Gifts Don’t Always Come In Packages
Throughout the day, we all meet people. Some are good, and some are bad. Some become friends, and some become enemies. Heck, some you even marry. But you never know when you are going to meet someone that will actually change your life.
A few years ago, I decided to change careers, as some middle-aged people do. One of my new co-workers was a gentleman named Butch. He had spent most of his life doing communications work, and he therefore had a lot of knowledge. Not being totally stupid, I realized that if I spent some time around him, some of that knowledge might accidentally leak into my brain.
I followed this guy around like a puppy on a leash, and I did learn a lot from him. He taught me by showing me how to do things and then letting me go at it. Sure that sounds simple, but he added a twist: he did not inspect my work until we were totally through.
I once wired an entire office wrong. Nothing worked. He had shown me how to do the job, I told him I understood, and then he left me there to do it. I flubbed it, and with flying colors.
After he came back, he tested all of my wiring, and told me it was pitiful (though he used other words). He then told me to re-wire everything. Again, I went at it. This time we passed 50%. Again he tested, and again I rewired. Finally after 4 rewires, I had the entire office working up to specs.
This gentleman then used a phrase that, over the next 4 years, I literally came to hate hearing him say: “These are the lessons that will stick with you for a lifetime”.
Every time I screwed something up, I got to hear that sentence, with him chuckling behind it. Even when it was not my fault, and I was fixing something someone else had done, I still got it. I heard it so much that I even had nightmares of him telling me that.
But I did notice one thing. If I screwed something up the first time, I rarely ever did it again. I learned what I needed to learn, even if it was only because I did not want to hear that quote again. I guess those lessons really have stuck with me for a lifetime.
Fast-forward 10 years. A co-worker was having problems making a system work. He had been working on this problem for 2 days. Finally, in desperation, he called me. I looked over his configuration, and noticed that he was one number off in his routes. After he fixed that, everything worked.
And you know what I did? I could NOT help myself. As if by magic, Butch took over my body, and forced these words out of my mouth: “These are the lessons that will stick with you for a lifetime”. And then I even chuckled a bit, as I remembered how many times I had been on the receiving end of that one. Truly, it feels better to give than to receive.
No, you really never realize when someone will change your life. Thank heavens Butch was around to change mine.
A few years ago, I decided to change careers, as some middle-aged people do. One of my new co-workers was a gentleman named Butch. He had spent most of his life doing communications work, and he therefore had a lot of knowledge. Not being totally stupid, I realized that if I spent some time around him, some of that knowledge might accidentally leak into my brain.
I followed this guy around like a puppy on a leash, and I did learn a lot from him. He taught me by showing me how to do things and then letting me go at it. Sure that sounds simple, but he added a twist: he did not inspect my work until we were totally through.
I once wired an entire office wrong. Nothing worked. He had shown me how to do the job, I told him I understood, and then he left me there to do it. I flubbed it, and with flying colors.
After he came back, he tested all of my wiring, and told me it was pitiful (though he used other words). He then told me to re-wire everything. Again, I went at it. This time we passed 50%. Again he tested, and again I rewired. Finally after 4 rewires, I had the entire office working up to specs.
This gentleman then used a phrase that, over the next 4 years, I literally came to hate hearing him say: “These are the lessons that will stick with you for a lifetime”.
Every time I screwed something up, I got to hear that sentence, with him chuckling behind it. Even when it was not my fault, and I was fixing something someone else had done, I still got it. I heard it so much that I even had nightmares of him telling me that.
But I did notice one thing. If I screwed something up the first time, I rarely ever did it again. I learned what I needed to learn, even if it was only because I did not want to hear that quote again. I guess those lessons really have stuck with me for a lifetime.
Fast-forward 10 years. A co-worker was having problems making a system work. He had been working on this problem for 2 days. Finally, in desperation, he called me. I looked over his configuration, and noticed that he was one number off in his routes. After he fixed that, everything worked.
And you know what I did? I could NOT help myself. As if by magic, Butch took over my body, and forced these words out of my mouth: “These are the lessons that will stick with you for a lifetime”. And then I even chuckled a bit, as I remembered how many times I had been on the receiving end of that one. Truly, it feels better to give than to receive.
No, you really never realize when someone will change your life. Thank heavens Butch was around to change mine.
posted by Rick Quick | 8:47 AM
|
0 comments
