The Merrill Dubrow Blog

This past year I celebrated traveling my 1,000,000th mile on American Airlines. I have always traveled a great deal and probably have flown over 2,000,000 miles in the past 25 years. I used to love to travel and can still remember my first big business trip I went on way back in the 80’s when Marianne Schafer and Field Facts sent me to the AMA conference which happened to be in Palm Springs, CA. What a GREAT spot!

Speed up to 2008. Travel isn’t as much fun as it used to be. In fact it really isn’t that much fun at all. The airports these days are filled with long delays and unhappy people…not to mention increasing fees every day.

Why can’t airlines make travel fun? I say they can and should and if they don’t, they will have a bigger problem on their hands.

What can the airlines do?

• How about playing bingo in flight? Think about it for a minute…the flight attendants don’t serve a ton of food these days and seem to have some extra time on their hands. They could pass out bingo cards and announce the numbers on the intercom system and the winner gets a free drink, free meal, deck of cards and maybe a grand prize of a free flight to anywhere in the United States. This won’t cost the airlines a ton of money and it would show the passengers that the airline is very creative and cares about them.
   
• What about making some announcements about the city you are going to? I realize that some people are taking another flight, but on flights that 75% of the passengers are staying in that city, talk a little bit about the restaurants, museums and things to do. I think people might enjoy it and again start to have fun again on flights.
   
• At the end of the flight, let any kids who want to, take a picture with the captain in the cockpit. I think my kids would like to do this. It would be easy to do. When you land, make a quick announcement and ask those interested to stay seated until everyone is off the plane. Then they can come up and meet the captain and take a picture. I don’t think it would take a long time, and it would probably give the kids a memory forever.

Those are just a few ideas that I thought of that perhaps might make a difference to some people.

• What do you think of my crazy ideas?
   
• Are any of them fun?
   
• What ideas do you have?
   
• Are you enjoying traveling these days?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Last week someone sent me a creative email (thanks JK) that I had to share, entitled "Coffee Art." Apparently there is a restaurant in Vancouver (actually three), where they dress up the coffee drinks. You get to watch them create the pictures. What can be done with coffee, cream, milk and imagination is simply amazing!

All of them are very creative. For me two of them stand out a little more than the rest. The boat is really clever and the detail is amazing and think about what happens when the server delivers it: when they put it down it probably creates waves–which is even more creative. The second one I really like is the ape. For some reason it just makes me laugh and automatically puts me in a great mood. If this restaurant was around here I would visit it every week.

• What do you think?
   
• What is your favorite?
   
• Have you been to a restaurant that is very creative with their presentation of food or drink?

I look forward to hearing your comments.

I realize that you are probably reading this post because you are curious as to what crazy thing I might be discussing today. Watermelons! Most of you are probably thinking how can Merrill possibly write anything about that topic that would be of interest? Close your eyes and picture a watermelon… Now what words first come to mind? When I think of a watermelon, words like big, round, juicy, seeds and summer first come to mind.

Yes a watermelon takes up lots of room! And yes it is a very weird shape!

Well smart Japanese farmers have forced their watermelons to grow into a square shape by inserting the melons into square, tempered glass cases while still growing on the vine.

Japan has again shown off one of its greatest innovations — square watermelons.

For years most of us struggled to fit the large round fruit in their refrigerators. And what about cutting it — it rolls around! Years ago a forward-thinking farmer on Japan’s south-western island of Shikoku solved the problem. The farmer, from Zentsuji in Kagawa prefecture, came up with the idea of making a cube-shaped watermelon which could easily be packed and stored.

I think the idea is very creative but because it is very expensive–10,000 yen ($83, which is two or three times the average cost of a watermelon in Japan)–I probably wouldn’t buy it.

• Have you seen a square watermelon before?
   
• Forgetting about the price - what do you think of the concept?

I look forward to hearing your comments.

P.S. To me, the true lesson behind the watermelon story is anything is possible to increase efficiencies as long as you are willing to look at things a little different! 

Do you have a secret way of looking at something a little different?

A few weeks ago I was playing (or trying to play) a game with my kids. Not sure but it might have been Go Fish or Concentration. During the game we were joking around and laughing when all of a sudden a new TV show comes on (apparently one of their favorites) and so long to Dad and the card game. I tried to be rational with two boys under seven by saying "you have to finish something that you started". Clearly that didn’t work, and now they were mesmerized in a trancelike state as they were watching Ed, Edd n Eddy.

Recently I read a story about a Texas oilman who graduated college 71 years later! Good for him. I also read a story about a 59 year old guy who was kicked off his football team 37 years earlier and recently went back to school and finished out his last year of eligibility.

We have all:

• Started a book
   
• Started to get in better shape
   
• Started a project in the back yard
   
• Started to remodel the house
   
• Started to get back into religion
   
• Started to taking golf or tennis lessons

The real question is, "DID YOU FINISH?" Did you continue with what you started? It is easy to start something. In fact it is VERY easy to start something but very hard to finish it.

• What have you started that you would like to finish?
   
• Do you have a secret that helps you finish things that you start?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Everyone has stress in their life but we all deal with it a little differently. Working every day, going to the first day of college, planning a wedding, having a child, moving into a new house, moving out of state, not having enough money to pay your bills, not saving enough money to send your kids to college, not saving enough money to retire are all stressful things.

The question is, what do you do about it.

