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WIT & WISDOM - September 18, 1998 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are. - Roy Disney, CARING QUOTES [1] ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: It was a bitter, cold evening in northern Virginia many years ago. The old man's beard was glazed by winter's frost while he waited for a ride across the river. The wait seemed endless. His body became numb and stiff from the frigid north wind. He heard the faint, steady rhythm of approaching hooves galloping along the frozen path. Anxiously, he watched as several horsemen rounded the bend. He let the first one pass by without an effort to get his attention. Then another passed by, and another. Finally, the last rider neared the spot where the old man sat like a snow statue. As this one drew near, the old man caught the rider's eye and said, "Sir, would you mind giving an old man a ride to the other side? There doesn't appear to be a passageway by foot." Reining his horse, the rider replied, "Sure thing. Hop aboard." Seeing the old man was unable to lift his half-frozen body from the ground, the horseman dismounted and helped the old man onto the horse. The horseman took the old man not just across the river, but to his destination, which was just a few miles away. As they neared the tiny but cozy cottage, the horseman's curiosity caused him to inquire, "Sir, I notice that you let several other riders pass by without making an effort to secure a ride. Then I came up and you immediately asked me for a ride. I'm curious why, on such a bitter winter night, you would wait and ask the last rider. What if I had refused and left you there?" The old man lowered himself slowly down from the horse, looked the rider straight in the eyes, and replied, "I've been around these here parts for some time. I reckon I know people pretty good." The old-timer continued, "I looked into the eyes of the other riders and immediately saw there was no concern for my situation. It would have been useless even to ask them for a ride. But when I looked into your eyes, kindness and compassion were evident. I knew, then and there, that your gentle spirit would welcome the opportunity to give me assistance in my time of need." Those heartwarming comments touched the horseman deeply. "I'm most grateful for what you have said," he told the old man. "May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion." With that, Thomas Jefferson turned his horse around and made his way back to the White House. [2] ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: A magazine recently ran a "Dilbert quotes" contest. They were looking quotes from real life Dilbert-type managers. Here are some of the submittals . . . 1. As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday and employees will receive their cards in two weeks. (This was the winning quote from Fred Dales at Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington.) 2. What I need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter. (Lykes Lines Shipping) 3. How long is this Beta guy going to keep testing our stuff? (Programming intern, Microsoft IS development team) 4. E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business. (Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company) 5. This project is so important, we can't let things that are more important interfere with it. (Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service) 6. Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule. No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We've been working on it for months. Now, go act busy for a few weeks and I'll let you know when it's time to tell them. (R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/3M Corp.) 7. My Boss spent the entire weekend retyping a 25-page proposal that only needed corrections. She claims the disk I gave her was damaged and she couldn't edit it. The disk I gave her was write-protected. (CIO of Dell Computers) 8. Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what 'I' say." (Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation) 9. "How About Friday?" My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, "That would be better for me." (Shipping executive, FTD Florists) 10. "We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees." (Switching supervisor, AT&T Lone Lines Division) 11. We recently received a memo from senior management saying: "This is to inform you that a memo will be issued today regarding the subject mentioned above." (Microsoft, Legal Affairs Division) 12. One day my Boss asked me to submit a status report to him concerning a project I was working on. I asked him if tomorrow would be soon enough. He said "If I wanted it tomorrow, I would have waited until tomorrow to ask for it!" (New business manager, Hallmark Greeting Cards.) [3] ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Our jobs sometimes consume us to the point that we eat, drink, and sleep the job. Every waking moment, we wonder whether we remembered to do something, or are thinking about the day's schedule. There comes a time, when all realize that you have reached this point. Our teenage son has worked at McDonald's for about a year. He is well-liked, therefore gets a lot of hours. He has always taken pride in doing a good job. He is very thorough. When working at the drive-through, he is careful to be very clear in his speaking voice. One day, our family went to a competitor restaurant to get our dinner. Before eating, we asked our son to say the blessing on the food. We all bowed our heads, he removed his hat and in a clear voice, with pure and honest humility, said: "Welcome to McDonald's, may I take your order please?" [4] ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: The same side of the moon always faces Earth because the moon rotates on its axis at the same rate as it revolves around the Earth - about once a month. This is called "synchronous rotation". To see pictures of the moon and learn more about it, visit http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/luna.html. [5] ~~~~~~~ CONTRIBUTORS: [1] (Collected and edited by the brothers Val and Bill Halamandaris) [2] (Jim Rooney via Bill's Punch Line [4] (Vicki and Steve Ferdig) [5] (The Learning Kingdom http://www.LearningKingdom.com/join.html) |