{Straight From the Heart} *Do it Right* 3/6/00
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Welcome to "Straight From the Heart!"
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Before we get to today's story I wanted to encourage everyone to
support my friend Sarah Stone, on behalf of her efforts to help a
nine year old boy with Leukemia. At the end of this email today,
you will find some information on what she is doing, and how you can
easily help. Please take a moment out of your busy life and read
through it...
Thanks!
Michael
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DO IT RIGHT!
By Joseph Walker
Janelle was running late for work, so she just had time for a quick look
at herself in the mirror as she was going out the door. What she saw
there made her stop dead in her tracks.
Her white blouse was -- shudder! -- wrinkled.
Normally, this would not be a huge problem for her. Being a busy
college student just one year removed from her teenage years, she wasn't
exactly obsessive-compulsive about the neatness of her clothes (do the
words Grunge Goddess mean anything to you?). But her boss at the
restaurant where she works saw things a little differently. He had
recently lectured the entire staff on the importance of appearance, and
had specifically mentioned the need for servers to wear clean, unwrinkled
blouses. As assistant manager, Janelle felt it was important to set an
example for the other employees. But if she stopped to iron the blouse
normally, she would be late -- and promptness was an area of even greater
concern to her boss.
So she grabbed her iron -- well, OK, she had to rummage around for a few
minutes to find the blasted thing -- and plugged it in and set it for low
heat. Carefully holding her blouse away from her body, she proceeded to
iron it while she was wearing it.
It didn't seem like such a bad idea at first (although OSHA requires
that I issue this official disclaimer: PLEASE DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!).
It seemed like a logical -- if somewhat impulsive -- answer to a
pressing problem.
If you'll pardon the expression.
And it seemed to be working -- until Janelle tried to iron the collar
and accidentally ironed her neck by mistake. Then it suddenly seemed
like a really dumb idea -- and a really painful one, as well. It took
more time to treat her burn than it would have taken to iron her shirt
properly. And she spent a miserable shift dealing with the pain of the
burn while trying to convince her leering co-workers that the unsightly
mark was not . . . well, you know . . . a hickey.
We've all been there, haven't we? Maybe we didn't try to iron something
while we were wearing it (although I can't believe Janelle is the first
to try it). But we've all done stuff like that. For me it was cutting
my own hair (whoever said it only takes two weeks to recover from a bad
haircut lied). For a former roommate it was trying to pull his own
wisdom teeth (in his case, we had to rename them "idiot teeth"). For
another college acquaintance, it was trying to change the oil in his car
while the motor was still running (hey, he had a bad battery, and he
wasn't sure he could start it again if he turned it off). We think we're
going to save time or money or effort by doing something spontaneously
creative, and we end up costing ourselves more of everything in the long
run.
"There's a right way and a wrong way of doing things," Dad used to tell
me whenever I'd botch up the look of our yard by trying out a faster,
easier, spontaneously creative way of pulling weeds or edging the lawn
(remind me to tell you sometime about my idea for eliminating the need
for lawn edging with generous applications of gasoline). "If a thing is
worth doing, do it right."
And then he'd send me out to do the job again. And right.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for creativity and spontaneity. But there's
a reason why certain things are done in certain ways. Those old, boring,
predictable ways work.
And they don't leave unsightly, painful marks on your neck.
By Joseph Walker
Valuesguy@netscape.net
Send Joseph an email and let him know what you thought of his writing!
A little bit about Joseph:
Joe Walker has been writing professionally since 1980, when he left
college to join the staff of a daily metropolitan newspaper. For 10
years -- including six as the paper's TV columnist and critic -- he was
part of the mainstream media, and was painfully aware of the
overwhelming negativity of contemporary journalism. Joe says, "Nobody
was looking for real solutions to the problems society was facing; they
were just looking for someone or something to blame the problems on." So
in 1990 Joe began writing ValueSpeak, a weekly syndicated column that
attempts to look at contemporary issues from the perspective of
traditional values. Joe and his wife, Anita, are parents of five
children, with their first grandchild due shortly.
You'll love his new book, How Can you Mend a Broken
Spleen! Ordering is simple and fast at the following Amazon address:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573453005/heart
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Thought For The Day:
"In love, we may find it better to make allowances, rather than make
points."
(Leo Buscaglia)
Verse for the Day:
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a
multitude of sins."
1 Peter 4:8
Kid's Thought For The day:
"Don't sit down until the game is over."
Parent's Thought For The Day
"Dear GOD, I pray for patience. And I want it right now."
-Oren Arnold
Coach's Thought For The Day
"I love boxing. Where else do two grown men prance around in
satin underwear, fighting over a belt?...The one who wins gets
a purse. They do it in gloves. It's the accessory connection I love."
-- John McGovern
Deep Thought For The Day:
"It doesn't matter what temperature the room is, it's always room
temperature."
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Please take a moment and see if this is something you can help with.
I greatly appreciate it!!
Michael
I introduce to you my friend, Sarah Stone, and her efforts to help
a nine year old boy named Jake
Broge beat Leukemia.
*****
On June 4th, I can predict that my Sunday will be somewhat different from
yours. I will be riding my bicycle 100 miles around Lake Tahoe as a member
of Team In Training for Leukemia Society. I will be riding in honor of 9
year old Jacob (Jake) Broge who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic
Leukemia in January of 1998.
Why am I doing this? There is a whole list but here are four reasons…
1. Riding a bike 100 miles is a challenge to conquer.
2. Because Jake deserves to be able to be a kid!
3. Cindi Crawford donated all of the proceeds from her bathing suit
calendar to the Leukemia Society. Since I don't have a bathing suit
calendar (which is a good thing)…guess I'm riding my bike.
4. Sweat cleans pores!
Where do you fit in?
You can invest in me and support me in following ways:
Make a donation to the Leukemia Society on behalf of my effort. ($20, $30 or
more would be terrific!)
Join me for a training ride or two or pull that bike out of the garage
and start training for next year's ride!?
You can also help by not doing the following:
1. Sabotaging my training by offering candy, cookies, etc. Not nice!
2. Asking me "Isn't 100 miles a long way?" Not funny!
3. Asking for photographic proof of me finishing the ride. Not Pretty!
I would appreciate any help you can give in helping Jake.
Best regards!
Sarah Stone
Please make checks payable to: The Leukemia Society
Mail to me at:
Sarah Stone
5164 Anton Drive #302
Madison, WI 53719
P.S. – Don't forget the donation is tax-deductible!
P.S.S. – I will keep you informed of my progress, so send me your email
address!!
My address is: SStone@Chater.net