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WITandWISDOM(tm) - August 10, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Are you rich? Think about it...friendships are priceless, time is invaluable, health is wealth, and love is a treasure. Submitted by B. B. ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Dr. Samuel Weinstein is the chief of pediatric cardio-thoracic surgery for the Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York. In May of 2006, he traveled to El Salvador with Heart Care International in order to provide life-saving operations for less-fortunate children. However, it would take more than his expertise and advanced equipment to save the life of 8-year-old Francisco Calderon Anthony Fernandez. Dr. Weinstein and his team began operating on Francisco's heart shortly before noon. Twelve hours later, the procedure took a deadly turn. "The surgery had been going well, everything was working great, but he was bleeding a lot and they didn't have a lot of the medicines we would use to stop the bleeding," Weinstein said. "After a while, they said they couldn't give him blood because they were running out and he had a rare type.'' In fact, Francisco's blood type was B-negative, which—according to the American Red Cross—is present in only 2 percent of the population. As it was, the only other person in the room with a blood type of B-negative was Dr. Weinstein. Knowing what he had to do, he stepped down from the operating table. As his colleagues continued their precision work, Dr. Weinstein set aside his scalpel, took off his gloves, and began washing his hands and forearm. Then, in the corner of an unfamiliar operating room, the prestigious doctor from one of the most advanced hospitals in the world sat down to give away his own blood. When he had given his pint, Dr. Weinstein drank some bottled water and ate a Pop-Tart. Then—20 minutes after stepping away from the table—he rejoined his colleagues. After watching his own blood begin circulating into the boy's small veins, Dr. Weinstein completed the operation that saved Francisco's heart—and his life. From: Jim Fitzgerald, "Doc Stops Surgery to Give Own Blood to Patient," LiveScience.com (5-26-06) http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/ap_060526_doc_blood.html ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Selections From "The Cynic's Word Book" ARCHITECT - One who drafts a plan of your house and plans a draft of your money. BAIT - A preparation that renders the hook more palatable. The best kind is beauty. CANNON - An instrument employed in the rectification of national boundaries. FASHION - A despot whom the wise both ridicule and obey. GENEROUS - Originally this word meant noble by birth and was rightly applied to a great multitude of persons. It now means noble by nature and is taking a bit of a rest. HASH - There is no definition for this word. Nobody knows what hash is. MERCHANT - One engaged in a commercial pursuit. A commercial pursuit is one in which the thing pursued is a dollar. ONCE - Enough. PAINTING - The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic. REAR - In American military matters, that exposed part of the army that is nearest to Congress. SAINT - A dead sinner revised and edited. TELESCOPE - A device having a relation to the eye similar to that of the telephone to the ear, enabling distant objects to plague us with a multitude of needless details. Source: Mark Mail, http://mrhumor.net/ ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: For years my husband denied he was an aggressive driver. That changed one day when we were out for a ride with our three-year-old, Matthew. Seeing a teaching opportunity, I began quizzing Matthew about traffic lights. "What does a red light mean?" I asked. "Stop." "How about green?" "Go." "And yellow?" In his best impression of Daddy, Matthew bellowed, "Hang on!" Source: Clean Laffs, http://www.cleanlaffs.com/ ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Galactic Pizza in Minneapolis makes pizza with a thought toward good experience - integrated, positive effects in many directions. Quoting from their website: http://www.galacticpizza.com/gpvsnof.html By incorporating a concern for the community -- local, national, and global -- our restaurant can make positive impact on the world in which it operates. - Weather permitting, our food is delivered to your door by 100% electric vehicles. - All of the power purchased to run our restaurant is renewable wind energy. - We have the Second Harvest Heartland pizza, where $1 is donated to this hunger relief organization every time the pizza is ordered. - In season, we try to purchase all of our produce from farms here in Minnesota or in nearby Wisconsin. - 5% of our after tax profits are donated to charity. Wow. If a pizza shop can be this enthusiastic, what if every corporation had such a vision? How would customer experience change across the business world? Source: Good Experience, http://www.goodexperience.com/signup.php