MY ALMOST HUMOROUS RANT OF REVELATION AGAINST
JOB STRESS FROM THE HELL-HOLE OF CORPORATE AMERICA
& THUMPER-THUG DOMESTIC AUDIO TERRORISTS (aka
Heavy Bass-Addicted “Boomheads”,“Noise-Gangsta Bullies”, etc.)
“STRESS KILLS!”: Make No mistake about it!
(Jobs, People, Health, Money-Management, Noise Pollution, Retirement Transition,
Dysfunctional Dogmas/Beliefs, Poor Nutrition, Multi-Tasking, Relaxation Deprivation )
Do you know why “STRESS” itself, may well be the REAL “No. 1 Killer” of most
Americans today, as opposed to the more commonly cited, clinically-diagnosed
diseases blamed such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, hyper-tension/high blood
pressure, obesity, or a host of other age-related, immune deficiency, or so-called
“degenerative” conditions?
The answer lies in the fact that there is usually one common denominator that
CAUSES or has been proven to be positively correlated or associated with ALL
of these and more…and this culprit, this major precipitant or pre-disposing factor
is STRESS…the more accumulated, long-term, unrelieved, or ignored it is, the more
dangerous to our health it becomes. These physical maladies DON’T just “happen”
by themselves nor appear overnight. It can take months and usually years of abuse,
neglect, and suppression of symptoms, “tolerance” of pent-up anxiety, anger, and
sheer frustration to take their toal in a variety of ways, slowly destroying your peace
of mind, self-esteem, your natural body defenses (immune system), etc.
Prolonged, untreated stress and more importantly, how we react to it, what we do
or DON’T do to eradicate, or at least minimize it, all have an unavoidable effect on
our physical and psychological health, the functioning of our organs, our internal
Bio-chemistry, hormonal balance, self-image, interaction with others, etc.
Another characteristic tendency of stress is its insidious, self-propagating nature.
Most attempts to relieve or “cope” with it often lead to substance abuse, addictions
of a physical and/or psychological nature (smoking, alcohol, excess consumption of
caffeine, sugar, unhealthy “comfort food”, joining religious cults or groups that
offer Mickey-Mouse, Black/White “solutions”, take over your life, your independent
reasoning and decision-making abilities, and literally, your mind. Any one, or any
noxious combination of these factors can only further complicate your life, create
medical and mental problems that weren’t there before, all of which can cause MORE
Stress, and even life-threatening conditions sooner or later…a vicious downward
spiral of self-destruction! This is exactly why I made that crucial decision to take
an early RETIREMENT some 17 years ago and finally crawled out from my
“Corporate Hell-Hole” to get to where I am today. It was a ‘long time a comin’,
and I should have done it a lot sooner!
As a “DE-Stressor Life Coach/Consultant, I believe it is crucial that the actual
SOURCE of your stress be exposed/identified, examined, understood, and then,
virtually ELIMINATED, or at least minimized as much as possible in the meantime,
while some “Total Eradication” strategy or solution is worked out. Too many stress
victims “cop-out” prematurely by too much compromise or fear/reluctance to make
even temporary sacrifices, such as a job or career change. They put up with or try to
“cope” with the stress until one day they “snap” or their health gets progressively
worse to the point where it can no longer be ignored.
I say this because mere “coping” with the cause and effects of your particular stress
(whether it be a person, belief, environment, etc) is often not good enough and does
not result in a permanent, lasting solution from which you can truly enjoy the lifetime
benefit you deserve.
The most common sources or “root” causes of stress in our daily lives tend to
center around the following:
1) Demands of your job, your boss, how they are perceived and reacted to.
2) Unrealistic, dysfunctional, and/or harmful expectations, beliefs
(“perfectionalism vs. professionalism”) you may place on yourself due to past
parental upbringing, pressures from childhood, rigid religious dogmas/beliefs
about “evil, inborn sin nature”, guilt, etc, narrow, preconceived notions of self-
worth, productivity, “Type A Personality, a fatalistic view of life, etc.
