Thursday, November 8, 2007

enough sources of stress already

Family story alert! Yeah, but it's a funny one. We lost Dad six years ago to lung cancer at age 59. He was well known for storytelling. We each had our favorites. Here's mine:

About 1980 plus or minus a couple of years, Dad was a kiln burner at a cement plant in SW Arkansas when his employer required employees to go through stress management training--perfectly suitable for my dad given that kiln burner is one of the more stressful jobs in a cement plant.

On the day of the training, the instructor began the session by breaking the ice with some specific questions designed to show that everyone has some sources of stress in their lives. The first few questions were simple, like 'raise your hand if you've recently experienced a major holiday.' Of course the session was right after Christmas and everyone had just experienced a major holiday. Everyone, Dad included, raised their hands. As the questions continued they got more and more specific:
* Raise your hand if you're married. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you have a mortgage. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you have children. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you have teenagers. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you have a baby at home. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you're teaching a kid to drive. Dad raised his hand.
* Raise your hand if you...

As the questions got more and more specific, Dad kept raising his hand with each one. Finally, the instructor asked his last question 'raise your hand if you own a Ford Maverick.' Dad raised his hand. The instructor said "Mister, I'm afraid I can't do anything for you."

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