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... and, just for fun, check out the Animator vs. Animation show! Extremely Funny!Questions? Comments?Feel free to email: Jonathan HinshawJon@EbwayDev.com www.EbwayDev.com-------------------  Websites that Work!
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Greetings!
I have a few memories of high school (after all, it has been 20-uh, OK 30-well, a long time ago), but one sticks out clearly and dearly. I was in 10 grade, and one of the classes I did OK in was typing. Mrs. Brown was the teacher, she was fair, but not easy. You had to type, and type with accuracy to pass. I did, I think I got a B in the class.
But that's not what I remember.
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Thanks, Mrs. Brown
The typing class was about 20 feet away from my locker. Just a few steps away. Prior to class, Mrs. Brown would stand in the hall, and just watch over things. The day I remember, a girl near my locker dropped a ton of books. You know, some people just had arms full of homework, etc. I tried not to burden myself too much in that area, so I usually had a notebook and a pencil, not a collection like others had. I put my books down, helped her pick up her pounds of knowledge. She was across the hall, so I walked over to help. She thanked me, went on her way. Not an earth stopping event.
Now, I realize it is easy to be helpful when the other person is great looking, a star athlete, or a well know personality. It is not quite as easy when they are just one of the many people we see each day and don't even notice. She blended in, can't recall if I even knew her name or not. Mrs. Brown saw the interchange, walked over, and said "you're gonna turn out alright". I can remember to this day her face, her expression, and those words. Amazing. It was not a huge deal, she didn't give me a hug (note to you young people, in the day, you could actually hug students and not worry about prison), and slap me on the back, just said I was going to turn out OK. I guess if I went to therapy a doctor would say I have issues or something. Maybe I do, just know that those words will be with me forever. In a positive way, not haunting or anything weird. I did turn out OK. I think so, anyway, and that is critical to a healthy self-image, what you feel about yourself.
Flash forward six years.
I am in college. Went to Rolla, School of Mines in Rolla, Mo. Yes Virginia, I am an Engineer, and proud of it. 5000 guys, 250 girls. And many of them were hard to detect. So having a girlfriend was a big deal. I was with some of my fraternity brothers, and we met a couple of young ladies in a restaurant. One thing lead to another, I asked one if she would like to go out. Another thing lead to another, and we started dating. Later on, we talked about first impressions. I told her that one thing that attracted me to her was the fact that I had never heard a cuss word come from her mouth, she was always a perfect lady. That impressed me, because most of the girls at that school talked tough to impress the guys, to fit in. She didn't, and still doesn't to this day. She said what impressed her about me was that I opened the door for her, and was polite to all women.
Kind of neat, that the things that drew us together are not hard to acquire. It's not like I had to train to run a marathon, or study the piano, or learn to sing. Just be polite. And she just had to use words that are commonly found in speech, and hold her temper.
Where am I going with this?
Stay tuned, I've got a plan. First of all, you may be a Mrs. Brown to someone and give them a positive memory that will last a lifetime. Just watch what happens around you. In your neighborhood, at work, at the grocery store, people are always getting involved with other people, doing things with no thought of repayment, just doing the right thing. So let them know you appreciate that sort of action, thank them for going the extra steps, for doing more than the bare minimum. It is amazing what you can do when you recognize a person for doing the right things. It makes you feel better, and may just be what was needed to lift them up on a tough day. You never know, they may actually decide to make that a life-style, and it may bring them to a place where a future mate notices that they act different, in a positive way. See, I did connect the two stories, I am not just rambling here.
It seems like it is easier to catch someone doing the wrong thing, and then give them "help", and let them know what a miserable excuse for a human being they turned out to be. So this week, look for a positive situation, someone doing their job well, holding their temper, watching their language, opening a door, you see where I am going. It will be fun. And the person who has been noticed just might remember that compliment decades later. I did.
Just as a note
I married that girl who has a polite mouth, and we have been married 39 years in August. I have a friend who has been married 40 years, 12 to the first wife, 12 to the second, and 16 to the third. Not sure you can count it that way. May was 17 when we got married, had been out of school a year already. So she is smart as well as polite. We taught 11th graders at North Phoenix Baptist Church for over a decade, we told them they had to be careful who they dated, since they may end up marrying them someday. We also said they did not know what they wanted in a mate at their tender age of 17, they are usually fixed on the superficial. So they would ask May, when did you get married? We said that was not important, times were different, blah, blah, blah.
I digress...
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Find someone
doing the good thing, tell them they made an impression. Both of you
will feel better. And your son/daughter/grandson/granddaughter even
nieces/nephews, tell them you are proud of them, and tell them they
will turn out OK, it will make them feel better, and you will have had
an influence in their lives. Oh, lest I forget, tell your significant
other that you are proud of them, and that they TURNED out great. Go
ahead, ask me how you manage to stay married almost 4 decades. Go
ahead. I have no idea, other than pure blind luck. Little humor
there. Two rules, never go to bed angry, talk it out now. Second, it
is your fault. Yes, your fault. Not hers, yours. So apologize now.
And you are wrong. Every-time. Thanks for listening, we'll talk later.
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