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WITandWISDOM(tm) - October 6, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "The ideas that have lighted my way have been kindness, beauty and truth." - Albert Einstein Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright (c) ACTS International, 2004, http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.php ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Benny: The Man on the Bus By Michael Josephson of Character Counts (447.3) This is a parable about leadership. A teacher assigned her 12th-graders to pick a leader and write an essay. Most kids wrote about famous people, but a student named Julius titled his paper, "Benny: The Man on the Bus." "I've been taking a public bus to school for years," he wrote. "Most passengers were going to work and almost no one ever talked to anyone else. "About a year ago, an elderly man got on the bus and said loudly to the driver, 'Good morning!' Most people looked up annoyed and the bus driver just grunted. The next day the man got on at the same stop and again he said loudly, 'Good morning!' to the driver. By the fifth day, the driver greeted the man with a cheerful 'Good morning!' and Benny said loudly, 'My name is Benny. What's yours?' The driver said his name was Ralph. "That was the first time any of us heard the driver's name and soon people began to talk to each other and say hello to Ralph and Benny. After about a month, Benny extended his cheerful 'Good morning!' to the whole bus. Within a few days his 'Good morning!' was returned by a whole bunch of 'Good mornings' and the entire bus seemed to be friendlier. "If a leader is someone who makes something happen, Benny was our leader in friendliness. "A month ago, Benny didn't get on the bus. Some of us thought he died and no one knew what to do. The bus got awful quiet again. "So I started to act like Benny and say, 'Good morning!' to everyone and they cheered up again. I guess I'm now the leader." Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright (c) ACTS International, 2004, http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.php ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Glossary of Terms for Home Seekers By Margaret Long If you are currently perusing those ads in the Real Estate section of your local newspaper in hopes of finding "THE House", here are some terms which you will constantly encounter. A familiarization with these terms may save you hours of fruitless looking. Here they are: Ad Term . . . . What it REALLY Means "cozy" . . . . small "lush landscaping" . . . . overgrown "low maintenance yard" . . . . concrete "cute starter home" . . . . not much, but it's small and cheap "nostalgic" . . . . it's OLD "good ventilation" . . . . no air conditioning "home with a view" . . . . it doesn't face a wall "freeway convenient" . . . . you could build a private on-ramp from the backyard! "Hillside property!" . . . . Watch Your Step! "Highly upgraded" . . . . It has carpets "Older Spanish Style" . . . . Adobe hut "Fixer-upper" . . . . It's a mess "Needs a little TLC" . . . . It's a mess "lots of potential here!" . . . . It's a mess "Perfect for children" . . . . They can't hurt this one "Mature neighborhood" . . . . It's all downhill from here! "Owner desperate" . . . . He can't give it away "Close to schools/shopping" . . . . Right next door "Must see to believe" . . . . This house is unimaginable! Source: Laugh & Lift, http://www.laughandlift.com/list.html ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: I am a first-grade teacher and a new empty-nester. One night I was trying out an art project: making a person with simple materials. I took a coat hanger, attached a paper-plate face, put a shirt on the hanger, and stuffed it. Then I set it on the couch to see how it looked. Later that evening, my son walked through the door, home for a surprise visit. Taking one look at my coat-hanger friend sitting on the couch, he said, "Mom, it's not that bad, is it?" Source: Pulpit Supply, http://lively.ca/mailman/listinfo/pulpitsupply_lively.ca ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: While on a study tour with an international group of journalists, we struggled to understand the local currency. But in the Ukraine, one guy was baffled and amused by the change he received from the $20 American bill he had given a clerk: in bills, $17 American; in change, an American quarter and a deutsche mark; and in chewing gum, two sticks. Submitted by Lorraine