You never know when being friendly is going
to pay off or being unfriendly is going to cost you.
I love going to Lafayette, Louisiana, to Acadiana. I find the
people warm and open. The food is the best, especially at places
like the Boiling Point that serve crawfish, crabs, and shrimp
boiled just right and oh so spicy. And you can hear happy Zydeco
and Cajun music almost everywhere you go.
A few years ago, while doing team member training for an oil
field equipment manufacturing plant in Lafayette, Louisiana,
I met Gene “Yard Dog” Josey.I guess they called
Gene the yard dog because he worked like a dog driving a huge
forklift out in the iron yard.
We got down to the deadline, so we got off training and on to
the remaining work.I was asked to finish hanging signs
out in the factory. Gene was driving the lift, lifting me up
about 12 feet in the air to just under the rails for the cranes
used to handle heavy loads out in the factory. I was using iron
plumbing clips and steel chain to hang aluminum signs.
While I started to hang the third sign, Gene
quietly said, “Doug, you might want to be a little more
careful up there, those shiny little rails are hot with the 440
volt supply for the overhead crane.”
Now Gene may have been one of the newest employees in the place,
not in a position of great authority as a forklift driver, but
I was suddenly aware of his importance.So, I said
"Thanks!" as best I could with the lump that had risen
in my throat.
Having a limited understanding of electrical current, knowing
its potential thermodynamic effect on the human body, and curious
about just why he had waited until the third sign to share his
warning with me, I asked him, “Why didn’t you say
something about that at the first sign we hung?”
Gene smiled and said, “Hell Doug, I didn’t
know if I liked you at first.”
Gene in his humble and quiet way reminded me
of an important lesson my parents taught me. It is important
for us to be be friendly and courteous whenever we can to everyone
we can.There may come a time when your life, like mine, hangs
in the balance and depends upon how you treat other people, especially
unassuming people like my friend Gene.
