Family pride

Nothing makes a parent more proud than to have another adult tell you that your kids have great manners or some other nice thing. Last summer, one of my customers, Stewart Title Company, asked me to help round up about ten good guys to help them move their offices across the street to a new building. Judy, their VP said she would pay them well, but they had to finish the job, no matter how long it took. I found the boys and a couple of Ryder trucks and the process began, only to be cornered by Judy. "Jacob, will you please run this job? (blink, blink, eyes a'flutterin') Gasp, I wouldn't wish moving on my worst enemy. Ok, I would. If I could make Howard Dean move all day, everyday, I would. Anyway, I didn't have much choice and she said she'd make it worth my while, too. How do you charge for something that amounts to a favor? In the weekend that followed, we got the bulk of the move done and after cutting everyone else loose, I continued to get a daily order for more things that needed to get done at the new office as well as cleaning out the old. My boys also had to move a ton of stuff to employees houses that was given away, plus deliver things to mini storage that they had already cleaned out. We actually set up a delivery schedule for the different parts of town. When all was finished, the guys made more than they'll ever make working for me, but it helped them get ahead for school. The unseen reward was that each person at Stewart Title got to interact with my sons and I got the same reaction from everyone. "You have got the nicest, well mannered sons that I have ever met. You don't meet kids with manners these days" (believe me, there are a bunch of great kids out there if you know where to look). My personal favorite happened yesterday, six months later. " I couldn't believe your sons could hold a conversation with me just like an adult, and they had such nice manners." A parent's proudest moment, to say the least.