Waste Management Scandal - 861 Words

Waste Management, Inc. is the nations largest waste collector (Feder). In other words, they collect and recycle garbage. They are a known brand and dominate the regions of the country and Canada where they provide services. Grownups and kids alike see their trucks and think, Garbage. Which could sound awful, but garbage is lucrative. In the early 1990s, Waste Management, instead of just picking up the garbage, provided garbage to their investors in the form of an accounting scandal which cost investors approximately $6 billion (Bloomberg News) and was described by Thomas C. Newkirk, associate director of the SECs Division of Enforcement as one of the most egregious accounting frauds we have seen (SEC). What Mr. Newkirk is†¦show more content†¦The failure to record expenses proved addictive to the company as they continued the scheme by not lowering the value of property used for landfills as they were filled with waste which is a common expense item in such an operation (SEC). If Waste Management began a landfill project and for whatever reason abandoned it, recording the expenses of such would be common practice in an ethical company. They were not ethical. As anyone can guess based on the previous inclinations of the company, the expenses were simply not recorded, again inflating profits. Waste Managem ent, unlike every other company in America, simply did not believe in expenses. If they could capitalize a cost instead, thats what occurred. Profits rose and seemingly everyone benefited. Eventually, all such deeds came to the surface as a new CEO came on board in 1998 and ordered a complete accounting of the accounting. What was found startled the financial world but took until 2000 to finally be revealed in full. It was determined that the company had overstated earnings by $1.7 billion between 1992 and 1997, which at the time was the largest restatement in corporate history (SEC). The price of the stock fell from a high of over $50 to less than $15 per share (Finance). I cannot say this restatement affected the greater financial markets as whole but it didShow MoreRelatedWaste Management Scandal883 Words   |  4 PagesWaste Management Scandal BUS 320 Finance 1/8/16 Waste Management Waste Management Incorporated is considered the nations largest waste collector (Feder). Waste Management is a well known brand and dominates regions of the United States and Canada where they provide services. Anyone who sees their trucks tends to think, Garbage. During the early 1990s, instead of just picking up the garbage, Waste Management provided garbage to their investors in the form of an accounting scandal. ThisRead MoreWaste Management Scandal Essay882 Words   |  4 PagesWaste Management Scandal Dean Buntrock established Waste Management, Inc. in 1968. Its main purpose is to pick recycling and garbage up from residential housing and businesses. WM also disposes of the garbage in landfills. It has grown to be the largest garbage disposal company in the U.S. today. This company has managed to survive â€Å"one of the most egregious accounting frauds we have seen† said Thomas C. Newkirk of the SEC. This accounting scandal lasted from 1992 to 1997 and was the resultRead MoreWaste Management Scandal ( 1998 )1173 Words   |  5 PagesWaste Management Scandal (1998) Waste Management Inc. was founded by Dean Buntrock and Wayne Huizenga in 1968. It generated $5.5 million in revenue just the first year and it reached $2 billion in 1985. By 1971, the company became more public after it acquired 133 acquisitions and it became the largest waste hauler in the nation. Waste Management Inc. manages and reduces waste, provides transfer, recycling and disposal services. It is a leading developer in landfill to gas-to-energy and waste-toRead MoreThe 1998 Waste Management Scandal And How It Changed The1201 Words   |  5 PagesThe 1998 Waste Management Scandal and How It Changed the Accounting World This scandal took place in Waste Management Inc. a company which is located in North America. The company offers waste hauling and other environmental management services. The company was started in 1894 by Larry Beck, in addition, the company also operates in air and gas management, environmental engineering, and protection of groundwater. The company grew bigger and became the largest waste management company in the entireRead MoreI Selected Waste Management Inc.858 Words   |  4 PagesI selected Waste Management Inc. for my project. After analyzing organizational issues, I suggested the following recommendations and implementations: Recommendation: 1. People. Improve relations with people by a constant engagement with stakeholders through a marketing plan and communication tools, adopting a human resource strategy and evaluating the organizational culture through an effective communication system. 2. Planet: Improve in terms of its environmental policies by hiring a team ofRead MoreThe Garbage Problem in America Essay1693 Words   |  7 Pages The Growth of the Waste Stream Todays generation have been taught to be wasteful. We produce enormous quantities of waste, then try to bury it or burn it and forget it. But it cannot be forgotten. It washes up on our beaches, it reappears as air pollution, it creeps into our water supply; it comes back to haunt us. A throw-away society is not a sustainable society. A garbage crisis is at hand. As a nation, we have begun to worry that the growing mounds of wastes will only continue toRead MorePhar Mor Inc. : Overview1724 Words   |  7 Pagesname the new president of the new company Phar-Mor Inc. and by 1987 had increased to 70 stores and had grown even more to 200 stores by 1990 they then expanded into outlet stores in 1992 