Ol' goodies

The trouble with so many of us these days is that we refuse to slow down and smell the traditional roses.

"What's wrong?" you ask. "Doesn't anyone love roses anymore?" They do love 'em, but so many refuse to admit it because they're "ol' goodies."

Recently I spent a magnificent holiday weekend in Maryland, and our "kids" suggested that we take a ride to Washington and visually breathe in the white/pink cherry blossoms … a direct treat of the Almighty that just wraps around you like a puffy, fluffy white cloud come down to earth. And sure enough, in nearby Bethesda, there was a magnificent display of cherry blossoms just like those presented to our country by the Japanese.

Great stuff and a lot less highway to traverse. And every Palm Sunday the gracious homeowners in Bethesda welcome and allow thousands of strangers to crawl all over their streets, sidewalks and, with a careless few, over their lawns.

Ol' goodies tend to get lost in the "What's new?" syndrome. It happens in our own never-never land game, here, to fine salespersons who have been around for decades rendering service to the trade. It happens to ol' customer service people who know how to unruffle a ruffled customer. All people and fine things need timely appreciation … regularly.

Out of the blue, along came another ol' goodie for my Bubbelah and I. No, it's not a shmatte or a person, it's our Declaration of Independence dramatically wrapped up in the meaningful musical "1776." A real ol' winner and still as pertinent as ever.

Sure it's studied as a page in our history books, but it rings lots truer on stage. The format of play, memorable music and candid dialogue make it an indelible, digestible slice of history. It's a slice in living color.

Show stuff? Of course. But the underlying theme of our legislative process still endures … goofed up election or not. It's pure Americana with all its human shortcomings and political warts. Can the system be improved? You bet your account payables it can, but it can't be beat for human beings who want to live, work and raise a family in freedom.

So, Michael, you cry, what's all this "1776" stuff got to do with 2001 … especially in business? A lot, particularly when millions of our citizens don't bother to vote in feigned frustration.

Phooey! If you go back in time to this ol' goodie of ours, you realize, if you listen, that we as a great nation have an ol' gem in this ol' goodie — a treasure, even with all its scratched hopes, cracked crackpots and blind biases. Because we as a nation, a constitutional nation, have the power to support those who support our dreams and the right to dump, electorally, those who don't.

Is all this of proper concern here in our business environment? Little gals and guys like us? Who else? The old adage "What's good for General Motors (the biggies) is good for the nation" is pure hokum. What's good for the mamas and papas is what's good for the nation; otherwise, why did the Almighty create so many?

So, my friends, take a good look around your own little world of buying and selling to see where ol' goodies are to be found: Found to be sold. Found to thank for a job well done. Found to be voted for. Found to help make our political world and business world a better, happier, more lovable place to live and work in.

Thanks, again, for listening.