Posted on April 16, 2014 under Storytelling with no comments yet

Is your glass half full or half empty?

 

 

Other than solitary confinement, is there possibly any place worse than an airport departure lounge at 6:30 a.m.?  It’s not so bad if you are heading for a southern vacation to escape the icy grip of winter.  But if you are returning from a warm place, at the end of your vacation, heading north with snow in the forecast … that’s another feeling altogether.

You’ve had a wonderful vacation.  The weather has been spectacular.  You haven’t done anything resembling work.  Your only complaint is a bit too much sun.  Don’t mention this when you get back home, as those who shoveled in your absence will not have much sympathy.

Weary eyed travellers congregate in the stultifying atmosphere that is unique to departure lounges.

Just when despair is about to swallow up the entire area, Hudson News opens its doors …. hardly a reason to put on the party hats.  But this newspaper and book outlet has a secret weapon.  Jorge.

Can one person make a difference?  You betcha.  When the problems of the world seem beyond anyone’s power to fix, it is hard to imagine that a solitary human being can do anything about it.  But one person who radiates a positive outlook like a neon light can sure work wonders.

My quest was simple enough.  I wanted to purchase the morning paper to keep me amused on the flight from Orlando to Philadelphia.  I approached the cash register still wiping the sleep from my eyes.  And out leapt Jorge, greeting me with the force of an open fire hydrant.  His reaction to my purchase, his first sale of the day, had all the trappings of an announcement that he had won the Power Ball.

“Thank you for the business.  Thank you for the business.  And have a great day!”  This was followed by a full on fist bump.  His voice was loud enough (but not abrasive) that everyone in the departure lounge could hear him.  A few people smiled.

Next up was a sullen teenage boy.  “Every day is a great day. You gotta live it, kid.”  I’m not sure if the youth heard him with his head phones glued to his skull.  I like to think that I glimpsed a fleeting smile.  An attractive middle aged lady approached the till.  You could see that other passengers were now dialed in to this walking goodwill ambassador.  “Have a great day, ma’am.  It was a pleasure serving you today.  And thank you for the beautiful smile.”

You could see the mood change perceptibly as this amazing man cajoled people into good humour, single handily.  Here is someone who made a conscious decision when he got out of bed that he was going to make people feel good.  In the blink of an eye he transferred his positive attitude to a group of weary travellers.

What if each of us got out of bed and made up our mind that, for at least one day, we would think and say only positive things?   What if we went out of our way to make people smile, as Jorge had done?

It was evident that Jorge’s cup was half full that morning.  From now on, even on bad days, I’m not going to think that mine is half empty.

Can one person make a difference?  Absolutely.

 

Posted on April 14, 2014 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

A case for baskets or a basket case?

 

 

Happy Easter week!

Allow me to start out on the slightly serious side. If you have time, please read this excellent article by Ian Thompson. Ian is the Associate Publisher of the Chronicle Herald. This story appeared in the Herald Magazine this past weekend. I happen to agree with just about every word in the article. Here’s the link: http://thechronicleherald.ca/heraldmagazine/1199143-associate-publishers-letter-we-all-have-our-part-to-play.

Easter week means a lot of different things to different people. I have been in a church choir for most of my adult life so Easter week means spending a lot of time in church. Do you have Easter traditions like you do for Christmas?  Some people of the Catholic persuasion still observe Lent.  I gave up desserts for Lent but truth be told, this wasn’t as much about penance as it was about my waist line. I crave sweets and Lent is one time of the year that I have a convenient excuse to lay off them. Easter morning will not be pretty. I plan to go to S@L bakery on Saturday and buy a fresh lemon meringue pie. Betty is gluten free and won’t be partaking. You do the math.

Back in the dark ages, we could expect to receive a skipping rope, a hula hoop or a sponge rubber ball for Easter. And the women all wore Easter bonnets. Bring back the bonnets!

Oh yes. Speaking of math, I have a story just about ready to go about “new math.” I ask you, what was wrong with the old math? The story is called “ It Doesn’t Add Up.”