Here are a few things that I do:

• Go for a ride in the car and just think - for me this really can help clear my mind
   
• Go to a comedy club - laughing can help a lot
   
• Get a massage - no better way to relax for me
   
• Call someone - remember that is what your significant other and your friends are for. By talking it out you can make some real progress and in the end whatever you were stressing out about might not be that big of a deal.
   
• Play a sport - this really helps me a lot. For some reason when I am playing a sport it brings me back to my childhood and allows me the opportunity to forget about everything.

What do you do?

I look forward to hearing your comments.

As most people do, I love to get gifts — but different types of gifts. Not mainstream stuff. So there I am one day and walk by the cube of a co-worker and lo and behold he (thanks FS) hands me a gift that he thought I would enjoy. It was a book. But not just any type of book. It was different than most of the books I have, which tend to be business, motivational, or sports books. This book was very creative and its title was Not Quite What I Was Planning, Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.

The book was fascinating and got my creative juices flowing. Here are a few from the book that I thought I would share:

• When talk matters, make it count
   
• Pay attention to me go away
   
• Ran east, ran west, ran late
   
• Open road, no map. Great Scenery
   
• Afraid of everything. Did it anyway

The book really gave me a chance to pause and think about trying to put some of my own together. Ok — let me start by saying I am not a pro at this but merely trying to make some sense of some thoughts on life stated in exactly six words. So here goes:

• Teachers are very important, thank you.
   
• Passion is so important to me
   
• Sports, competition. That says it all.
   
• Family, friends, work, play. All meaningful
   
• Boston to Dallas. Life in session

Now your turn. Close your eyes take a minute or two and think about six word phrases that mean something to you or describe some type of experience.

I hope you have fun with this — let me share a little secret…I had a BLAST!

I look forward to hearing from you and having you share your thoughts.

A few weeks ago I was reading the Sunday Dallas Morning News Parade section and they had a very interesting question. The article was about a new DNA test that can tell if you carry the genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. When the results come back you can’t do MUCH about it at all. There is NO treatment that currently exists to prevent or delay progression of the disease.

The question that I want to ask each of you is would you take the Alzheimer’s Test?

For me — I would and here are some of the reasons why.

1. I feel like information is like gold–the more you have the better off you are. What this really means to me is if I know I had some type of disease I could make sure I have things in a little better order for the future
    
2. If I knew it would give me an opportunity to spend time with the people that really matter
    
3. If I knew, it would give me a better opportunity to try and see places I always wanted to visit or do things I always wanted to do–like a bucket list!
    
4. I would want to know because I believe in the medical profession and just because they don’t have a cure now doesn’t mean they won’t have one in a few months.

For me I think you owe it to yourself, family and friends to always know what is going on health-wise so yes, I would take the test.

• What about you?
   
• If you say yes what are your reasons?
   
• If you say no what are you reasons?

I look forward to reading your comments.

I am tired of:

• The airlines changing their fee structure every week
   
• NBA players arguing every call
   
• Hearing about GREAT companies having layoffs
   
• Gas prices going up
   
• Athletes wanting to renegotiate their contracts
   
• Pain, suffering and illness, especially when it strikes family or friends.

~~~ Your turn. ~~~

What are you tired of?

I look forward hearing your thoughts.

So there I am at O’Hare Airport in Chicago–one of the busiest airports in the world. I had about thirty minutes before I was going to board so I decided to sit down for a little bit to rest my tired body. The seat I happened to get was right next to where the flights board. As I am waiting there, I notice the plane I am about to board is exiting and all the passengers start to come off. I see a few people exit and then a short delay and few people get off who are now in wheelchairs. A few more people get off and then again a few more people are deboarding in wheelchairs. This same process continues for a few more minutes before I hear one of the agents say to another we are short 4 wheelchairs since we had 18 people on the flight who needed extra assistance.

I thought wow…yes, that’s a lot of people but also that’s a lot of manpower and extra cost to American Airlines for needing to handle the situation. Since I never have needed a wheelchair for myself or anyone else, I was curious if it is free. After speaking with an agent at the airport and confirming this on the phone earlier today with American Airlines, it is FREE.

But for how long?

Clearly there is a cost to the airline for this service based on extra staff that they may need or extra wheelchairs that they need to purchase not to mention the space to store the wheelchairs.

With airlines dealing with rising fuel costs and trying to make a profit, will this service always be free? Airlines now are charging for food, window seats, and earphones, so why wouldn’t they eventually charge for wheelchairs?

• What do you think?
   
• Are there any other services that companies provide for free now that you think they might charge for down the road?

I look forward to your comments

P.S. I don’t believe airlines will charge for this service…or at least I hope they don’t, since I am getting older and will need one in a few years!

I have been getting a tremendous amount of emails with ideas and thoughts for blog topics. This idea actually came from an email with a number of funny comics (thanks SY). Let me qualify what I just said. I think they are funny and hope you do as well. Everyone loves to laugh and have a quick chuckle.

I think they are all funny and very clever. My two favorites are the stray bar and the men at work sign. If you could see my face I am still smiling. My favorite comic is the "men at work" sign. I have seen that sign hundreds of times and never thought about it saying people at work or team at work…so the caption under it WOMEN WORK ALL THE TIME–MEN HAVE TO PUT UP SIGNS WHEN THEY WORK is very funny!

• Which one is your favorite?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.