Today was my day to get those little things done that I keep putting off. The first thing on my list was to get the oil changed on my SUV. It is amazing how fast three months or three thousand miles rolls around. I was exactly three months to the day but I was over on the mileage. Oops! I get my oil changed at a place that sells tires and the workers speak better Spanish than English. I had a light on my dash that said, Low tire pressure. I had the shop check out my tire. It has a bad valve stem that was leaking air. I. I am glad that they were able to fix it. I was not looking forward to adding air to my tire in the cold Kansas winter days that are coming. Oh yeah, It snowed today.
The next thing on my list was my annual flu shot. I went over to the grocery store on the other side of town to get my shot. I used to work at that store and still go over there to get my prescriptions filled. Julie, the pharmacist, told me this story as she was giving me my shot. She said, " I still remember what you said. " I was kinda shocked and flattered at the same time. Words of wisdom is probably not my specialty. I do think I have a knack for witty sarcasm but that tends to get me in trouble and is not memorable.
She started telling a story about receiving an email from upper management. It was one of those emails that we have all received. She did not go into the specifics but basically it was a confronting email. Sometimes these email lump everybody together. An example might be- We need more sales, You are using to many hours, too much over time, working too fast, working too slow, and the list could go on and on. We have all received emails like this. I happened to be in the pharmacy shortly after she had read her email.
Julie said, "Her normal response would be to fire back an email and defend herself." She said, " Jim you asked me one question. Did they ask you a question? " and I said, No." And this is what you said that I still remember, "If they don't ask you a question then don't give them an answer." She said, "I still follow your advice. Those are words of wisdom from a wise man." That was a very nice statement even though most of the time I would disagree with it.
We never know the impact of our words. Sometimes we can share wisdom, encourage others, uplift other or sometimes we hurt others. Julie made my day a little brighter when she shared this story. I now have a story that I can share about Julie, I can say, I remember what you said.