which had 25,000 employees in 35 different states. Phar-Mor Scandal In 1992 the bankruptcy of Phar-Mor Inc. cost investors $500 million. Financial problems became known in 1988 when investigation of lower-than-expected profit margin showed that Phar-Mor was billed for inventory because they had not received from TamcoRead MoreWaste Management1349 Words   |  6 PagesWaste Management is a publically traded Houston, Texas based waste and environmental services company. Founded in 1894, Waste Management is the largest disposal company in North America, handling over half of the garbage pickup in the United States. In 1998, Waste Management was involved in the largest accounting scandal involving an American company to date. Under the company’s founder and chairman Dean Buntrock, Waste Management implemented unsavory accounting practices which directly inflatedRead MoreThe Code Of Professional Conduct885 Words   |  4 Pagesproper ethical choice† (Synder, 2011). Accounting Scandals The accounting and auditing profession has been constantly making headlines throughout the past decades because of litigation against accountants. This is a major weakness in the Code of Professional Conduct that caused the accounting profession to lose the respect it has gain. In the 1990s to the 2000s accounting scandals from the Waste Management scandal in 1998 to the Saytam scandal in 2009 was discovered one after another, which onlyRead MoreWaste Management Audit Failure1399 Words   |  6 PagesExecutive Summary Background Waste Management, Inc., founded in 1894, offers environmental services to nearly 20 million residential, industrial, commercial, and municipal customers in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. With a large customer base, it is difficult to picture such a large company committing fraud. However, between the years of 1992 and 1997, several chief officers in the company engaged in a systematic scheme to falsify and misrepresent Waste Management’s financial results. Heading

The Need for More Medications for Dementia - 967 Words

Current medications for dementia are limited and there is a need to explore traditional medicinal system to investigate the agents that can prevent progression of memory loss or improve the existing capacity of learning and memory. Thus present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of Ayurveda drug formulations, Tinospora cordifolia (Tc) Phyllanthus emblica (Pe) with and without Ocimum sanctum (Os) on learning performance and memory of mice. We also tried to investigate the possible mechanisms of these plant drugs for their effects on learning and memory using Scopolamine, Diazepam and Cyclosporine as amnesic agents. Methods: After approval of Animal Ethics Committee, Swiss albino mice of either sex, and weight 18 to 25 grams were divided into 7 groups, administered orally either distilled water, Rivastigmine (2.4mg/kg), Tc (100mg/kg), Pe (300mg/kg), Formulation 1 (Tc+Pe: 400mg/kg) and Formulation 2 (Tc+Pe+Os:400mg/kg) daily for 15 days. Piracetam (200mg/kg) was injected daily intraperitoneally for 8 days. The mice underwent a learning session using Elevated Plus maze. Retention of learning (memory) was tested 24 hours later. Results: The mice pre-treated with modern as well as Ayurveda drugs showed trend towards reduction in transfer latencies but the values were statistically comparable to vehicle control. In the entire drug treated groups, a significant reduction (p0.05) was observed after 24 hrs in transfer latencies. Vehicle control did not show suchShow MoreRelatedThe Cognitive Effects Of Single Diagnosed With Dementia1642 Words   |  7 PagesDementia is a condition resulting from obtained brain disease and distinguished by progressive decay in memory and other cognitive fields such as judgment, abstract thinking, language, and executive functioning. This disease is usually caused by degeneration in the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for thoughts, memories, actions, and personality. Death of brain cells in this area leads to the impairments that distinguish dementia. Though the cognitive outline of single diagnosedRead MoreSymptoms And Symptoms Of Dementia935 Words   |  4 P agesâ€Å"Worldwide, 47.5 million people have dementia and there are 7.7 million new cases every year† (WHO). Dementia is not a specific disease. Instead, it is a broad term used to describe a wide range of symptoms that impact one’s daily functioning (ALZ). These symptoms are associated with memory, thinking, and social abilities (Mayo Clinic). While signs and symptoms of dementia can differ based on the cause, there are several common cognitive and psychological changes that occur. Common cognitive changesRead MoreTaking a Look at Dementia1005 Words   |  4 PagesDementia is a broad term that encompasses a variety of different diseases and syndromes(The dementia timebomb, 2013). About 38 million in the united states and 820,000 in the United Kingdom are diagnosed with one of the over 100 types of dementia. It is also and aged related condition, so most people inflicted with it are older rather than younger. A person can have multiple forms of dementia or a disease such as alzheimers diseases that involves dementia symptoms. Symptoms of dementia include:Read MoreAnalysis and Desc ription of Dementia Essay1741 Words   |  7 PagesDementia is characterized as a condition where the mental processes of cognition and memory start to deteriorate. It is described as a syndrome that hinders the daily lives of those who have it and is characterized by memory and thinking impairment. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s Disease and the second most common is vascular dementia. 