Lesson Learned?

            My granddaughter who is five and a half taught me a lesson.

 

               You may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks but I believe you can teach an old man new tricks (or at least make him realize he is acting like an idiot). 

I was breaking the rule of never having a big ole cold glass of milk on your desk. Eating is ok but beverages on your desk can cause real problems.

               A few years ago I was using a lap top when I spilled an entire glass of milk on the machine. The screen went dead immediately and I started using all the choice words that I knew. I was smart enough to quickly turn the lap top over so the milk could drain out the way it went in, through the key board. The worst part about this experience, the computer was my personal PC and not the companies.

               Knowing the above I should not have had the drink on the desk. I had finished eating; Gabi was standing next to me with a toy. I reached with my left hand to get the glass of milk and as you have already guessed, I knocked it over. There was this puddle of milk running under the desk organizer heading for the back of the desk. The stack of papers on the desk was waiting to be shredded. I did not use any bad language but I did hit my fist on the desk very hard and said something like, “THAT’S JUST GREAT”.

               I am sure it is difficult for you to believe that I would get upset over any situation especially spilt milk.             I had a small towel that I keep next to the coffee pot which is on my desk (again a possible disaster waiting to happen). I began taking things off the desk and wiping up the milk. Donna brought me an additional towel which allowed me to stop the flow.

               I did not see what Gabi was doing during my outrageous behavior but Donna told me later that she had her hands over her ears.

               With the milk under control I looked over at Gabi.  She looked at me with those big eyes wide open and calmly said, “Grandpa take a deep breath”.  I immediately know how stupid I had been; I took the deep breath.  Gabi went on to say, “Just calm down grandpa, everything is ok”.   Gabi had put me in my place by showing me that I acted like a fool and at the same time made me proud that she was my granddaughter. 

 

From the foolish but proud mind of                          Don Ford

 

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