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Bill Dunn was busy recounting the votes from this week’s election. Please enjoy one of his favorite past columns.
So, I’m talking to my friend and customer Phil, who is in the middle of a tirade about his work environment. He is complaining about numerous topics related to the company he works for, citing meddling by company owners and rampant nepotism as the catalyst for his current woes.
Phil has done many things for this company through the years and his latest venture was designed with benefits for the owners of the company as well as for himself.
He works in the motion picture/television production industry and his latest idea was to open a production supply store on a popular production lot in the Santa Clarita Valley.
The benefits to Phil were obvious. He would be in charge of the facility and would be able to run it unfettered. He would also be 35 miles away from the main office where he wouldn’t have to deal with the typical office nonsense. Unfortunately for Phil, 35 miles was not far enough to escape the meddling portion of the equation. As the business increased, of course so did the meddling.
When Phil finally took a breath, I pointed out to him that he was the architect of his own design. He was the one who put this deal together and pushed the project until they finally gave in. I also offered up that had he put the store on Mars the result would probably have been the same. These two points made him laugh and he said he would be printing up a sign to hang in the store that read, “I’m The Architect of My Own Design”.
This got me thinking about how often we all do the same thing. How many times have we heard the old adage “be careful what you wish for, it may come true”? We think we want something so bad that we become consumed with wanting it and once we get it is not all that our imagination thought it would be.
Sometimes we do not wish for it but we get it anyway. Sometimes parents want to mold their children in their own self-image, in my case my kids are turning out to be better people than I am, thank God. My wife and I try not to air our dirty laundry in front of the kids so we don’t subject them to things that they don’t need to be thinking about. It’s tough enough just being a kid these days.
Unfortunately, lately I am seeing and hearing things coming from kids that are obviously a direct extension of their parent’s inability to shield their kids from their personal foul language, bad tempers, and habits. Which when you have an uneducated and/or twisted view of the world, and are spewing your venom non-stop around your children, you are molding them, maybe unknowingly, into your own self-image. Great, just what this world needs more stupid and belligerent people.
Then there are those bizarre little twists of fate that happen when you want something for a selfish reason and it does not turn out exactly like you thought it would.
Say for example you have a bowling tournament that you want to attend and your son has a soccer game scheduled for the same time. You know in your heart you should go and support your child in his endeavors, but not being a saint you really wanted to play in this tournament.
The skies are gray and you start praying for rain, hoping that the game will be rained out so you can go knock down some pins without feeling guilty about it. Then low and behold you get your wish and there’s a monsoon and the game is rained out. You grab your ball and shoes and head for the alley only to discover when you arrive that it has been closed because part of the roof collapsed due to the rain. As John Lennon said “instant karma is going to get ya”. You can bet on it.
So no matter what you do, say, or bring on yourself, via karma or desire, don’t forget to repeat the mantra in the same breath, be careful what you wish for………
The Shrub Speaks:
Leaders in the region speak of a new Arab charter that champions internal reform, greater politics participation, economic openness, and free trade. And from Morocco to Bahrain and beyond, nations are taking genuine steps toward politics reform.
Washington, D.C., Feb. 26, 2003 – Dubya, I think you meant political participation and reform - -
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