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WITandWISDOM(tm) - June 14, 2005 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Your most valuable asset can be your willingness to persist longer than anyone else. - Brian Tracey Source: Quote Lady's Quote of the Day, mailto:quote-a-day-subscribe@yahoogroups.com ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: I've Gotta Be Me By Kristin S. Door Twenty years ago I was a brand-new federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in California. One of my first cases involved the prosecution of a man who had been arrested by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents in a "reverse sting." Unlike a "sting" where the drug agents pretend to be buying drugs, these DEA agents were pretending to be cocaine sellers, and arrested Mr. Smith when he showed up with sixty thousand dollars cash to buy a kilo of cocaine. Aware that I was a new prosecutor, Mr. Smith's attorney, an older experienced defense attorney, decided to take the case to trial, apparently assuming a "not guilty" verdict would be easy. Late one afternoon I began cross-examining Mr. Smith, who had the daunting task of trying to convince the jury that the sixty thousand dollars seized from him wasn't money from previous drug sales, and that he had a credible explanation for meeting DEA agents in a parking lot late at night. Like many new prosecutors, I had little experience cross-examining witnesses, and the result was that Mr. Smith was artfully evading my every question. My questions were technically correct but deadly dull. The jurors were bored and acquittal looked certain. After court concluded for the day, the DEA agent who had arrested Mr. Smith dragged me back to my office, slammed the door, and began screaming at me. "You are going to lose this case! You've got to be like Ricky!" He kept insisting that if Ricky were cross-examining Mr. Smith, he would interrogate him in his own unique style that had brought many "kingpin" drug dealers to their knees. I went home that night, devastated. How could I be more like Ricky H? I called a former law school classmate for advice on how I could magically transform myself into "Ricky" overnight. Her advice was simple: "You aren't Ricky, and don't even try to be! If you try to adopt his cut-throat, demolishing style, it will come off in front of the jury as phony and contrived, and you will lose the case for sure." I thought long and hard about her advice and decided she was right. With newfound confidence that I could win the case "in my own way," I returned to court the next morning to complete Mr. Smith's cross-examination. By the time I got done, Mr. Smith's story and his credibility had been ripped to shreds. When I sat back down, my DEA agent leaned over and whispered "Great job!" The jury returned a guilty verdict in less than an hour. Outside the courtroom Mr. Smith's attorney came over to me, shook my hand, and said, "That was fantastic. I didn't think you had it in you!" I learned that my success in the courtroom was not dependent on being like a man but would come from being myself. By Kristin S. Door (c) 2002 from Chicken Soup for the Working Woman's Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Aubery, Chrissy and Mark Donnelly. In order to protect the rights of the copyright holder, no portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent. All rights reserved. http://isbn.nu/0757300448 Visit us and read other sample stories and meet the authors. http://www.chickensoup.com Source: Beliefnet Chicken Soup, http://ydib.net/n_soup/subscribe.shtml ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Fatal Things to Say to Your Pregnant Wife "Well, couldn't they induce labor? The 25th is the Super Bowl." "I bet you're about five pounds away from a surprise visit from that Richard Simmons fella." "Fred at the office passed a stone the size of a pea. Boy, that's gotta hurt." "Whoa! For a minute there, I thought I woke up next to Willard Scott!" "I'm jealous! Why can't men experience the joy of childbirth?" "Are your ankles supposed to look like that?" "Whoa, you're awfully puffy looking today." "I finished the Oreo's." "Not to imply anything, but I don't think the kid weighs 40 pounds." "Man! That rose tattoo on your hip is the size of Madagascar!" "Retaining water? Yeah, like the Hoover Dam retains water." Source: The Funnies, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/andychaps_the-funnies ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A man writing at the post office desk was approached by an older fellow with a post card in his hand. The old man said, "Sir, I'm sorry to bother you but could you address this post card for me? My arthritis is acting up today and I can't even hold a pen." "Certainly sir," said the younger man, "I'd be glad to." He wrote out the address and also agreed to write a short message and sign the card for the man. Finally, the younger man asked, "Now, is there anything else I can do for you?" The old fellow thought about it for a moment and said, "Yes, at the end could you just add, 'PS: Please excuse the sloppy hand-writing.'? Source: Monday Fodder mailto:dgaufaaa@iohk.com?subject=Subscribe_Monday_Fodder http://www.fishermansnet.com/monday-fodder/ ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Project Gutenberg is the oldest producer of free electronic books (eBooks or etexts) on the Internet. Our collection of more than 15.000 eBooks was produced by hundreds of volunteers. I recently discovered a website, project Gutenberg, which publishes (on the Internet) old and rare books and also audio clips. For instance a recording of Bell and Watson how the Telephone was invented. There are many very old audio recordings and other interesting publications. There is a collection of more than 15,000 eBooks produced by hundreds of volunteers. http://www.gutenberg.org/ Submitted by Wayne McDougall