Earlier this year I read a Reuters article that stuck with me. The topic: Customer satisfaction. According to the article, satisfying the increasing demands of consumers will be the number-one priority of U.S. retailers in 2008, based on results of a survey released by IBM and the National Retail Federation. "Focusing on the customer always ranks high, but this is the first time in several years it is projected to be the most important area," the article stated.

A recent book entitled "No Child Left in the Woods" by Richard Liu chronicles how children no longer spend time outdoors the way they used to, and the problems that lack of interest is causing.

Liu calls it "Nature Deficit Disorder," and claims that kids are spending all their free time behind computers or in front of video games or television sets. The result: An epidemic of childhood obesity, a growing number of children under 12 with Type II Diabetes, and increased incidences of high blood pressure among today's youth.