Advice: If you want something, you oughta ask.

This was a piece of advice administered by a woman I worked with many moons ago. She said, “You don’t ask, you don’t get.” It’s basically an extension of “They can’t read your mind.” If you want a raise, a break, advice, some help, a shoulder to cry on, a bigger scoop, etc., you have to make that known. Otherwise, people won’t know, and you can’t fault them for not giving it to you if they don’t know you want it. Passed on from woman to woman, she gave me permission to speak my mind and ask for what I needed. So I did. And boy howdy has it paid off.

– Julie

I really like this one, not only for its very fine use of “boy howdy,” but because it has so many applications. Work, home, shopping, Starbucks… you name it. I know that I, for one, will seethe quietly, assuming that they *must* know, how could they *not* know, and if they don’t know (which they should), why should I have to tell them, anyway? The only person who suffers in that situation is me. And I do hate to suffer alone. Ask around.