"Certified" ???

     Do you remember me telling you about sorting through all of the "piles"? Well, in that there process, I found a paper on which I had jotted down some blogging topics. (Come on, you know your looking forward to me writing about them, so that you can read them ... o;-p)

     While Brian and I were doing our 'hurried home trip' from our anniversary get away, we passed a vehicle which had one of those magnetic signs attached. You see lots of them around town. It's a relatively inexpensive way for people to promote their business. So it wasn't the sign itself that kept our attention and piked our curiosity, but rather what the sign said.

     According to their sign, they were a "Certified Home Organizer". 

     I questioned how, or for what, do you get certified (in) to be a "certified home organizer"? I questioned if a mom had to have had a certain number of kids to qualify? Did the health department have to semi condemn your home and then you clean and organize it enough to pass their follow up inspection, in order to qualify as a "certified home organizer"? I mean, you have to pass some sort of a test, know some type of specific/specialized information in order to be "certified", right?

    We got talking about that. Here are some of the areas we covered -

    - a "certified public accountant" has to have been approved by the IRS. In other words, they have to prove they have a good working knowledge of the current tax laws.

    - a "certified welder" (which our Brent is) has to take and pass certain tests, proving they know how to weld certain types of metals, certain ways, so that the weld will hold, etc.

   - a "certified life guard" has to take and pass tests which include things like CPR, being able to rescue a body out of deep water, etc.. I took the course as a teenager, but didn't pass due to lack of body strength. While I was able to pull a full size male body some distance to get it out of the water, I wasn't able to keep their head above water the whole time.
   - a "certified chimney sweep". On one episode of the 'cable' TV show "Dirtiest Jobs", Mike was in attendance at a class which people must attend to become "certified chimney sweeps". They had to pass tests in testing the safety in the chimney's structure; in how to handle it if a fire should start while your working on the chimney; on proper, effective methods of doing the cleaning; of cleaning up after everything, etc..
   - a "certified babysitter". The Day Camp we were a part of at lest use to offer a class in this as one of their 'craft' selections. The test to be a "certified babysitter" included such things as infant CPR, what to do if a child was choking on something, in what type of situations do you call 911 before you call the parents, etc. .
   - a "certified EMS driver/technician". They must pass tests in medical diagnosing, in safety procedures for moving patients with varying types of injuries, in being able to clearly relay information to the technicians at the hospital via radio, and even in driving skills.

    For all of those "certifications", there requirements make absolute sense. But for what, do you get certified (in) to be a "certified home organizer"?!?!
    I just went to the on line dictionary site and looked up the word "certified". Of the six definitions given, I thought the one as a verb -> "used with an object", would be the appropriate application. Here is what it said for that:

1. to attest as certain; give reliable information of; confirm: He certified the truth of his claim.

2. to testify to or vouch for in writing: The Medical examiner will certify his findings to the court.

3. to guarantee; endorse reliably: to certify a document with an official seal. {such as birth or marriage certificates}

4. to guarantee (a check) by writing on its face that the account against which it is drawn has sufficient funds to pay it.

5. to award a certificate to (a person) attesting to the completion of a course of study or the passing of a qualifying examination.

6. to declare legally insane and committable to a mental institution.

7. Archaic . to assure or inform with certainty.

   Numbers two (2) through five (5) seem to aleign with what we had thought.
   Number six (6) is something which I'm often amazed hasn't happened to me. ;-p  Those 'pink bunnies' are again (or is that still ?) attacking ....
   But numbers one (1) and seven (7) seem to imply that somebody could just state that your capable of such a thing.  Humm mmm.... Wouldn't that actually be 'giving references'? In that case, shouldn't the sign on the car have read, "Home Organizer for hire - references available?"

    We're curious -
   a) how do you think somebody would become a "certified home organizer"?
   b) are you "certified" in some area? If so, what?

    and c) .... you do realize don't you, that somebody CAN be a very organized individual, but due to the fact that they are not the only one living in a home, the house might not hold lots of evidence to that fact .....   o;-p