3) Toxic Relationships with “friends”, romantic partners, groups/organizations,
churches, etc.
4) Spousal, family, and financial pressures due to fiscal “over-extension”, costly
“addictions”, lack of knowledge about credit and budgeting. (I can give additional
counseling here as a former Credit & Collection Manager/Paralegal, saving on a
limited income, “Better Budgeting” motivation and mechanics, etc)
5) A weakened immune system due to poor, irregular nutritional/unhealthy lifestyle
habits or practices (I have many articles on alternative medicine, natural healing
with vitamins, herbs, etc that I have personally used and benefited from) To this
day, at age 59, I take NO pharmaceutical drugs whatsoever; any conditions or
issues I had are gone or controlled with natural, inexpensive supplements from
my mail order source for several years now. They WORK!
6) Rushing your daily meals, aptly called “Wolfing it Down” merely to satiate your
hunger cravings and provide quick energy merely to return to work, is both a
cause/source of stress as well as a symptom. When you neglect to take the time
to enjoy and fully digest your food, nutrients are poorly absorbed, excess acid is
produced, and you are further depriving yourself of one of life’s natural pleasures
plus the benefits of some “time-out” between courses. Other health problems can
follow such a daily habit common to executives, yuppies, and other “high-strung”
hyper-type individuals. (“Go,Go Go!”; “Sell, Sell, Sell”!)
7) Insufficient regular deep sleep, relaxation, and ‘time-out” for daily recovery from
stress.
8) The monster called “Multi-Tasking”, both on and off the job. When you “split”
your attention between more than 2-3 tasks at the same time, quality has GOT
to be sacrificed for the sake of quantity, not to mention your level of frustration,
anxiety, concentration, etc. It can literally “drive you crazy”!
The best solution lies in realistic “Time-Management” and “Prioritizing” all the
demands and daily “obligations” that you or others seem to place on you.
The key is simplification, eliminating or “transferring” some of these onto someone
else, another “time-slot”, etc. Where did you get the idea that you HAVE to do ALL
these things simultaneously? This is a most “Dangerous Dogma” of our High-Tech,
High-Stress, Yuppified Corporate Lifestyle Religion. It must be exposed, debunked,
rebuked and “refudiated” for the threat it represents to your mental AND physical
health . You must seriously question its “necessity” and minimize it as much as you
possibly can. The best way to DE-Stress here is to DE-Convert from such a “faith”!
9) Intrusive, disruptive, obnoxious Noise Pollution and Low Frequency Heavy Bass
Vibration Exposure (Audio Terrorism/Acoustic Rape)…I am the founder of
“Noise-Busters of Houston” and “Houston Citizens Against Noise Pollution and
Audio Abuse” for the past 6 years now, have developed strategies, resources
educational materials, and contacts within the Mayor’s Office and HPD that
can help you shut down your “Thumper-Thug Boomhead” neighbors once and for
all…no extra charge! You do NOT have to put up with this “Gangsta-Bullying”
behavior torturing & terrorizing you in the sanctity of your own home. Studies
have proven this to be extremely stressful and dangerous to way more than just
your hearing alone…I have lots of info on this; just ask!
I have had to personally confront, cajole, and educate both the clueless and the
hardcore “Boomhead Bass Addicts , Thumper-Thugs/Noise Terrorist Gangstas”
right here in my own “Barrio” neighborhood, along with HPD officials and the
Mayor’s Office for six years now just to achieve an acceptable modicum of relief.
Intrusive, obnoxious noise vibrations invading your home that you can not only
hear, but FEEL , even with all your windows and doors shut, is even MORE
stressful once you realize how easily avoidable, unnecessary, illegal, and harmful
to your health it really is, and how negligent and uncaring your city government
has been for years in ENABLING the audio terrorism/torture of its law-abiding
citizens to continue in the very sanctity of their homes and in traffic as well.
