What we have here....

Is a failure to communicate. That is my favorite line from the movie Cool Hand Luke. It's an oldie but a goodie.






Nothing upsets me more than a person that doesn’t listen to what is being said. This is especially true when the person talking is me. Now I am not saying that I am always right but I will say that I usually am. And there is a reason why I am usually right when I speak. (At this point if my wife is reading this she is rolling her eyes and saying; Oh here he goes......)

First off at a young age, one of my teachers told me that you learn more from listening than talking. Because if that, I spent most of my younger days being quiet and listening to what other people had to say. So through many years of listening I gained a lot of knowledge. (now you can't get me to shutup) The biggest thing I learned was that some people talk like they know what they are talking about but in reality, they don’t know much at all. There is a term for this but I will keep this post rated “G”. Let’s just say they are a kind of artist.

The second thing I learned from those “know it all” people is not to talk like you know all about something unless you really do. What I mean by this is don’t try to come across as an expert on something unless you really are. Now I have to tell you at this point that if I need to, I can bluff my way through a situation. I won’t try to do this unless I get pushed into a corner and I don’t like doing it but I assure you that I can bluff when I need to. Especially when I know I won't get caught.

The last thing I learned is not to speak unless you have something to say. Some people talk just to hear themselves talk but I try not to talk unless I have something to accomplish. And I usually analyze what I am about to say before I say it and decide if I even want to talk at all. This is all done in a split second so sometimes I do let a little mindless dither slip out. I assure you that I am going somewhere with this post.

So what does all this mean? My mind is usually going a mile a minute. I have ideas popping into my head every split second. Of those thoughts I probably weed out about 99% so you, the listener are only hearing a small portion of what I have to say. So after my thought go through my filters, usually only the best thoughts make it out so yes I am usually right. I weeded out all the wrong ideas before you heard them. Which leads me to a story.

Many years ago, my wife and I were down in Florida visiting my Father. On this occasion, my brother decided that he wanted to take us fishing. (he knew dad had beer and hoped that he would bring it along) He was half owner in a boat and wanted to show it off. Before I finish the story let me say that the reason he was only half owner was so that he would have someone to blame if the boat was dirty, out of gas or wouldn’t start. By being only a half owner things were never his fault.

So we start getting the boat ready and guess what. The OTHER owner didn’t leave the life preservers in the boat so we had to borrow some from a neighbor. When we got to the river, the boat motor wouldn’t start because the OTHER owner hadn’t charged the battery so we had to jump it. After we got the boat running we headed down the river and discovered that we were low on gas due to the OTHER owner using up all the gas. No big surprises here.

Well we were passing a marina and I spoke up (notice I am speaking here so everyone listen) and said; “Stop and I will put some gas in the tank so we will have plenty.” My brother picked up the almost empty tank and said; “No we have enough.” Big mistake on his part. Now the marina was only about 50 ft away and I insisted that we stop for gas but my brother kept insisting that we had enough so he passed the marina by. Finally I just gave up and said; “whatever”.

So we get about 10 miles down the river and the motor starts running rough. My brother picks up the gas/fume tank and realizes that we are about out of gas. We made it to a boat landing but there was no gas station there. So my brother said; “Looks like WE have to go find a gas station. I replied; “No, YOU have to go find a gas station I offered to buy gas back at the marina.” Long story short, he had to walk about 2 miles each way carrying two 5 gallon tanks of gas and man was he mad. No one would give him a ride because he had really long hair which was out of style by the way. By the time he got back, it was too late to do any fishing so we just had to drive back home.

He should have listened to me….. I was right. Now before I leave you let me say this since my wife always hates it when I say I am right. She also urged him to stop for gas when I did but he was just not willing to listen. By the way, the Prophet Jeremiah was right too but people wouldn’t listen to him either. Hmmmmm maybe I should be a prophet.

Have a great day.
Greg