So sitting on that plane, summarizing a plan to convince my boss and owner that we should probably invest in a flavored coffee line, than leave it up to one uptight, God knows what brother, and his seriously Doc Holliday sidekick, over the top alcoholic brother. I' m thinking I have a decent shot, even with a tightwad like my boss. I mean how could I lose the discussion? What could possibly be the answer? I though about this for quite some time, and I realized I was either very different than anyone I know, or I am a certifiable lunatic! I mean think about it, by doing this, I am taking on the responsibility, I am complicating my life, because really it is not, not working at this very moment and if I screw it up I am probably fired or at least tortured and reminded of it, for God knows how long. Well that's not true, it would probably come up annually, when I'd ask for a raise and then THAT subject would come up about how I wasted XXX dollars and we are still trying to recover, blah,blah,blah....
So that brings me back to Virginia, summer of 1975, I am a fifteen year old kid with a broken ankle, who unbeknownst to me, has to carry a 125 lb machine up two sets of stairs, keep filling it and emptying it with 5 gallon water bins and move all the furniture, so my uncle can run the machine without stopping, and therefore we get this thing done in, I would estimate 60% less time if it was done right. Isn't that manufacturing, isn't that production efficiency? Of course it is, but my ankle really hurt! But.. But it did sink in, that inept ability to see things clearly, simplify and improve the process, ultimately leading to better time management and the ability to do more in the same period of time. Simple right? Try it some time, simple is more complicated to get to than you think. Common sense is very underrated in the business world. Anyway, that whole summer, nobody ever asked or addressed my ankle. It got easier to move around and the pain subsided, I was doing ok. Until one of my cousin's friends comes over one night, and he's in med school in DC. He sees my ankle and then proceeds to tell my cousin that was probably broken, at the very least fractured, and I should've had it set and been in the very least a boot cast for 6 weeks! Great, thanks everyone! To this day my right ankle is three times bigger than my left. Hey but I could still play basketball and beat you in a game of 9! Haha.
Anyway, yeah, I learned a lot that summer. I learned that some people lived a pretty luxurious life, I learned that I didn't really need my parent's, not that I didn't miss them, it was just really pivotal in realizing, hey I have to do this on my own, and the biggest thing, there's a great big world out there. Big things for a fifteen year old.
So all this crap is flying through my thoughts and as we're landing at Logan, I remember one defining thing my uncle told me over and over again that summer. He used to say too me, Rooster! That's what he called me, because he thought it was ironic, I had red hair and I hated getting up in the morning! Oh the irony! But anyway he would say, You know the difference between living down here and living up in Boston? I would look at him puzzled and say, "there's no good seafood?" No I would say, not really, and he would say, people grow up and get educated from here to start there own businesses, and people up in BAHston as he liked to call it, would get educated to go work for some big corporation. Now of course that's probably not true, especially after 2 pitcher's of martini's, but for some strange reason it resonated through my body. I was 15, I idolized this guy, I mean come on, look at all the stuff he had....
So off the plane I go, hellbent on pitching this line to my boss, and I am going to complicate my life, and make this happen if it kills me. I am 34 years old, and I am ready to put it all on the line. Bring it on!!
So that brings me back to Virginia, summer of 1975, I am a fifteen year old kid with a broken ankle, who unbeknownst to me, has to carry a 125 lb machine up two sets of stairs, keep filling it and emptying it with 5 gallon water bins and move all the furniture, so my uncle can run the machine without stopping, and therefore we get this thing done in, I would estimate 60% less time if it was done right. Isn't that manufacturing, isn't that production efficiency? Of course it is, but my ankle really hurt! But.. But it did sink in, that inept ability to see things clearly, simplify and improve the process, ultimately leading to better time management and the ability to do more in the same period of time. Simple right? Try it some time, simple is more complicated to get to than you think. Common sense is very underrated in the business world. Anyway, that whole summer, nobody ever asked or addressed my ankle. It got easier to move around and the pain subsided, I was doing ok. Until one of my cousin's friends comes over one night, and he's in med school in DC. He sees my ankle and then proceeds to tell my cousin that was probably broken, at the very least fractured, and I should've had it set and been in the very least a boot cast for 6 weeks! Great, thanks everyone! To this day my right ankle is three times bigger than my left. Hey but I could still play basketball and beat you in a game of 9! Haha.
Anyway, yeah, I learned a lot that summer. I learned that some people lived a pretty luxurious life, I learned that I didn't really need my parent's, not that I didn't miss them, it was just really pivotal in realizing, hey I have to do this on my own, and the biggest thing, there's a great big world out there. Big things for a fifteen year old.
So all this crap is flying through my thoughts and as we're landing at Logan, I remember one defining thing my uncle told me over and over again that summer. He used to say too me, Rooster! That's what he called me, because he thought it was ironic, I had red hair and I hated getting up in the morning! Oh the irony! But anyway he would say, You know the difference between living down here and living up in Boston? I would look at him puzzled and say, "there's no good seafood?" No I would say, not really, and he would say, people grow up and get educated from here to start there own businesses, and people up in BAHston as he liked to call it, would get educated to go work for some big corporation. Now of course that's probably not true, especially after 2 pitcher's of martini's, but for some strange reason it resonated through my body. I was 15, I idolized this guy, I mean come on, look at all the stuff he had....
So off the plane I go, hellbent on pitching this line to my boss, and I am going to complicate my life, and make this happen if it kills me. I am 34 years old, and I am ready to put it all on the line. Bring it on!!
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