opinion

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I Don’t Want A Negative Opinion

Yesterday I started to form a negative opinion of a restaurant I actually like.

My opinion is based on an experience – if fact, my last experience at this chain of restaurants.

My wife, Lily, and I were traveling and needed to stop for gas and something to eat. I noticed a “Five Guys” burger place close to where we were gassing up, so when the tank was filled we made our way over.

When you have eaten in a restaurant before – maybe many times before – you kind of have an expectation of how things will go … especially in a chain restaurant where they try to create the same eating experience in every franchise they establish.

When we entered, there were several people in the order line ahead of us. It seemed like the two guys ordering at the counter either didn’t know what they wanted or were ordering for an army.

Turns out they didn’t know what to order. It’s a burger joint; they make burgers – no chicken, no fish, just burgers.

How hard is it to order a burger? I’m sure it wasn’t their first burger.

… But that wasn’t the issue. After the cashier finished with that marathon two-burger order, she disappeared.

I couldn’t remember what she looked like because she wasn’t quite as tall as the cash register so I never got a good look at her from my position fourth in line.

Close to five minutes went by before she returned to the cash and started to serve the next guest in line.

By the time we placed our order, we had been in line close to fifteen minutes.

Now if we were eating at the Keg, and waited fifteen minutes to order, I wouldn’t think anything of it. But this was a burger place … did I mention they only make burgers?

Then we waited for our food.

We had to clear our own table because obviously the paid staff weren’t doing the job. I picked the cleanest table and then wiped it down with some napkins.

When we finally got our food and started to eat, Lily and I began to reminisce about some of our other restaurant experiences.

We had a doozy a few years ago at a Burger King that has been etched in my mind forever.

That experience was almost matched at another Burger King, so now I can’t go into a Burger King without thinking something is going to go wrong.

I know Five Guys is a good restaurant and their food tastes great; I just don’t want my latest experience to taint this opinion.

They say it takes seven compliments to undue one negative one. I’m wondering if the same is true with an eating experience.

If so, I need to get back to “Five Guys” seven more times so that what happened yesterday doesn’t jade my opinion of a restaurant I actually really like.

Here’s the thing: You may have had an experience in your life where you blamed God or felt God didn’t treat you the way He should. Be careful not to let your view of that experience taint your opinion of God who is holy, good and all powerful. He’s God and He loves you and has a plan for you. Remember who He is and keep going back to Him. Don’t let one experience taint your opinion and keep you from seeking Him.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What experience with God in the past has given you confidence in Him? Leave your comments below.

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I’m Not Going To Read Anymore Reviews

If you have ever written a review of a service or product, this post may offend you. I’m just giving a general warning that may or may not apply to you.reviews

With the advent of the Internet and social media, it seems everybody wants other opinions on products, services or what they are going to be doing at 6:05 this evening.

It sounds like it might be a worthy endeavour but, let me tell you, it really is a waste of time.

When I get a notice that an app I use wants me to rate it, I always decline. I don’t give reviews, and I don’t often take surveys online.

The reason is it doesn’t really help anyone.

Have you ever been interested in staying at some resort or hotel, or even eating at a certain restaurant?

You go online to see what others say about it, and what you find is an array of responses that range from “absolutely the worst place in the world; do not go there; do not spend the money” all the way to “this was the best experience I have had in my whole life”.

The point is people see things very differently. People have different standards. Some people can figure things out easier than others.

… Of course the slew of spelling mistakes in these reviews take away from the confidence you might have in the expressed opinions.

I wish you could tell from the review what kind of person wrote the comment. I’m thinking maybe with every review you should have to fill out a mini IQ test.

The results could be listed at the end of their review so that the reader gets a better grasp of the intelligence of the reviewer and can take the review with a “grain of salt” (whatever that means … I know you know what it means).

Instead of an IQ test, they could use some algorithm to measure the number of spelling mistakes against the total word count to create a score for the reviewer. The higher the score, the more nuts the reviewer probably is!

I know I’m being a little overdramatic here, but today I was in the market for a sleep app for my phone and watch. I looked at several and narrowed it down to a couple.

Then I started to read the reviews … not helpful at all. I started talking to myself, actually arguing with myself on the pros and cons of the app from the reviews I read.

I felt a little schizophrenic.

One reviewer wrote that it was difficult to install the app. If you simply touch the price or the “get it” box, basically it gets installed on your phone. I’m not sure what that reviewer was trying to do. He did have a few spelling mistakes in his review though.

The problem with all these reviews is that even though you know half of them are completely worthless, they put an ever-so-tiny doubt in your mind which makes you hesitate taking a chance.

Here’s the thing: Everyone has an opinion of God. Some of those opinions can’t be trusted, but they can put doubts in your mind. The only way to really know God is to experience God for yourself. If you seek Him, try things His way, listen to His voice, you won’t have to rely on well-intended people who maybe should not be giving their opinion at all.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When has a review put doubts in your mind about God? Leave your comment below.