Karen Friedman

When you do something stupid, you know you’re doing it as you’re doing it. This was the case with me, as I was watching a nationally televised town hall meeting featuring the two presidential candidates. I make it a practice not to publicly voice my political opinions, as our client base is diversified and my personal preferences have nothing to do with our ability to work together.

On this particular night, for whatever reason, my stupid gene got the better of me. Annoyed at the interviewer’s line of questioning, I tweeted a criticism of the interviewer to my followers. Seconds later, a client privately replied: “I saw your tweet. Which political candidate did you think was being treated unfairly?” I made the mistake of answering.

[Read more…] about When business gets personal

I was driving on a busy two lane road when traffic screeched to a halt. The upcoming traffic light was green and there was no construction or obvious reason for the slow down. Horns started honking; drivers began inching closer to the cars in front of them and one impatient motorist gunned the gas, swerving onto the sidewalk to try to bypass the gridlock.

That’s when I saw her. An older woman was up ahead, sitting on the curb, blood streaming down her face. Several people had abandoned their cars to help. Others were on cellphones, apparently calling for aid.

I don’t know what happened and I never will. By the time I was close enough to get out of my car, someone was in the street directing traffic to keep moving. What I saw however, is a teachable moment in this election season of a very different type of gridlock that threatens our society. Slander and name calling is the new norm. Dialogue and debate have been replaced with hatred and anger, much of it directed at people we don’t even know.

Yet, here on this road in a Philadelphia suburb, a random act of kindness from total strangers should subtly remind us that despite our differences, we’re more alike than we often realize. No one who stopped knew anything about the woman’s political affiliation, religion or viewpoints. Yet, they helped her anyway.

[Read more…] about Random acts of kindness across party lines