Curmudgeon's Corner

Having gotten fairly far along life’s road, I find myself thinking of more and more people that have left part of themselves with me as we brushed past each other on our separate ways. There are certainly the typical moms and dads, and grandpas and grandmas, and mothers and fathers-in-law. There is the love of my life who thinks that I am also the love of her life. Neat how life works.

Maybe more surprising are the children and the grandchildren from who I seem to have taken far more than I have ever given. These are good people from whom to learn. They love us and almost always have no ulterior motive for hugging us, squirting water at us or any of the other things we remember them for.

Then, we slip into the abyss of the rest of the people who’ve been influential in our lives…and from here on it gets a little bumpier:

There was Toni, a Captain who whipped a poor lowly cadet into what passed for an officer. There was Lorenz who took over where Toni left off and who nurtured me with one of those “love/hate” things that Colonels can be so good at. There have been innumerable bosses including Roy whose job offer brought us to this area and who taught me business; and, Cameron who taught me the intricacies of managed health care. There were other bosses and some of them taught me what to do and what not to do by their actions more than their words. Both types of lessons are equally important; it’s just that learning the “what not to do part” can be painful. The best bosses were those who permitted me to follow my dream, but who also kept reminding me that each dream had better produce a profit. Now, working as my own boss, I may have entered into a pact with the worst boss I’ll ever know; time will tell. He seems darned tough at times, but he let’s me sneak out for a cigar often enough, too. I am still the dreamer, but I have good team members who keep me pointed at profit.

There are innumerable friends, and among my great (self-admitted) faults is that I tend to lose track of my old friends. Ken just resurfaced after something approaching thirty years. That was one of those things we hear about where it seemed that we picked up right where we had left off all those years before. Those are good friends by my definition.

Among my friends and acquaintances are some whom I would refer to as my personal heroes or heroines. There is John who is way too young to be dying. He knows that he is, and that is a very healthy reminder to me that the same is true for me except I haven’t “officially” been advised. John has had his shares of ups and downs, but he is a survivor. For the most part, one would have no more idea of his mortality than of our own. We share laughs and jabs but we seem to look forward to seeing each other every so often. Those are good friends.

This list could and should go on and on: it would include a steel worker who is an excellent cook (and the third person in our “Three Stooges” group); a lady who displays just the right amount of attitude to let you know when you’ve crossed a line or when you’ve scored a point; and, a young lady entrepreneur who can bowl pretty good, too. It includes farmers with manure on their boots, and truckers as well as members of Congress. I must be honest: the farmers and truckers have a better grasp on reality with rare exception.

My list is probably about the same as your list. At least I hope so for your sake. Without my list (that could go on for pages), I wouldn’t be nearly the person I am.

So, as you can see, it’s not my fault I’m the way I am!