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The World Health Organization (WHO) defines abuse towards seniors as, a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurringRead MorePlay Therapy Is Used As A Modality1398 Words   |  6 Pagesbe able to do anything for themselves and they constantly will need someone around just in case they need something. Dementia is a symptom that affects a person’s memory as well as their thinking and their social abilities. This disorder interferes with a person’s daily functions of life, and it affects their function on the day-to-day activities. Many treatments can be used to treat dementia. According to the mayo clinic most dementia cannot be cure but there are ways to manage disorder so that aRead MoreBlack Box Warnings1182 Words   |  5 PagesCertain antidepressant medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), can be beneficial to children and adolescents with MDD. Certain psychotherapy modules also have been shown to be effective. However, our awareness of antidepressant treatments in children and adolescents, though growing substantially, is incomplete compared to our knowledge about treating depression in adults. †¢ Recently, there has been few trepidation that the use of antidepressant medications themselves may induceRead MoreSymptoms Of Patients With Dementia962 Words   |  4 Pagesexpress the pain that they feel to the people around them. This article goes into depth of how patients with dementia or Alzheimer’s don’t necessarily get the pain management to meet their needs and ways for medical professionals and the family members can understand that just because the patient cannot express the pain in a way that they understand it doesn’t mean that they are pain free. Dementia is defined in the article as ‘a group of syndromes characterized by progressive decline in cognition of

Analyzing Organizational Change Management Samples for Students

Questions: 1.Develop at least six Realistic Aassumptions that you Can add to the Issues and Problems Expressed. 2.Explain what is happening between growth and change in BTS. 3.How does the Problem Statement for BTS resemble what Gersick indicates about a Systems Deep Structure 4.Explain How and Why Narratives and Storytelling was useful to the Company5.Discuss which Modes might Change agents in BTS use and why? 6.which typology may best describe the approach that BTS might adopt and why? Answers: 1.BTS had been doing well in the Indonesian market before the adieu of Modjo from the company. The very basic problem started with the labour market and low cost supply chain in the international business. Since Modjo, the second owner of BTS, was following the path shown by his father, he did not have any dire problem in runnig the business in a national market arena. On the contrary, the international venture by his brother and sister, was likely to take the company in the international business competition. However, continuous growth of the other garment designers and suppliers from Bangladesh, Australia and USA caused BTS huge loss in the international supply management. The low cost supply of garment industry affected the Indonesian labours to a greater extent. Because of continuous blow from the international supply market the company than three hundred workers working with them. This is how Bessington Trade and Sons export rate went to the downward curve causing financial stre ss to the number of employees. After the change in the mode of business, the company did not hold forth the new retail business properly thus resulting in huge business loss and employee turn ver. The change was a positive one but the change was brought in a sudden circumstance without profound analysis of the existing market. The change of making designer clothes for the offshore market was quite innovative one in terms of the current trend of the Indonesian market that has influenced the making cost and supply costs of the products. In order to compete the international market, it has been realised that sudden market challenge brought difficulties in the high cost of labour engagement and supply chain operations. There are different change management issues. In the provided case study the issues related to change management had been lack of communication, being low on Totem pole, lack of swift change, lack of proper training, failure in the change and unacceptability in the changes (Armenakis and Harris 2009). The basic issues that BTS underwent during the change were that Khadiji was not acting according to the want of the other board members. As per their views, they studied the operational issues of Bangladesh garment industry and tried to implement the changes according to the situational differences. However, Khadiji did not understand the present situation of the Indonesian market as well as the labours engagement process in the company. Since the company was not able to understand the local movement, the change was wrongly implemented. Another major change management issue faced by BTS during Khadiji period was lack of proper communication between the management body and the labourers. Most of the employees were not aware of the changes that Khadiji and his sister were planning implemented. Thus they could not cope up with the new systems in terms of production and market supply. Since the market supply swiftly changed, no one could embrace the sudden change. In order to access the global market Khadiji brought difficulties in the internal operations of the organisation. This is how the employees and the market of BTS were equally shattered. 