JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Microphone and Vocalist Forum Southern California Voice Teacher -- Hello!

Just want to wave at everyone and introduce myself.

I am a no nonsense voice teacher in Newport Beach, CA. I provide sensible training for the student who is interested in becoming a complete musician. I am a member of NATS, AGMA, MTAC, SCVA and several other organizations. Education and classical voice training are my raisons d'etre.

I am very happy to see these boards geared toward the creative community.

Patricia,

You should attend either the Orange County or Los Angeles Chapter meetings and meet some local members face to face. Each has events usually once a month locally.

Brian

Brian,

Thank you for the information. Just a few days ago I noticed information about a showcase or get together or ... at the Gypsy Den. Maybe somebody knows what the demographics of the get together there are(?) The 2 or 3 times I wandered through the little anti-mall, I felt very old, conservative and out of place. Or, more correctly, I felt like I had passed through that phase of my life a few decades back. I like my current old, conservative state. "Oh, those crazy kids!" <g> Perhaps the demographics change with various events/activities.

You know what we need in So Cal -- badly... a nice, old-fashioned Russian tea room. Little white gloves, demitasse, lady fingers, polite conversation, string music. We need a wonderful oasis from grunge, punk, politics, bad drivers, inconsiderate everybody... a place where gentlemen waiters in waistcoats who appear to be almost invisible but who attend to one's every need whisk tea and tasty pastries on and off of the table, brushing away the crumbs before we even know we've left them.

Did I wander from the point??? My sensibilities need a vacation.

Hey, we need one of those in Missouri, too. I'm tired of wait staff interrupting my conversations to ask me if I need anything. They should just check my plate for the knife-in-fork signal and quietly slip my plate away, or fill my cup when it gets low. Why all the silly questions?

Actually, I like my jeans and tennies, but the good music and good service sound great!

--Jean

I agree. The short list of rudenesses, by way of human social inadequacies, this week...

1) The salesman at the store where I bought a large ticket item left a message, "You bought a [list of large item and a few accessories I purchased] from us. ==> We're supposed to call <== 20 days after your purchase to see if everything is OK and to thank you for your purchase." Gee. I hope nobody was twisting his arm too hard to get him to call and thank me. I know it isn't his store. But... where's the pride in your work? Where's "genuinely" wanting to check in with your customer to see how things are going? It was so fake. Blech. And what happens if they phone me in, say, 15 days, or 32 days?

2) While I waited patiently in line for the next window person to call me to a window, some kid waltzes through the front door of the business and up to a window right in front of me. AND, instead of telling this kid, "Excuse me. This lady was here before you." the clerk just ignores the whole thing and says to the kid, "Hey, dude. How are you doing?"

3) My healthcare provider confirms my appointment via an automated appointment calling device. It's horrible enough to be called by a number. But, it's worse to have to respond to some automated "thing" that interrupts my life to remind me of an appointment with my doctor (who I would rather not need to see in the first place).

Everything and everybody is so fake. People gush and go overboard and we know they don't care a whit about us. I just cringe when a salesclerk minces up to me with a big fake smile. That must hurt the face after a time -- fighting the natural scowl and growl muscles so. But I also can't deal with salespeople ignoring me because they are grumpy about something in their lives, jobs, etc.

And there are the salespeople who have no idea (or pretend to have no idea) about their stock, policies, store hours... blah, blah. I was in an office supply store a few weeks back. I overheard a customer asking a clerk for an item. The clerk couldn't be bothered and said, "we don't have any." It made me so mad. I told the customer where he could find what he needed. The clerk didn't even seem phased. If it had been me in the clerk's position, I would have apologized profusely for not knowing/remembering where the item was located and I would have jumped up to take the customer to its location. AND I would have been mighty embarrassed.

You're right, Jean. Just fill my cup, Mr. or Ms. waitperson. Did I invite you to participate in my dinner? Not that I discount the personhood or personality of the waitperson. But I am not there to share.

Those good old rules of decorum and courtesy used to help people learn to be civilized, and to treat each other kindly. Those rules used to train our hearts to match our actions, so that the actions would become as natural as the new gentility (not the fake kind) in our hearts. I'm fairly certain we can't go back there from where we are now. But how much worse can it get? We are an unruly world of people who observe few rules. Selfishness and self-centeredness are the buzzwords to live by, it would seem.

Yeah! I'm glad I got that off my chest!

....oh, wait, that was YOU talking!

Same list of pet peeves I have.

My main challenge a lot of times is not to get mad about it. THAT takes practice! And on occasion to stay mad but talk to the right person while I'm still mad. I can get amazing results when I'm angry--it's the only way I can counteract my usual too-soft personality. Of course, the surest and quickest way to get me into "assertive" mode (otherwise known as "possibly dangerous") is to threaten one of my kids. All niceness goes out the window then!

It is too bad that good table-waiting, which really is almost an art, has gone out of fashion, and nobody seems to notice. I was in a restaurant a couple of years ago where the waiter unobtrusively brought things and took things away, and was right at my elbow the minute I needed to ask for something...it was a pleasure to eat there! No live music, but the piped-in music was soft and relaxing, and the waiter spoke quietly, as if my husband and I were the only people who needed to hear him, which is true! It was a wonderful evening! Maybe it'll spread!!

It was fun reading your list. Nothing like a good gripe session! --Jean