Palaver from Persimmon Crossing
with Warren Faulk
Sharp Memories
Horse and Rider:
I don't remember much of my life as a two year old, but I do remember Floyd Holk trying to put me on a horse that I was afraid of and I can still hear him saying "he won't hurt you". The injury was permanent. I'm still afraid of horses. Yet, I raised, trained and regularly ride a Texas Longhorn. Go figure. Don't push a child in these matters. He is the best judge of what he is afraid of, not you.
Clothes Make the Man:
At five years I went to a costume party at church. Mary Donna Linton and I traded clothes. She went as me. I wore her clothes. I think our mothers conspired to not sew for this event. I don't remember much about the party ... until Mrs Troyer said," OK, girls in this line and boys over here". From that point on my confusion and embarrassment were seared into memory these 55 years. Little things are big things to little people.
Lesson In Communications:
One of my lessons in effective communications came at age 14. My Dad assigned me to supervise several workers in taking annual inventory in our grocery store. Not much supervising was required. Most of the people were adults and had known me all my life. All I had to do was issue assignments by area or category of goods and collect their reports. This went well with one notable exception. I sent Frankie Hamilton, a school mate, to inventory the nails. Several hours later I realized I hadn't seen him for a long time. I found him in the hardware section. As I approached I heard him say in a very tired voice "4221" as he dropped a nail in a box. This was funny at the time, but I came to realize that I had not instructed him specifically to weigh the nails. This lesson still serves me today. I owe Frankie an apology for the ribbing he took. If you assume your message will be understood and it isn't, that's your fault.
Mortification:
While attending college. I was living in a rental with the understanding that I would show the house to prospective renters during reasonable hours. Well, the real estate people really came out of the woodwork right in the middle of my studying for finals and graduation. Somewhere between Accounting and Business Law I got the "last straw " call and blew my top. I really read this fellow off and hung up. The phone rang again and this time it was Joe Salcedo, the owner of the house. Turns out the previous caller was Joe too. I just hadn't recognized his voice. He was calling to make sure the real estate people were treating me right. Egg on face, really. Listen before sending Sparks.
-- Warren Faulk
Smarr, Georgia
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