2.According to the Larry Greiner, the growth of an organisation depends highly on the evolution caused due to the organisational change management. The researcher has illustrated two basic factors behind the growth of an organisation. According to Greiner, life span of an organisation determines the success rate and operational growth of it. He has designed a model on this aspect in terms of judging the growrh rate of a company. Since the growth rate of a company depends on its historical practices as well as its understanding of the present without living much to the history of its own, the history has somehow its effect upon the overall change and the growth of the company. Greiner has designed the frame of two stages of a company- the stage of evolution and the stage of revolution. He opines that the growth of the company is directly proportionate to the size of the company. This is how the entire operational change is based on the stage the company is currently standing at. Both the stages- evolution and revolution pass through different organisational phases. In terms of the evolution stages, a company has its phase when it grows through creativity in the operational activities. The next phase is the phase of growth through the direction towards goal that is followed by the phase of growth through delegation of the employers as well as the employees. The last two phases are the phases of coordination and collaboration. These are related to the activity of the employees in an organisation. On the other hand, during the revolution period, there lies the crisis instead of growth. According to Greiner, there are crisis period generated by leadership, the is a crisis of autonomy, there is crisis of control, crisis of red tape that leads to an anonymous crisis. The last phase of crisis depends on the step taken by the organisations. If there is no change in due time, the crisis keeps continuing thus leading to the stage of decline. In the case of BTS the company was currently standing at its revolutionary stage. During its evolutionary period the company had its period of creativity that was oriented with the employee management by the owner of BTS. Due to successful direction of the leader, the company was skill fully under certain development. The delegation f both the working labourers and the owner carried forward BTS to be one of the largest garment manufacturing companies in Indonesia. Hard work and delegation was driven by the collaborative and coordinating working technique by the employer and the employees (Waddell et al. 2013). However, the crisis period during the age of Khadija was visible because of the lack of proper leadership that as vividly felt during the early years of the companys foundation. There was a crisis of autonomy during the years when Khadija wanted to turn BTS into a retailer as well as manufacturer of garment. This is how the company was under a threat or crisis of autonomy. It was indeed that the company lost its control upon the market in the global arena. Hence, it was under continuous threat from the competitors from Bangladesh and USA. The practising managers now needed to achieve the lost success of the company and retain the glory of its history. The basic change that the organisation needed was on the thorough study of its history. The success of BTS and employee retention drastically went down under the leadership of Khadija, the new CEO of BTS. The change was not brought and suggested with thorough understanding of the companys history and its success in the past days. It is true that modern techniques in the change management plans is quite different from the past days, however, some basic learning can be helpful in case of the changes a company would like to bring in its operational and marketing strategies so as to reach to the height of the market in global aspect (Stoltzfus, Stohl and Seibold 2011). The researcher has witnessed and studied some procedural changes that the companies undertake during the crisis period. He has segmented the initiatives in different working structures. According to the change categories, the management focus works on different stages: making of sell, efficiency of operations, expansion of market, consolidation of the organisations either with the suppliers or with the retailers and problem solving through innovative working mindset. According to Malhotra and Hinings, change and community are the basic two poles that are used in the same process. The same indicative method in change management system can be studied with reference to BTS change management system. The change management system has been illustrated with the help of a diagram where both of the aforesaid researchers have developed an action plan in regards to the change management strategies of a company. The aforesaid researchers have found a company that has developed its structural frame in three different bodies- the governance, structure and system. With the help of efficiency of these three aspects the need for management and business development arises. The need for management evolves from the governance, and the need for marketing. According to the need, the changes are triggered by the concerning authority of the organisation. Now it needs to be analysed whether BTS has adopted the theory presented by Malhotra and Hinings or the theory of hist orical development presented by Greiner. Operations and staff management by George Bessington in the yerly 80s of BTS, can be treated as an ideal one. However, in the later years the offspring of Bessington only managed to follow the pathway paved by George Bessington. In this case, the leaders of BTS Company have been following the historical strategies designed by their forefather. The junior most owners of the company did not bring much change from their own this is how they could not afford to understand the need of the