The Wind and The Fog
Arriving late at Heathrow Airport, after a long flight, taking a long walk riding a long bus ride I finally arrived at the heart of Commercial London called Oxford Street. It’s not easy traveling alone but somehow I have gotten used to that. I had to spend the night in the city and prepare to leave for Queen’s College in Oxford University and attend a one-week conference – another item in my bucket list that I have drawn up years before.
And as I look at picturesque London my mind brought me back to some historical events that happened many years to this country that few people in ours remember. Steve Farrar in his beautiful book entitled “God Built” talked about this and allow me to share it with you.
The Jump Shot
One day, two elderly men were talking about their favorite sport, basketball.
"I wonder if there'll be basketball in heaven?" Ed asked.
"Of course there will," Henson responded, "or it wouldn't be heaven."
Not long after that, Ed passed away; then, one night while Henson, was sleeping, Ed appeared in all his radiant glory- in a bright light at the foot of Henson’s bed. Henson was badly shaken.
"Calm down, Henson," Ed reassured his friend.
"Everything's going to be all right. I just came back to visit and to bring some good news and some bad news. "
Mayonnaise and Coffee
One day a conversation took place between the husband and the wife.
The wife was not in a very happy disposition that morning and so she complained:
"You think so much of your old game you don't even remember when you were married."
The husband calmly replied: "Of course I do, my dear; it was the day I sank that 30-foot putt." Oops. Priorities!
Happy Father’s Day
"My father did not tell me how to live. He lived, and let me watch him do it," says Clarence Budinton Kelland.
This is why I am so careful. I know that my children may not believe 100% I say but they certainly believe 100% I do. The best thing I can leave my children is a good example.
What is a Father?
Somebody wrote this material and I simply added a little side comments of my own.
What is a father?
A father is a person who is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic.
He growls when he feels good and laughs very loud when he is scared half-to-death. He needs to be a picture of strength even though he may be scared and sad from the inside.
A Short Elevator Ride
A career military man, who had retired as a Master Sergeant, was telling the new recruits how he handled officers during his years of service.
"It didn't matter a hoot if he was a full bird colonel, Major General, an Admiral, or what! I always told those guys exactly where to get off."
"Wow, you must have been something," the admiring young soldiers remarked. "What was your job in the service?"
"Elevator operator in the Pentagon."
No wonder. Now let’s go to the serious side of the story.
Control What You Think
Aboard a flight from L.A. to New York, Grandma Esther was taking her very first flight.
They had only been aloft a few minutes when the elderly lady complained to the stewardess that her ears were popping.
The girl smiled and gave the older woman some chewing gum, assuring her that many people experienced the same discomfort. When they landed in New York, Grandma thanked the stewardess.
"The chewing gum worked fine," she said, "but tell me, how do I get it out of my ears?"
Well obviously, grandma was not thinking.
Principles For Tenacity
Albert Einstein could not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven. Beethoven's music teacher said, "As a composer he's hopeless." The great inventor Thomas Edison did not do well in school either. His teachers thought he was stupid. F. W. Woolworth couldn't get a job. Merchants said he didn't have enough sense to wait on customers. A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because the editor said Disney didn't have any good ideas. "You can't sing. You have no voice at all,” said the voice coach to Enrico Caruso. An editor told Louisa May Alcott she was not capable of writing anything that would appeal to a popular audience. And some well meaning relatives of my wife told her years ago that she has chosen a loser for a husband. I would like to think that they were all wrong. Rather than carrying a grudge against them I took upon me to nurture the drive to prove them wrong. And this takes a lot of tenacity.
A Secretary’s Rules for Her Boss
One time the boss became upset and talked to his secretary.
Boss says: Every time I want you, you're on the phone, Miss Gonzales!
Secretary says: They were all business calls, sir.
“Oh really?” says the boss. “Well, in the future don't address my clients as darling.”.... oops!
In another office the boss was giving the secretary some very important instructions.
Boss: If Mr. Santos comes into the office today, tell him I'm out.
Secretary: Yes, sir, anything else?
Boss: Yes. And don't look too busy when he shows up or he'll know you're lying.
Secretaries. How can bosses and leaders like me survive our career without them?
It is to my loss that I will miss speaking in this year’s National Convention of the Philippine Associations of Secretaries. Hands tied due to other commitments. But I distinctly remember getting to meet so many lovely people when I spoke to the same group some years ago. Many of them have become my friends to this day. Interesting personalities. All faithful in protecting their bosses. Overworked, underpaid? Maybe but one thing is obvious. Many of them are not given enough credit and recognition for their crucial roles in the work place. Despite this they wear a smile on their face and carry a grim determination in their heart to make their bosses succeed, secretaries are the heroes in the work place.
Is Your Boss a Jerk?
The boss was complaining in our staff meeting the other day that he wasn't getting any respect. Later that morning he went to a local sign shop and bought a small sign that read:
"I'm the Boss!" He then taped it to his office door.
Later that day when he returned from lunch, he found that someone had taped a note to the sign that said: "Your wife called, she wants her sign back!"