Happy Fathers Day
Posted by Jon Lewman on Monday, June 20, 2011
Had a great steak and a great lunch with my kids and grandson today. Pretty much spent the rest of the day doing my favorite thing...NOTHING! Takin Gram-pa naps and staring at the tube, a little on-line poker followed by more TV!
Once a year we remember our dads, maybe buy them something or even just a phone call to wish them a happy day. My father, like most, taught me many things growing up. Being a mechanic alot of what he taught me was how things work and how to fix them. The best lessons I think we learn are the ones they don't even know they are teaching us.
My dad is not just a mechanic, he owns a auto repair shop. Over the years you can guess he has seen alot of things. Oddly enough I believe the biggest part of my character that I got from my dad I learned in that shop and it had nothing to do with working on cars. I watched and learned as Doctors or business owners brought their vehicles to Dad. Men with money that whether they did or didn't have any working knowledge of the mechanical workings of an automobile Dad never talked down to them. Educated men who sometimes made the most obviously ignorant comments Dad just listen to them, maybe a nod or two, then assure them it would all be taken care of. OK so maybe there was a shaking of the head and a chuckle when they left...but he never talked down to a man.
The very next customer might be someone of little means, and those were the customers I learned even more from. I have seen bailing wire and duct tape, twist ties and gum wrappers used places you'd never dream. I would make some comment about what a piece of junk it was and why would anyone even drive that thing? "Poor folks have poor ways" dad would comment. Then commence to undoing they're mis-doing and fixing it up.
"Poor folks have Poor ways" Seems like a simple enough comment. What did he really teach me? People are what they are. Sometimes I don't even think we have a choice in who we are. Maybe its in our DNA, maybe its in our up-bringing or experiences? I don't think the people who do all that studying on what makes us who we are really even know. What I do know is that no matter what we try to be, we will always be who we are. You have a choice, how you treat people.
I do not let many people get under my skin very badly. I learn who they are and accept that about them. If they are some one I would rather not spend time with, I don't! "Poor folks have poor ways" was a lesson in acceptance. Accept the fact that people are who they are and let them be who they are. The only control we have is how we react to who they are.
Happy fathers day!
Once a year we remember our dads, maybe buy them something or even just a phone call to wish them a happy day. My father, like most, taught me many things growing up. Being a mechanic alot of what he taught me was how things work and how to fix them. The best lessons I think we learn are the ones they don't even know they are teaching us.
My dad is not just a mechanic, he owns a auto repair shop. Over the years you can guess he has seen alot of things. Oddly enough I believe the biggest part of my character that I got from my dad I learned in that shop and it had nothing to do with working on cars. I watched and learned as Doctors or business owners brought their vehicles to Dad. Men with money that whether they did or didn't have any working knowledge of the mechanical workings of an automobile Dad never talked down to them. Educated men who sometimes made the most obviously ignorant comments Dad just listen to them, maybe a nod or two, then assure them it would all be taken care of. OK so maybe there was a shaking of the head and a chuckle when they left...but he never talked down to a man.
The very next customer might be someone of little means, and those were the customers I learned even more from. I have seen bailing wire and duct tape, twist ties and gum wrappers used places you'd never dream. I would make some comment about what a piece of junk it was and why would anyone even drive that thing? "Poor folks have poor ways" dad would comment. Then commence to undoing they're mis-doing and fixing it up.
"Poor folks have Poor ways" Seems like a simple enough comment. What did he really teach me? People are what they are. Sometimes I don't even think we have a choice in who we are. Maybe its in our DNA, maybe its in our up-bringing or experiences? I don't think the people who do all that studying on what makes us who we are really even know. What I do know is that no matter what we try to be, we will always be who we are. You have a choice, how you treat people.
I do not let many people get under my skin very badly. I learn who they are and accept that about them. If they are some one I would rather not spend time with, I don't! "Poor folks have poor ways" was a lesson in acceptance. Accept the fact that people are who they are and let them be who they are. The only control we have is how we react to who they are.
Happy fathers day!
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