change according to the changing scenario of the market. As the company did not give away any of its share in order to bring consolidation with the suppliers and retailers, it had to face the issues in the global supply chain and retail business. Because of its failure in the market arena, the company had to implement the historical process of growth and evolution. According to me, the theory of Malhotra and Hinnings could not be much implemented during the analysis of BTSs change management plan. 3.Gersick has referred to system deep structure in Hayes as the fundamental selection of a company that determines the pattern of basic activity in order to maintain its existence. It has been repeatedly argued that the deep structures are highly unwavering due to the stalk of choices or selection made by the organisations. According to Gersick, there are five domains representing am organisational deep culture. These are: Culture Strategy Power Distribution Structure and Control System These are the interrelated parts and they are maintained by the reciprocated dependencies among themselves. The correlation among these parts helps a company distribute its insight into effective change management system. Hayes refers to the argument by Hinings that there is astrength of torpor limiting the probability for incremental change and that this confrontation to change always remains the strongest during the tight consolidation of the mutual dependencies. According to Gersick and Hayes, there is a degree of embedding criterion that has become the strength varying between the business sectors (Worley and Mohrman 2014). In regards to the change management system undertaken by BTS , it can be said that the mutual domains of the culture strategy, power distribution, structure and control system lacked proper coordination among themselves thus disrupting the entire system of the deep structure of the company. After the power transfer in the company, the deep structure was poorly managed and it did not even follow the required path to regain the lost glory. The later CEOs of the company did not bring culture and strategy together into the company and it resulted in poor infrastructural amendment. Power distribution was not there as every decision pertaining to the change was handled by the head of the company without concerning the board members. The basic difference between the earliest leaders and the latter ones lay in the fact that the former ones would bring into the policy of structural cohesion in the company pertaining to the mutual feedback policies. On the other hand Hijoshas policy of change management did not address the labours, the board members and the suppliers. In terms of retail business it also wanted to hold the power and control however ending in complete disruption. 4.The story telling option in the organisation brings the basic cultural innovation for the employees by the employers. Workplace stories purpose as folklore within the company. The stories are spread through each retelling. These tales provide involvedness within an organisation. Since most of the organisations are seen to practise such story retelling activities, it has come into form as a change management action in terms of increasing employee involvedness (Brown and Eisenhardt 1997). According to Dailey, there are three forms and functions of the retold stories in an organisation:Behaviour ControlOppositional StoriesDifferentiation or Integration Preparation for the Future for Changes (Dailey and Browning 2014) The form- behaviour control serves as lesion to the employees working in an organisation. It also serves as propaganda to the behaviour that is generally encouraged by the moral. Dailey suggested that even these kinds of stories can be shared in a strategic manner in order to bring the best potential out of the employees. In order to bring out the best competency from the employees the stories are filtered and retold to the working staff thus causing organisational as well as operational changes. On the other hand, oppositional stories provide an outlet for expressing frustration to with the company. 5.According to Hayes, there are different levels of Change target: Individual LevelGroup LevelInter- Group LevelOrganisational LevelTrans -organisational Level In order to bring the required change in an organisation, there needs to depth of intervention. It constitutes human process, technological structural process, human resource and strategic process. The depth of intervention depends upon the level of intervention and the issues that are diagnosed in due course of the change management analysis. So far as the depth of BTS is concerned, it has to be analysed through the understanding of collaborative intervention process. The dynamic of change can impact upon the starting point of the change operations. Collaborative intervention needs attitude to bring the change. For instance, the joint venture of the CEO and the other board member in BTS did not diagnose the problem throughout the operations and analysis. The problem for BTS lay in the fact that it did not address the entire consolidation with the suppliers as well as the retailers. As per Hayes, interventions are used for their fashionable order. In terms of resolving the problem of BTS the survey did not take place and lack of proper diagnosis did not address the change method in a collaborative manner (Burnes 2004). 