exit so I got off the freeway and pulled over near a bus stop at the base of the exit.



Josh blogged about this a couple months ago, but he and I don;t have cell phones. I had a cell phone all through high school (they were bigger and stationary back then, but still) and college, and when we moved out to Washington, we got a nice plan for the two of us. About six months into our contract, we realized Sprint had pulled a bait and switch on us (can;t remember the details now … but I do remember we were really, really mad.) In fact, we were so mad that we decided to break our contracts with Sprint. Customer service played their little game and attempted to convince us to stay, but we were done with them. And we paid a nice $200 contract cancellation fee to go along with it. :(



Ever the frugal two, Josh and I decided we had to punish ourselves for wasting money. We figured out that $200 equaled about what we;d pay in cell phone bills for four months so we would do without cell phones until that time and only then would we sign up for new plans with a new company.



You know, four months passed, and we realized we didn;t need cell phones. We had always relied on cells, but living without them was do-able … even kind of liberating.



This all leads back to my story. I;m sitting on the side of the road; I have no cell phone; and the closest gas station is about a mile away. I put my flashers on and got out off the car. I figured the best plan of attack was to get someone to stop and let me use their cell phone so I could call Josh. (No, I didn;t know how to change a tire, but Josh has since taught me.)



But no one wanted to stop. After a couple minutes, a really nice woman pulled in behind me, and asked if I needed help. I asked to use her cell phone, which she quickly handed over,Microsoft Office 2010 Professional, and I called Josh. We live about 15 minutes away from where I broke down. The stranger asked if I;d like her to stay with me until Josh arrived. I, of course, said no. I tend to always refuse offers of kindness, for some odd reason. She insisted, but I thought I;d be ok (and I was). I was near a bus stop, and since she could see I was a little nervous and shaken, she instructed me to sit under the pavilion so I;d be in the light. Then she reached in her car and returned with a magazine. She said if I didn;t want her company then at least I could take her magazine. It would give me something to do while I waited.



As I finish this story, I realize how uneventful this experience really was. But I guess my point is that the simple kindness of a stranger (letting me use her cell phone and giving me a magazine) made a huge impact on me. If she hadn;t stopped, I;m sure someone else would have, but she was just so kind and calming … and I was really impressed by her generosity.



So this weekend, I;m going to pay it forward to someone else. Not sure what I;ll do, but I;ll think of something.



As long as the person doesn;t ask to borrow a cell phone …



gretchen