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47 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday October 13, 2000 To reach this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 Business GRAND OPENING: Sunoco Manager Irina Chernyakhovsky shows councillor Jody Sanderson how to do it at their grand opening recently at Neyagawa Blvd. and Dundas St. The site features a Pay-atthe-pump option and upgraded lighting. The Oakville site is the first Sunoco loca tion with the full Millennium look. The black side of The New Economy Decline in manners is everywhere The evidence is mounting - incivili ty is fast becoming the norm and it's spreading. A survey recently conducted by the University of North Carolina finds that 775 workers interviewed nationwide had experienced some type of rude behavior on the job, including insults, curses, nasty e-mails, and deni grating gossip. Recent TV newscasts report that minor hockey league man agement in Florida have resorted to forcing parents to attend etiquette and manners school and they are required to sign a code o f conduct contract before their child can be accepted to play on a team. Rugby team coaches have enforced total silence among all spectators and parents in some areas of the U.S. No root, root, root for the home team, no cursing, badmouthing etc. allowed or you are out o f the park. It's called sports rage - now we've got air rage AND on top all of this, numer ous books such as Road Rage and Work Rage are now popping up. The Internet has also brought with it brash young people that glorify speed over manners. Talcing the time to make a simple telephone call to say hello or thank you for a gift they received is just not in their realm of thinking. They're technical wizards in their late teens to thirty something and from what I see, in general are social disasters. It's rush, rush, rush. But it's the "I don't care " attitude that is so disarming . We've all experi enced rudeness. On top o f the it, we now have high tech gadgets, such as pagers, cell phones and palm pilots bringing with them more antisocial behavior and isolation. Here are just two examples o f inci dents I've experienced personally. Just recently, when visiting a new, young Information Technology (IT) company where I had an appointment to meet the president, I stepped off the SHANNON SMITH Lasting Impressions elevator at the appointed hour, into a huge "loft" type space. Since there wasn't a receptionist ( or a hint o f a reception area), I was forced to walk around in the hope that someone would take the time to look up from the com puter terminal to the stranger wander ing through the premises. I finally found a young women who took the time to find the president. She appeared dressed to go out to the latest club with her friends. W hen I finally met him, he proceeded to tell me that his company was only one year old, that he was twenty-one, and the oldest person in the place was twenty-nine. Oh yes, these young people know their stuff but they haven't got a clue when it comes to manners, telephone etiquette, using the right fork, personal presentation or how not to offend people. Oh, by the way forget about shaking hands (I got a very limp, finger tipped one from this young up and comer) and introductions are all first name, casual or non exis tent. I started to giggle (and never stopped) when the business presenta tion was done on a lap top by one of the young women there- and the lap top was literally perched precariously on the president's lap. Another story goes like this: W e've recently been hired by the CEO o f a medium sized communications compa ny to "polish" his newly hired 29 year old executive assistant. She would be communicating with upper level man agement, V P's and other C EO 's and it was critical that she be able to commu nicate professionally and effectively. Obviously, her qualifications were not ( S e e `R e a l ' p a g e 4 8 ) Photo by Peter C. McCusker UNIS LUMIN celebrates decade of success Last month marked the 10-Year Anniversary for technology firm U NIS LUM IN. Founded by CEO and president John Breakey, and Mauro Lollo, CTS, the company grew rapidly to include a sales team and systems consultants. Within five years, the company had tripled in size and moved to a larger facility. In the last five years, UNIS LUMIN has contin ued to grow and expand services and revenues building an impressive client base and knowledge force unparalleled in Canada. "Our Anniversary Celebration is a major mile stone in the life of the company," commented John Breakey, president and CEO. "Over the past 10 years, we have seen a tremendous shift from our beginnings, primarily consulting and designing LANs and WANs, to today's advent of the internet and UNIS LUMIN providing us with opportunities to grow and evolve with every new, exciting devel opment. Our success today can be directly attributed to the talent and effort of our employees and the con tinued commitment and confidence of our clients over the past 10 years." As part of the anniversary celebrations, UNIS LUMIN hosted employees and their guests at a gala reception that included an evening of dinner and dancing, as well as a night's luxury accommodation at Niagara-on-the-Lake's Queen's Inn Landing. Time management seminar Time/Design, a time management and productiv ity specialist firm, is holding a time management seminar on Oct. 17th at the J J. Wettlaufer Executive Development Centre in Mississauga. The time management solutions presented in the one-day seminar offer techniques and practices ready-to-implement in daily life. For more information, call (450) 534-2723 or email georges@qc.aira.com Seating is limited so those interested are asked to register at least one week in advance. To learn more about Time/Design, check out their website at www.timedesign.com OAKVILLE 191WYECROFT RD. OAKVILLE SERVICE SPECIAM 38* Pow er to spare Call today for a maintenance-free Genuine Honda battery that's specifically designed to ensure smooth starts all of the time, in all types of weather. When you bring your car in for service a l Oakville Honda you g e t.. . BASIL L /JL L & FILTER CHANGE 905 844-9831 - Jrrtfs* r ^ r ? u n m u .o a k u iU e h o ru L u c o m * ... Competitive Priting Factory Honda Trained Technicians Genuine Honda Paris 'E a s y Ride" GO Train Servke Free Shuttle Service Vehide Pfck-up & Delivery Free Hand Car Wash A Friendly Face replacement warranty. 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