6.The type of change related to BTS can be categorised under remedial versus developmental change typology. According to Hayes , change can be projected to remedy the prsen situations of the company. As far as the present situation of BTS is concern, the change was to lessen the cost of the production as the customers of garment and textile industry have the tendency to buy cheap and trendy clothes from the market. Hence, the best provider of those cheap and better materials could remain unbeaten in the market competition. Tonny decided to lessen the cost of production by decreasing the labour wages and it was not even friendly to the workers. There were two fold change methods proposed by the present owner of BTS. In terms of changing the production and sales in the market, the siblings wanted remedial as well as developmental changes by revamping the ongoing plan of facilitating the workers in the company. Reference: Armenakis, A.A. and Harris, S.G., 2009. Reflections: Our journey in organizational change research and practice.Journal of Change Management,9(2), pp.127-142. Brown, S.L. and Eisenhardt, K.M., 1997. The art of continuous change: Linking complexity theory and time-paced evolution in relentlessly shifting organizations.Administrative science quarterly, pp.1-34. Burnes, B., 2004.Managing change: A strategic approach to organisational dynamics. Pearson Education. Burnes, B., 2004.Managing change: A strategic approach to organisational dynamics. Pearson Education. Dailey, S.L. and Browning, L., 2014. Retelling stories in organizations: Understanding the functions of narrative repetition.Academy of Management Review,39(1), pp.22-43.. Das, B., 1999. Development of a comprehensive industrial work design model.Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing Service Industries,9(4), pp.393-411. Stoltzfus, K., Stohl, C. and Seibold, D.R., 2011. Managing organizational change: Paradoxical problems, solutions, and consequences.Journal of organizational change management,24(3), pp.349-367. Tushman, M.L. and O'Reilly, C.A., 1996. The ambidextrous organizations: Managing evolutionary and revolutionary change.California management review,38(4), pp.8-30. Waddell, D., Creed, A., Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C., 2013.Organisational change: Development and transformation. Cengage Learning. Worley, C.G. and Mohrman, S.A., 2014. Is change management obsolete?.Organizational Dynamics,43(3), pp.214-224.

When Exactly Is It In Life When You Expect That Your Becoming An Adult

When exactly is it in life when you expect that your becoming an adult? For me I think I'm still in transition. I am ready for the real world but I still trying to get use to being responsible. I got a job for the responsibility and to make money but when I should be accounting for how much money I make I simply slack off. In fact I don't even do it. I should also be saving but I can't even do that. Once I get my check I am ready to spend it and regret it later when I'm broke. There have been many times when I had to resort to the change in my ashtray for gas money. Growing up is something that I look as bittersweet. It's great that that I am going to have responsibility and have more control of my life, but I also scars me. What if I fail? What if I make those bad decisions? I've never been a very responsible person, I look to other for help and for guidance but I am going to have to start doing it on my own. Responsibility isn't hard but its something I have to get use to. Having a job is great. You have money, you have responsibility but I can't say Well, I don't feel like working today so I'm not going in. It is a commitment and maybe that's something that I had a problem with simply because a feeling of being trapped. The feeling that you have an obligation that you must keep. Not all commitments are negative. A lot of these commitments help you grow as a person. The best example of that is a relationship of mine. This relationship has help me grow in so many ways, it is the best thing that has happen in my life. I have learned that you're not the only one that matters in the world and as soon as I got into this relationship I all of a sudden reset my priorities. I look at what really mattered to me, and I put myself at the bottom. It's not because I had no self-esteem or I wasn't worth it but because there are things in life that are more important than just myself. I became more considerate. I'm still not as considerate as I would like to be but I'm working on it. I put the people that were the most important to men at the top because I knew that they would be there for me when I needed them. I may not have always been there for them but they are still there for me because they really care about me. Even if we got into a fight an hour ago, those people a re willing to drop for the sake of you and your feeling and that is truly when you know that you are loved. A problem that I was only able to see in retrospect is that I never really a good listener. It's one thing to hear something but it's another to just listen for many people (mostly guys). A lot of the time people just want you to listen and understand them, not try and fix it. They want you to understand what they are taking about and you can't really focus on what they are talking about and trying to figure out a way to solve it at the same time. I doesn't take much to listen. There are a lot of time when people just want to tell you what's on their mind, whether they have a problem or not. It's a feeling everyone loves. Being heard. Being able to know that someone can see it the way you see, knowing someone can relate. Another big problem that I had was that I never was really open with people. I never shared my problem with the people that cared about me. I simply felt "well; it's my problem. I should deal with it." Why burden anyone else with my problems? But what I didn't see was that I was hurting the people around me. When you know something is wrong with someone and they won't tell you, you