Trying to do all this in a virtual void, having to cut through all the ignorance,
apathy, and often an attitude of obstinate resistance or resignation was at least
equally stressful as the noise abuse in itself! It was either “Fight or Flight”, and
I just wasn’t about to be driven out of my own home by these Neanderthal Noise-
Bullies and Boomcar punks that the city of Horse-Town, USA has allowed itself to
become infested with!
10) Frequent interruptions to your work, domestic chores, rest & relaxation periods,
intrusive invasions to your privacy, incoming phone calls, etc. All these annoying
disruptions to your daily concentration ADD to your stress while REDUCING or
sabotaging your productivity and enjoyment of life. The good news is that most
of them can be eliminated one way or another, if you really think about it and
“TAKE CONTROL”! Often, a “Tough-Love” approach can work wonders.
11. Excessive abuse or dependence on caffeine, alcohol or other drugs (including
pharmaceutical prescriptions!) often turned to in a misguided effort to relieve
stress, anxiety, depression, etc initially caused by other factors.
This complicates and escalates the vicious stress cycle by adding yet MORE
unhealthy addictions and often causes MORE damage over time!
**Please note that I am NOT a clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, medical doctor,
nor social worker. The practical value of my effectiveness as a “life-coach” who
has chosen to specialize in the area of “DE-Stress Consulting”(aka “Stress-Busting”)
lies in what I have learned about the causes and effects of daily stress, primarily from
my own long term, direct personal life experiences with it, now at the seasoned, ripe
old age of 59, my exposure to others undergoing similar life-stress during this
time, as well as related reading and research both on and offline.
Growing up in NY City during the mid to late 1950’s (Brooklyn, Queens) and then
a growing working class community on Long Island (Brentwood), I worked as a
summer camp counselor in my youth, several times with blind and other physically
or emotionally-challenged children, a volunteer tutor/program coordinator for an
“Upward Bound” program for three years as a “Pre-Ed” college student at SUNY,
Stonybrook; obtained a B.A. in History with a minor in Secondary School Social
Studies Teaching. I then worked several years as a per diem “substitute teacher”
in Brentwood, N.Y., then later in Sugarland, Tx.
You want to see stress “up front and personal”, try working as a “sub” on the
Junior HS or middle school level , in particular, even in a “nicer middle-class”
school district!
Lacking any business experience, and “stressed-out” being a glorified “baby-sitter/
policeman” with no benefits or steady paycheck, I moved to Houston in 1979 during
the “job boom” period here and secured a full-time position within two weeks as a
CSR (Customer Service Rep.) with a national audio-visual distributor selling to
schools and businesses. Both new bosses and the co. president were from NY, and
I was immediately told that they knew was capable of much more “productivity”
than the “local yokels” working there, so they were expecting a lot more of me a lot
quicker and not to “BS them”! Signs of stress to come!
There was very little “training”, you got thrown on the phones on the second day;
I recall one gal getting so flustered with a customer fussing at her, she literally
THREW the phone up in the air, announcing “I can’t handle this s—t” and stormed
out of the room. They had a bi-polar guy who would “explode” at anyone working
there at any time for the flimsiest reason or imagined “insult” or comment, whom
they seemed to keep around for some unknown reason…
This was my first exposure to the “Multi-Tasking Monster” of Corporate America,
which has only gotten worse ever since as a source of stressed out wage-slaves!
This type of job requires you to listen carefully, record the pertinent details, research
and determine the cause of the screw-up, pacify the customer, work out an acceptable
solution, implement and document your actions, then return to the phones for the NEXT
problem. You would rarely get the luxury of solving one or two problems fully before
you got three more thrown in your face!
No time to even enjoy the “detective work” or bask in the satisfaction of making the
customer happy, either. It was a given that anyone called out to the warehouse at
5 pm on a Friday would not be returning come Monday morning…And then there
was the office manager that delighted in assigning the “5 O’clock Schmuck” phone
call to a different CSR each day, just as we were fixing to leave; literally laughing
his ass off at their annoyed reaction. (I guess this was “stress relief”, but only to
him!) This same boss just couldn’t stand the other supervisor from NY...how often
I was told, “Hey Howard, stop worrying about him, you are not some damn errand
boy for that goddamn technical putz”, then he would call him and tell him to “get off
your butt and come get your own damn credit memo files; my guys have better
things to do here on the phones…”) This was yelled out loud into the phone in front
of the whole office…some professional, stress-free work environment, huh?
