People, Places and Things

From time to time Barb and I can be in the same room and watch the same program.  Generally about 5 PM we watch Jeopardy and it is fun to see how many of the answers we get right.  What is really amazing is just how close I come to having the right answer but not fast enough. If they would double the time it is on to an Hour and give me the extra time I might be able to be on the Jeopardy Old Farts Edition.

As I age, my memory gets more like that every day.  I am on the verge of forgetting all the bad encounters and only the great smiles I have shared with people.  Let me tell you about Zeke a friend of mine.

A few years back, I was an instructor at a Call Center and one of the other instructors was a guy named Zeke.  He hadn't been on the platform nearly as long as I had and I pretty much had one class after another.  That kept me out of the Training Office so I didn't spend hours on hours working with him.   I did find out that Zeke's Dad was retired Military and I think he told someone that I reminded him of his Dad.   Not a bad thing in my book.  A mixture of love and hate with a dose of respect never hurt any relationship. 

The training staff had a few moments where they did group activities and I think the "Pot Luck" lunch was one of their favorite.  Zeke's mom made a killer Lasagna and he was known to bring a big old pan of it.  After the meal, we would kind of pick up after ourselves and try not to leave too big a mess for the Janitor.  Someone picked up Zeke's Mom's pan and placed it on top of a trash can to wipe down the table.  It didn't get put back on the table and the Janitor took it out with the trash.  The next morning, Zeke saw that the pan was missing and was concerned that his mother would be mad.  It was kind of funny to watch him in a low hover about what to do. 

Being the old fart I am, I called his dad and told him the story and asked him to call Zeke to tell him to bring that damned pan home as Mom was going to make him lasagna.  Sure enough in a few moments the phone rang and Zeke went from low hover to high panic.  "What to do, Oh what to do?" I let him stew for a few minutes and then my laughter gave me away.  "Dennis, what did you do?"  I finally broke down and ratted myself out.  Zeke went from relief to a genuine concern that he didn't have a clue what to do.

I told Zeke that most cooks have special pans they use but replacing a good pan with a new one just often was just as good.  I sent him over to the Specialty Shop in one of the local Malls to find a replacement.  Wal*Mart often has good pans a little cheaper but I thought Zeke should be good to his mom.  He did and all was well.

I am writing this short story about Zeke as today he is releasing his movie about bullying.  He made this movie in the Atlanta area and it will be released there.  I can hardly wait to see it reach here in the Heartland.  Now seems like a good time for everyone to see an example of what it's like in the real world and how we might be able to reach some of the young people and keep the fights and killing from happening.  My Hat's off to Zeke.



"Core" The Movie Coming soon to the Heartland

Mud