Having walked in one of the oldest family-owned plumbing stores in the metro Detroit area, Tenney's Plumbing, I came across the inspiring words on a plaque prominently displayed.
Tenney's is a cool place; there seemed to be millions of tiny and not so tiny shinning silver, copper and porcelain objects neatly aligned row after row with interesting names of body parts. I was fascinated by the pride, history and the old world charm of none less than a plumbing store. Everything seemed to sparkle in a store that has probably not had any major renovations since it was built many years ago. But it is has held up well.
I was there to pick up gerbers and I hadn't a clue what they were or their function. The pleasant attendant said to me after explaining their function and seeing that I was still completely clueless, "you're looking for gerbers as in the baby food and they used for..." Indeed. Now there were plumbing parts named after human anatomy and food brands too. OK. I can perhaps see how they all might properly fit in a plumbing store.
But how the plaque came to be a mainstay is probably how the business has had such success.
IT IS NOT EASY
*To Apologize
*To Begin Over
*To Take Advice
*To Be Unselfish
*To Admit Error
*To Face a Sneer
*To Be Charitable
*To Keep Trying
*To Be Considerate
*To Avoid Mistakes
*To Endure Success
*To Profit By Mistakes
*To Forgive and Forget
*To Think and then Act
*To Make the Best of Little
*To Subdue an Unruly Temper
*To Shoulder a Deserved Blame
*To Recognize the Silver Lining
BUT IT ALWAYS PAYS.
2 comments:
Judith, your reference to copper objects prompts me to mention that my major client in the last year has been a Newfoundland copper mine. It would be wonderfully synchronistic if one of those metals came from one of the mines I have worked for in Canada over the last decade. Also fascinating to appreciate that a construction boom on the other side of the world (in China of course) has given new economic life to my Canadian friends—and contributed to me as well.
Wonderful, John! I had gone in this shop one other time and was just so completely fascinated by so many shinning objects neatly aligned. In fact, I wrote a short story about it some 10 years ago.
When I went in last week it brought back many memories. And, I had not noticed the plaque before. I must have been in a different frame of mind.
It's funny how some things strike us as possessing greater significance at different times in our lives. And...we do most certainly live in a "wonderfully synchronistic" time.
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