"Attendance in this class is mandatory"

Just show up.

Attendance is mandatory.

It's right there, written out, in the syllabus. "Mandatory" is highlighted as well. And anybody who was there on the first day of class saw it.

Yet some people don't bother to show up. It's not too much of a time commitment. It should be a no-brainer.

By the end of the semester, I'll have several asking what they can do to raise their grades. It happens almost every time. And my response is that attendance is part of the course grade. It's mandatory. That means it's necessary.

"But what about an extra-credit assignment?"

What about it? Showing up to class all but negates anything like this happening. If I assign extra-credit for being to lazy to come to class, what lesson is learned? Well, besides me punishing myself with extra work at the end of a semester, when things are hectic enough as it is.

"Attendance policies are bogus!"

Really. Really?

If you call 9-1-1 to report a fire, but the operator says that nobody showed up at the fire department because they didn't think it was that important, you'd probably think they were crazy.

If you own a restaurant, but the staff didn't show up because they didn't think it was important enough, you'd probably wonder why you bother keeping them on the payroll.

Yeah, attendance is important. It's a good habit to develop.

Out in the working world, it's vital.

Just show up.

I Haven't Broken Any New Year's Resolutions...Yet

Okay, so 2016 is only a week old.

Okay, so I didn't make any big New Year's Resolutions.

This year, I'm going to work on small stuff.  I mean, unless your name is Jack and you traded your cow for magic beans, a seed isn't going to become something big overnight.

I'm looking at small changes, small challenges, small random acts of kindness.

Small stuff.

It's already paying off, even though I didn't intend for it to. My favorite Starbucks barista currently works in the Starbucks inside Food Pyramid in Stillwater, OK.

A week or so before Christmas, we were talking about birthdays close to Christmas. She mentioned she was going to turn 20 on December 23. That's Christmas Adam! (You know, right before Christmas Eve?). She also said that she was going to have to work all by herself that day. Dang! Working by yourself, with no backup, on your birthday which is two days before Christmas kinda sucks.

Well, being in the Christmas Spirit, I gave her a bigger tip than usual, telling her to save it for her birthday. Then, on December 23, my daughter and I went back to the store to pick up some last-minute items for baking Christmas goodies and, sure enough, there was the Starbucks gal, shivering in a blanket because every time the automatic doors to Food Pyramid swooshed open, a cold Winter wind blew in, right toward the Starbucks spot.

I didn't get any coffee that day, but I put a couple of dollars in her tip jar and wished her Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas. She was delighted that we remembered her birthday, and thanked us for remembering and for the tip.

I felt pretty good as I was shopping, and when an elderly lady dropped a package of frozen food before it reached her cart, I scurried over and picked it up for her.

Small stuff.

And I've carried it over to the New Year. I've gone a little out of the way to help others, to compliment people, to pick up litter when I get out of my car, to spend more time actually actively listening to people, and to, for lack of a better term, be a Boy Scout towards others.

And the payoff?

Yesterday, I went to the store with my daughter. Our favorite barista was there. We ordered our usual drinks, and she put an extra shot of chocolate in our order at no charge. When her coworker asked her about the extra chocolate, she replied, "Hey, these are my people! I gotta take care of them."

My people. Your people. I think if we take the time to do a little extra for our people, the world will be even better.

Small stuff. Start there.