What about John McCain?

I am going to divert a little from my normal blogging and write about the Sarah Palin phenomenon and what I, as a professional woman, think about it.

There is no question in my mind that Sarah Palin is not qualified to be the Vice President of the United States. Yet the trouncing she is taking is unprecedented. Questions are being raised as to why she would even think about saying yes...well, duh, how many people say "yes" to roles for which they are woefully inadequate? More than we care to think about.

Yet it is Sarah Palin who is getting the flack...not John McCain. Quite honestly I find that Sarah Palin, in accepting the opportunity did what most men, or women, would do...and she is being challenged because she didn't second guess herself? Oh come on...

It is John McCain's judgment and his readiness for the office of President of the United States which should be questioned. How can a man who would be President, be so out of touch with women to believe that women would just vote for Palin, because they share a chromosome with her. Because we are too stupid to actually consider the experience, stance on issues etc. of a potential candidate? Once again...oh come on....

So instead of crucifying Sarah Palin...let's go after the real culprit ... John McCain....he shouldn't ever be considered for the presidency, if his judgement to pick a VP candidate is found lacking....

Of course then, this doesn't mean he won't win....after all America did vote in George W. Bush.....twice.

Crisis Management and Maple Leaf Foods

By now everyone should have heard about the Listeriosis epidemic across Canada. This occurred because of this bacterium being present in one of Maple Leaf's processing plants. There are a number of things which are amazing from this entire episode, which are worthy of mention.

Firstly, our vulnerability in the food supply chain is obvious through this episode. How many brands does Maple Leaf process? And how are we, the customers, foolish enough to believe that when we buy different brands, we are actually getting different product. That is how I was fooled into believing that cold cuts that I was eating were in fact not involved in the recall. Quelle surprise when I discovered that Bittner's was on the recall list and yes I had ingested quite a lot (note: I did get very sick, however the tests for Listeriosis were inconclusive).

When I realized that I had potentially eaten contaminated meat, I called Maple Leaf (this was when I was starting to feel ill). Their first line of response was great...phone call answered in two rings...however these folk were useless...as in they were just a clearing house....They then transferred me to the "product specialists", where I was on hold for 15 minutes. I hung up, called back and was told this never should have happened...there was obviously a problem with the line...and my information was taken and I was told I was going to get a call back.

After an hour, as my fever started increasing and I was getting sicker and sicker, I called back again. I was told that since it was Sunday, I shouldn't expect a call back....but probably Monday or the latest on Tuesday. Tuesday was actually when I was in the hospital...yes, that's how sick I was....but alas no call. Finally, ten days after my initial call, I did receive a call back...how pathetic is that....

Now I know that they were inundated with calls, however when you have the CEO, Michael McCain coming out and saying we are doing everything we can...then from a potential "victim" perspective...this was not the case. I believe that McCain is sincere, but he should check out how the situation is being handled at the lower levels...the execution of his intent is poor.

Finally, I do have a comment about these "class action lawsuits". These leeches...people out there saying "oh well, I wasn't feeling quite well, and it was probably due to this"...come on....These people are opportunists, as are the lawyers who are saying that they are doing it for the greater good....when they are only proceeding with the law suit to line their pockets. I believe that those who have loved ones die and who can prove loss due to listeriosis, have a right to consider claims...but not these others, who are just looking for the quick buck.

Lots of lessons learned through this....and Maple Leaf should truly do a post mortem on the handling of this crisis, once it is over....and this is not just from the public relations campaign...it is from how people were virtually ignored by their call center.