Bogus Impression

While driving my car today a song came on the radio by Suzy Bogguss.  Every time I hear Suzy sing I laugh just a little.  If you have no idea who she is please don't mistake her for "Weird" Al Yankovic.  She isn't trying to make me laugh.  No, the reason I laugh is because of my friend Kenny King.

You see a few years ago Kenny and his wife, Kirsten, convinced Sue and I that we should go to "The Great Minnesota Get Together" (state fair).  We went the same day as the Mary Chapin-Carpenter concert.  My wife Sue and Kirsten thought it was a good idea.  I am still not sure what my role was in any of this, I didn't want to do either of the two activities.  But few people consider me a friend and only Sue would be married to me so I willing went on this journey, if only to be a good friend and husband. 

The opening act for Mary Chapin-Carpenter was Suzy Boggass.  Except Kenny had a mental block and every time he went to say Suzy Bogguss the name came out as Kathy Bogus.  After hearing Kenny call her Kathy Bogus several times the name stuck.  To me her name changed.  If I ever meet Suzy Bogguss I am sure I will call her Kathy.

In grade school a new kid moved to town.  Matt Dawson thought he looked like a bird.  Nearly everybody called him Bird until we were out of high school.  His real name is Bryan Halgremson. 

In college I made several new friends.  One of them was Jon Willis.  He called himself J Dubbs and like Matt Dawson he was excellent at giving out nicknames.  The tall skinny kid down the hall became Lanky and it takes me a minute to remember him as Todd Woolf.

It is ever harder to remember the name Tim Anderson.   Why because he was from Walnut Grove and that meant we all called him Wally. 

During my son Mike's select baseball days he was called "Billy" and we had to warn family when we went to games that when people talked about Billy they were talking about Mike.  (That story is too long for me to cover here.  It has to do with Caddyshack, his bat and the personality of Bob Pettit.)

From history we have the legend of Thomas Jackson a man born on January 21, 1824 and lived with that plain name for over 37 years.  Then at what us Yankees call the First Battle of Bull Run he was nicknamed Stonewall for his bold leadership.  He lived for another 2 years as the famous Confederate General Stonewall Jackson before dying at the battle of Chancellorsville.  Stonewall Jackson is a legend and nearly everybody is familiar with that name.  Monuments have been erected and schools have been name after the Confederate General across the south.  It's Stonewall (2 years) not Thomas (37 years) to everybody!!!

It is more than names however.  Actions tend to stick as well.

At work we have odd or funny stories about people that stick in our minds and form our impressions of certain people.  Often even though we have known somebody for years we still go back in time to a particular incident that is less then flattering to define them in our minds.

Growing up we can remember people labeled for deeds or actions that happened while we were all in grade school.  A kid wets his pants in school and he gets labeled.  A girls makes one bad choice and everybody labels her. 

Maybe the first time you met somebody they said something that cemented your opinion about them. 

I have been told that some people think am a witty and clever.  Many others think that I am a jerk and find me quite obnoxious.  Sometime that is a matter of taste but it also has to the do with the timing of what I said or did.  (I need to work on that.)

But my point isn't about making sure that you make a good impression although that is important.  My point is about treating people the way you want to be treated.

Before you rush to judgement or lock into what you think of somebody I encourage you to make sure you really know the person.  Sometimes that can mean giving people several chances.  None of us likes to be labeled.  With that in mind I would encourage you to give somebody a second chance.  Don't rush to judgement.

Isn't that what we want for ourselves?

It's Elmo Chapin Day

Yesterday would have been my Grandpa’s 91^st birthday.  Every year I send out a tribute to him and encourage others to consider leaving their world better than they found it in honor of him.  I call it Elmo Chapin day.

I am sending the note on a Monday because this year his birthday, January 6^th,  landed on the weekend.  An encouraging sign in my life was that my children remembered the point of Elmo Chapin day.   Hallelujah, they are listening!!

Here is how my Grandpa worked.  He was a servant.  He thought that you should always leave a room or any other place in better shape than you found it. 

So if he saw a piece of garbage on the floor he didn’t wonder who put it there.  He picked it up and threw it away.  If he was leaving a room he turned off the lights when he left the room.

He wasn’t perfect. 

At times he left you wondering how a person could so easily notice and take care of three scraps of paper in a public restroom but was unable to clean the stacks of useless piles of paper out of his own office.  The temptation to ask him how a 6 year old magazine on a subject he could care less about wasn’t garbage just like the paper towel you picked up off the floor ten minutes ago came to me quite often.   His office was always beyond a mess.

My Grandpa not only used this concept on the small level I have suggested above but he carried it out to a much larger level.  Thing that he worked on in his life like give to and supporting missionaries at church, starting the alarm division at Willmar Electric, and helping widows or the underprivileged are larger examples of his wanting to make the world a better place.  Giving people a hand up in the world made his day.

Finding a job or a place to live for somebody down on their luck was typical of Elmo Chapin.

Over the past few years of my declaring an Elmo Chapin day I have received several warm responses from people about how much they appreciated and loved my Grandpa.  They are always fun to receive.  I have also seen countless examples of people being like Elmo Chapin.  That is even more fun.  (Even when it was Dan Williams shutting off the lights on a room full of people leaving us in complete blackness as he left the room.  He laughed and we reminded him that shutting off the lights when you leave a room applies only if you are the last to leave!)

But his concern for his fellow man and the world around us was something we all need to try to emulate. 

Better than a Can Opener

We just received a nice thank you note from my wife, Sue's Dad.  The note included the usually thank yous for gifts given and kinds words of good times spent together over the holidays that most thank you notes tend to include. It also included a line from my father-in-law, Chuck, that many readers would have ignored or failed to catch.

Chuck included a line that said "so glad you got home safe and sound." 

You are likely thinking so what, Dave, of course he is glad his family got home safe and sound! 

I agree but most people don't include a line like that in their thank you notes.  Most thank you notes say things like, "Grandma, Thank you for the video games, I will play with them until my eyes go blind or my thumbs are numb" or "Mom, Thank you for the book.  I will use it to become a better person."  Maybe something like "Honey, Thank you for all six sweaters, I didn't realize my entire wardrobe needed replacing" even "Glad you got me an electric can opener because I was starting to reach my breaking point."

O.K. those were exaggerations but I enjoyed writing them. 

However if you know Chuck Stern you know he never fails to mention safety.  He always has a heart felt warning about some potential danger in life.  It is part of who he is.  The value of safety is never lost on him.  So his thankfulness of his daughter and her family's need to be expressed.  It is an expression of love.  He loves his family and wants them to be safe.  What an honor.

He doesn't us take it for granted. 

That is the mentality I want everybody at Willmar Electric to have for each other.  We should never take each other for granted and we should never take the safety and well being of each other for granted.

I am very grateful that my father-in-law gives our family such a wonderful example and couldn't resist sharing it with everybody.

Let's face it being safe and sound is better then all the video games, books, sweaters and can openers we could possibly have anyways.