On Saturday night, I had the chance to go to the movies to see “Inception” courtesy of Johnny Harrison at Lexus of Glendale. Johnny was kind enough to give movie passes to the executive board of Prom Plus to say thanks for all our hard work. What a guy – thank you, Johnny!
The movie is about influencing people through dream manipulation. It’s an action-packed film lasting over two hours that flew by. I haven’t met a person yet who hasn’t enjoyed the film.
Among the many things it had me thinking about was the sphere of influence that we exercise or are receptive to. Being a new grandma, I see that things around her influence even my 4-month-old granddaughter. For example we can get her to smile by making funny noises. Even as adults being cognizant of those trying to get our attention, we still fall prey to being swayed by outside influences.
I had an interesting conversation with one of my salespeople about work ethics and how or if they are influenced. Kim is a go-getter, someone who is driven to make a positive impact on those that she meets and provides information to regarding the CV Weekly. Kim and I pondered the concept of a person’s work ethic – is it something that a person is born with that can be fostered or squashed, depending on how that person is influenced? Or is it a trait that can be taught?
As most of you know, this paper is a privately owned entity – there’s no “sugar daddy” or corporate bigwig backing us and consequently everyone who works here has a pretty strong work ethic. We’re all pulling for the same thing: the success of the paper in getting information out to our community about the things that are important to our residents and businesses.
And while debate may continue if and how newspapers influence their readers,
I’m grateful for the group of people that I work with who are more interested in exercising a strong work ethic that benefits
everyone.
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On Tuesday night I was part of the National Night Out campaign. According to its website, NNO is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;
generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs; strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.
Locally, the event is more of an opportunity for safety personnel and community members to raise awareness of various organizations and activities. For example, I was dressed in my CVHS Prom Plus T-shirt, stationed at a booth in the Ralphs Market parking lot with other adult and teenage members of Prom Plus. We were there to let people know about this popular post-prom party held at the Crescenta-Cañada YMCA after the CVHS prom, garnering support for the organization and participation by parents and teenagers. Other booths included the CV Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition, the CV Town Council, CERT and Montrose Search and Rescue among others.
A nice crowd showed up between 6 and 8 p.m., strolling down the aisle, checking out the information at each booth, picking up a popsicle along the way. I met several interesting people including a couple who were delighted to see copies of the CV Weekly available. After they learned that we stopped distributing to every household in April and only guaranteed delivery to subscribers, they promised to send a check in right away. Thanks!
The event at Ralphs was just one of many held in the foothill community. Mary O’Keefe was at several others. Beginning on the front page, you can read about her adventures at some of the other stops.