Question: Is your cup half full or half empty? I guess it depends on your view of the world when you first put your feet on the floor in the morning. My Tuesday story this week ( which will be published on Wednesday) is all about positivity and how each of us has the ability to make the world a little brighter. The story is called “ Making a Difference” and takes place at a newsstand in the Orlando airport.

I do believe I will be seeing golf balls in my sleep after the orgy of watching almost every shot from The Masters golf tournament this past weekend. Watching Bubba win a second green jacket was great entertainment

Have a great week.

P.S.  Just wanted to let you know that I have been asked to write a weekly column for a new weekly paper for Cape Breton, called “The Cape Breton Star.” The paper is owned by the Chronicle Herald and will be launched in May.

Posted on April 12, 2014 under Storytelling with one comment

One Ringie Dingie

 

 

“Operator, well could you help me place this call?”

Operator by Jim Croce

I live about an hour and a half away from the summer home of the inventor of the telephone.  Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel (Ma Bell?) vacationed in Baddeck, Nova Scotia.  They called their property “Beinn Bhreagh”, which roughly translated means “Make collect calls any time you get the chance”.

My office is in the original Switchboard building in Antigonish.  Ron, the owner of the building and also my business colleague, has collected many old phones which are kept on display as you come in to the office.  He even found an old switchboard that graces the foyer as you enter the building.  Phones have gone through many radical transformations over the years and now very few people even have land lines any more.  And if you have children or grandchildren, you know that using the phone in a traditional manner is passé.

Mercifully, long distance telephone charges have come down through the years through a combination of competition and technology.

But this wasn’t always the case.

In 1976, I began my short-lived teaching career in the town of Fairview, Alberta.  Prior to my arrival, I had arranged to rent an apartment which seemed like the logical thing to do.  Four other friends from the east coast had also been hired by the same school board.  I am not certain what they were thinking but they arrived in town only days before the school year began and none of them had a place to stay.  In very short order, my two bedroom apartment was fully occupied.

The first month could easily be described as chaotic.  We were all rookie teachers, flying by the seats of our pants.  We still had the “party gene” very much intact after our university days.  And a few of the guys had serious female relationships still percolating on the east coast.

The telephone was easily the most important item in the apartment.  Invariably, one of the five was on the phone.  The length of some of the conversations made the Boston Marathon seem like a 5K fun run.   Especially if alcohol was involved.  Which was often.

Early in October, the first phone bill arrived.  Of course the listing was in my name.  Back in those days, the phone company actually printed out statements detailing every call.  The envelope was very thick.  The phone bill was long.  Thirteen pages long, to be exact.  I casually flipped through the pages and came to the total on the last page: $1200.

Do you have any idea of what a $1200 phone bill was like back in 1976?  If you applied the long term inflation rate of 3% over a 38 year period, you would come up with about $3746 in today’s dollars.

The boys had just arrived home from school.  It was a Friday.  Oh, I failed to mention that my (our) apartment was exactly two doors down from the liquor store.  I waited until the first few beers had found their mark before pulling out the phone bill.

Several hours and several rum and cokes later, one of the guys came up with a novel solution to the telephone problem.  He simply went into the kitchen and pulled the entire apparatus, including the cord off the wall.  Poor Alexander G. Bell must have been rolling over in his grave.

Monday arrived and we all traipsed into the staff room.  Everyone was commiserating about the weekend past and the week ahead.  My friend, the one who had removed the phone from its moorings, was the last to enter the room.  He was pulling the phone along the floor by the cord, as you might do with an uncooperative puppy.  He was whistling to the phone as if he were giving it instructions.  He threw the 13 pages of the phone bill up in the air and let out a mighty roar.

To this day, I am not sure if the staff ever really understood what hit them when the “five wise men from the east”, (a term coined by our principal, Norm,) arrived in their sedate town.  I should ring them up and ask.

I think I’ll call collect.