The large volume of continuous incoming calls, interruptions while pulling files,
completing customer problem reports (almost every call was a “problem”) while the
Prima-donna Sales Dept reps ONLY took “sales” calls just added to the overall level
of frustration and resentment, as did the conflicting personalities of the Sales vs.
the CSR Manager (Sound familiar??) I stayed about 2.5 years, just to get the steady
local work experience, then started looking around again while the job market was
still relatively open.
Such a scenario merely repeated itself when I began a new job with the SW region
office of a major appliance mfg. co….I was put in charge of a smaller division of
an internal competitor owned by the same parent corporation under a new reorganization
plan…had to tell my outside sales reps and dealers down in Cajun Country new rules
and policies; things they didn’t want to hear, restrictions on their previous ‘”loose as
a goose/Good Ole Boy” mode of operating. As the sole point of contact, I caught a lot
of guff from them…things got considerably worse, stress-wise, when corporate head-
quarters stuck us with a spoiled, stubborn, aging Finance Comptroller who clashed with
the general office manager so much, they rarely communicated with each other. I still had
to answer to BOTH of them, despite the fact that each would tell me they didn’t want me
“wasting valuable time doing his BS work assignments”. The stress got so bad I finally
and literally had to force them into a meeting together, threatening to quit immediately
unless they could jointly agree on my “priorities” BEFORE handing me any new
“special projects”….and all this while I still had to answer the phone, take orders, etc.
Out of ONE Stress-Hole and into ANOTHER! Only now, it is another three years
later, and the stress effects, gray hair, etc, were accumulating! Seems to be the nature
of office-clerical/CSR jobs everywhere!
I finally quit that, opting to return to school while my mind was still “salvageable”,
obtain a Paralegal Certificate, so cock-sure that making a radical career change
would automatically guarantee me a normal, low-stress, more “professional”
position and working environment. Unbeknownst to me at the time, most law firms
here in Houston had a strong preference for female paralegals with strong clerical/
typing skills and (supposedly) more submissive personalities. The rare exceptions
were those areas where a male paralegal had some very unique, highly specialized
professional background (as in medicine, intellectual property/patents) which was
not very common, or some unpopular, not highly-esteemed, high stress field like
Debt Collection where it was generally assumed a male would be more suited. ..
Guess where I ended UP?...In the commercial legal department of a Houston-
based national COLLECTION AGENCY!
Things were great the first year; I enjoyed working with the Senior Commercial
Attorney; a very sharp, aggressive, shirt-sleeve type of guy who quickly recognized
my persistence and investigative skills in skip tracing, corporate liability research,
etc, even offered to sponsor me to go back to law school. After the one-year “honey-
moon” period of most corporations, however, the writing was clearly on the wall…
Frequent “blow-ups” he had with management over time spent skip-tracing vs.
“bottom-line productivity, meeting budget”, etc, storming out of the office, often
taking us with him, rumors of dismantling the whole department which eventually
happened, behind the scene political maneuverings, etc.
Lesson learned; if you want to avoid high stress jobs, NEVER work for ANY
Collection Agency in ANY capacity, accept ANY “Customer Service Rep” position,
etc, especially with any employer in “Corporate America” !
(I still recall passing by the cubicle desk of poor Larry, a lifer there with all types of
anxiety-related/ulcer pills at hand, and nervous involuntary facial/hand twitching
galore, and other front line collectors heading straight for “Happy Hour” after
work for some quick, chemically induced “stress relief” almost daily)
Seriously typecast in collections, but insisting on “making lemonade out of lemons”,
I decided to apply for “In-House” positions (as opposed to third party collections)
as a Credit/Collections/Accounts Receivable Recovery Manager for an actual
creditor company providing a product or service directly to the customer.
