We live an hour away from a mall that’s “bigger than our entire city,” according to our daughter. Spending the day among it’s chic shops and sweet-smelling restaurants is the highlight of her back-to-school shopping spree. She chose not one, but two pairs of itty-bitty super-skinny jeans then eagerly accompanied me to the grown-up home furnishing stores.

There was no way I was going to make it. My flight landed at 8:24 am. The conference started at 9:00 am—but Mapquest said it was 29 minutes, 20.2 miles away. Dozens of passengers departed before me and we made our way to baggage claim. I used the restroom and returned to the carousel to find my hot pink suitcase sitting all by its lonesome by the belt… no other bags in sight. The bag and I headed to the curb to hail a cab, where cab driver Damona Szada whisked me off to the hotel with a minute to spare: we arrived at 8:59.

Don’t even think about it. Under no circumstances, ever, should you even dare to ask if the Beverage Bar is included at this buffet. In case you didn’t get the message, they’ve told you once, twice, EIGHT times on signs posted in the parking lot that boldly and badly proclaim, “Beverage Bar Not Included.”

“Washing off the fellowship” was one pastor’s expression for a thorough hand washing after a friendly Sunday morning. One church was even asked by their local health department to stop the meet-and-greet portion of their service—“Shake hands and say hello to someone sitting around you!”—during the recent swine flu epidemic.

I checked the map then hobbled to the first aid station at the amusement park in search of a Band-Aid for my blistered feet. Their path took me past an ice cream shop, souvenir store, caricature portrait gallery and a restaurant. On my way back I found that a shortcut would have saved my soles and possibly my pocketbook.

Do you have someone in your life who pushes you higher than you could go on your own, a power source who makes you work harder, do better and enjoy life more fully? Have you acknowledged that person and told them how their influence has helped you? Are you a refreshing breeze in someone’s life, or do you carve the landscape like an eroding storm?

We’re in the middle of a whole lot of new around our office, and I’m struggling to keep up. It’s all good, don’t get me wrong, but “new” can be stressful, too. In fact, many of the Top 10 most stressful events in life all revolve around something new: being newly single, newly married or newly bereaved; starting a new job; having new children; moving to a new house. Toss in a new economy and a new generation coming of age, and you’ve got one stressed out country.

I struggle with generosity. I’m all about fairness, using an even hand to give each one their due. It’s much harder for me to give (or forgive) when doing so would tip the scales in someone else’s favor, when it will cost me more than I will gain. I tally dollars and cents, hours and minutes, costs and benefits. If I’m on the short side, I squawk!

Is there a job title for “Fitting Room Designer”? Does someone actually put one ounce of forethought into this inconspicuous closet, often confused with the adjacent stockroom? Flickering overhead fluorescents highlight every flaw as you bang your elbows on its flimsy walls while trying to shimmy into clothes that probably don’t fit anyway. But this maligned room, an afterthought on most retail floors, is where Ms. Jones makes her purchase decision.