Armed with my “hardcore” debt recovery and paralegal training/background with
the legal side of business to business collections, I secured such positions as a one-
man Credit/Collection Dept. with several firms whose receivables were way out
of control due to letting their “sales-sluts” run wild, virtually no credit-checks,
just “sell, sell, sell”! One was a computer distributor, one a medical equipment
manufacturer, and the last a major Court Reporting Agency.
If you really seek stress and frustration, try collecting past due accounts from
doctors, hospitals, and attorneys!
Then, ADD to that the stress heaped on top of you by Sales Reps threatening to
“punch your lights out” for “screwing up” their big sale by turning down a poor
credit risk new “client”, a company president telling you to “stay in your own damn
office on the phones, stop wasting other department manager’s time with YOUR
Collection problems” (MY Collection problems? Exactly WHOSE money is involved
here and why did they hire me in the first place,(?) expecting me to collect their A/R
in a virtual void without the internal cooperation of other departments that often
CAUSED the damn “Collection Problem” in the FIRST place, and has the unique
leverage or relationship with the delinquent client to effect a quicker, easier, more
pleasant recovery while trying to “salvage” the account and help turn them into
a timely-paying client for the future? A stubborn, corporate “tunnel-vision” type
mentality with everyone working in a separate box can be quite disastrous, highly
counter-productive, and MORE Stress- inducing for everyone in ANY business,
especially in debt recovery. Credit/Collection Managers are the ‘unsung, and most
unappreciated heroes” of most American Businesses.., yet rather than being respected
or rewarded, they are often treated to mega-doses of additional internal stress from
their own damn employers whose financial interests they protect daily, being chronically
undermined by their own sales force, brazenly or secretly flaunting policies and procedures
at every opportunity for their big fat commission check, often paid out BEFORE the
company itself gets full payment from the client!
I belatedly realized that since this pattern kept repeating itself regardless of
employer or industry, I was forever doomed to suffer the “Eternal Stress” of a
thankless, underpaid “career” and never be more than a glorified “bill collection
clerk” with little, if any opportunity for advancement, internal support, nor even
much sense of job satisfaction, accomplishment, etc.
So, 17 years ago, I quit my last J.O.B. (finally precipitated by a “demand” that I
take a “typing course” and not “bother” others with “MY Collection problems”!)
I never looked back; my health and mental outlook improved immediately;
no more tension stomach aches/headaches, no more waking up at 6 or 7 am,
wolfing down breakfast, and reluctantly “schlepping” (dragging) my sorry ass
onto the freeway for that hourly commute to hell and back again 8-10 hours later.
Imagine having to drive on the “SW STRESSWAY” every morning just to go to
what you know is a Stress-Laden prison, performing the same routine day after day!
Not much of a life to look forward to, except for getting the hell OUT (Retirement)
at a point when my health might deteriorate even further.
You have GOT to have more respect for yourself than THIS! There has GOT to
be more in life that only YOU can take responsibility for, with or without my help.
My only regrets were giving up a steady “paycheck” and “benefits”…You can
learn to live with THIS kind of stress by being thrifty, creative, and having faith
in YOURSELF …the prospect of forcing oneself to STAY in a stressful environment,
toxic relationship, or job and submit to the cancer of stress as a corporate-dependent
wage-slave drone is just unthinkable to me now.
The feeling of freedom and stress-relief is “indescribably delicious”! You just can’t
appreciate the joy and peace of DE-stressing your life until you actually personally
EXPERIENCE it.. And that requires dedication, honest self-examination, sacrifice,
and taking positive ACTION to eliminate and/or transcend it as much as possible.
It’s all about personal EMPOWERMENT and TAKING CONTROL of your life.
So, why do I bore you with all this job history recanting and ranting? Simply to illustrate
or prove that I am NO STRANGER TO STRESS, I made the decision to take control
and ERADICATE it at it’s roots. And with your cooperation, I can motivate and guide
YOU in doing the same for your own sanity, physical health, and happiness for the rest
of your life. Allow me to share the benefit of my diverse life-stress experiences and
wisdom gained through the “school of hard knocks” spanning a 35 year period before
finally “waking up, smelling the coffee” and “Getting Born Again” in sweet relief,
Peace, and Reason. Amen, brothers & sisters!
Enough said for now; if you are serious about making some REAL changes in your
life, living longer and happier by exposing and “exorcising the demons of stress”
at their ROOTS, please consider allowing me the privilege and honor of guiding you
along this path of freedom as your personal “Stress-Buster” life-coach.
I offer a highly competitive, comparatively low-cost session (45-60min.) no more
than the cost of most massages, but affording you a type of stress-relief that is
more radical and longer lasting on many more levels. The last thing I would want
to do is to add to any already existing financial stress, or price myself out of a market
that really needs such a service. Again I am probably not a viable substitute for those
who may truly need professional psychological counseling, a medical diagnosis, etc,
but rather an affordable, down to earth ALTERNATIVE for those who simply require
a caring “guide” who has himself “been there, done that, solved that…”
Most of my hourly sessions are via interactive, pre-arranged telephone
(“REAL-VOICE”) and/or regular e-mail; nothing fancy or “high-tech”.
I have devised a simple payment arrangement that protects BOTH of us
in this age of online account “hacking” of third party payment agents which
I do not use due to both this potential risk AND to keep my costs/fees down.
I do not make any long-distance/out of area phone calls, and I will not have
access to the funds you have deposited into YOUR checking account until
at least the day AFTER our scheduled session.
This way you are not paying for a service BEFORE you actually RECEIVE it.
The vast majority of “Life-Coaches” expect you to render full payment IN
ADVANCE BEFORE any service is rendered to you and before you even get to
know each other. My position is that this can cause even more stress, anxiety,
and “trust” issues before we even get started, especially in this day of internet
scams, frauds, etc, particularly those involving “upfront” payment fees.
My way, I receive a legal “promise” to be paid, but only AFTER my service is
actually delivered to you. I believe this is the fairest way to operate that we can both
feel more comfortable about without the added complication and expense of any
third party , cyber-payment parties.
Normally, 2-4 sessions a month over a 3-6 month period is “par for the course” to
really make a difference with most individuals, but there are always exceptions
based on individual needs, availability, finances, etc. Personal face to face sessions
can also be arranged for a slightly higher fee, but only in the nearby SW Houston
area (Alief, Stafford, Westchase, Sharpstown, etc). Driving is one of those stresses
in life that I prefer to keep to a minimum; it often wastes time, energy, focus, AND
gasoline!
You may make a monthly commitment in advance, several months, or even set up
one “a la carte” session if you prefer, just to see how it goes between us, and how
helpful you think I am going to be should we continue on. There is no further charge
for reasonable, occasional questions or support for issues that may arise between
sessions via telephone or by e-mail. “Package Deals” may also be arranged in
advance upon mutual agreement.
I currently offer a free, initial 15 to 30 minute phone consultation to answer any of
your questions, concerns, and to assess whether I feel I can be of benefit to you,
given your particular stress situation. So, you have nothing to lose by calling me,
and most likely a lot of peace, or even future health to gain…There is no further
obligation nor pressure; you can think about it as long as you like.
Should you wish to proceed, I will e-mail you a “Client Agreement” that you can
print-out, review, sign, and return.
Wishing you a Stress-Free day and life,
Howard G. Lehrman
“DE-Stress Your Life” Personal Life-Coach/Consultant,
(Specializing in Job Stress, Natural Health, Money Management, Noise Pollution,
Dysfunctional Dogmas & Beliefs, Retirement Adjustment “Transitioning”)
Founder of “Noise-Busters of Houston” and “Houston Citizens Against Noise-Pollution
& Audio Abuse”, “Better Budgeting Consultants”, Houston, Tx, USA
281-568-5180 (usually after 3 pm)
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