Art Fettig, a friend of mine, passed away two years ago at the age of 91. Art was an international author and speaker, actor, playwright, and railroad executive. Art led a wonderfully long, happy, and rewarding life. Several years before he died, Art decided to share with the world his advice for achieving happiness. He said, “Don’t let the pursuit of money, power or material possessions become your master. It takes away all the fun. Realize that in life, the more you give, the more you’ll receive. But don’t give just to get something in return. That’s not giving, that’s trading. Learn to give for the pure joy of giving. That is the secret to happiness and the pursuit of happiness makes for one very rewarding life.”
Commencements. My step grand daughter is graduating from high school with all sorts of honors and I attended a program held in the school gym. It lasted almost forever and the seats were hard but it was a thrill to hear of the achievements of so many students. Many of them had received impressive scholarships and awards and as I listened I started thinking about how we never hear or read about this segment of the education scene here in America. So many wonderful students accomplishing so many awesome things and all we read about online or in the papers or see on TV is that two students broke into the school and trashed two classrooms or the report on another car crash involving students. Here in America we have a situation where we can be mighty proud of the achievement of the many, however, we only hear about the few. May God bless our students and our graduates and keep them safe. May God bless our troops and keep them out of harms way and may God continue to bless America.
In the very early seventies I started working with a noted psychologist from Notre Dame University to learn more about employee behavior. I was trying to figure our why we had such a rotten safety record and what we might do about it. I had been handling the investigation and settlement of employee injury claims since the late forties and “human error” seemed to be the stated cause for most injuries and it got me interested in what caused “human error.” Actually, my job with Dr. True was to write fresh humor for his lectures. I didn’t realize at that time that I was studying psychology or human behavior either. Those topics were so foreign to the railroad industry that I would have been banished from the property if that were even suspected. We were still in the stone ages in regard to the role of human behavior in regard to safety.
As I stumbled along, somehow, thanks to a brand new, highly dedicated and innovative corporate president, I was given a new job and freedom to explore my thinking. The results were quite impressive and mostly because of the efforts of others. Nevertheless, this enabled me to move about the corporate world sharing my ideas with others. Of course a lot has changed since I began my work in 1948. Just the same the term “human error” keep cropping up as the stated cause for so many employee injuries. We used to joke that the cause of most accidents is people and the cause of most people is accidents. I guess that is still true today and nothing changes. Just the words we use to describe things. Some engineers I have met believe that the way to eliminate human error is to eliminate people and recently, it appears, that a lot of CEO’s are following up on that idea for a lot of employees are being eliminated.
What I discovered along the way is that when people make personal commitments to one another and take responsibility for not just their own safety but that of their fellow workers safety, thus becoming brother’s and sister’s keepers, and when they give one another a signed permission for others to interact in a positive manner, then folks just naturally work a lot saver and you get outstanding results. Oh yes, we introduced a simple 101 hand signal to avoid a lot of confrontation and people actually started communicating. Now that might not be a whole lot for a person to figure out in just sixty-one years in the safety field but that is the best I have to offer.
It’s Memorial Day and I’m thinking about Korea and about you, Max. You and those other G.I’s they carried off on liters from that damn, beat-up powder-topped hill we called Old Baldy. We were fighting so that the world would be safe for democracy. Maybe we did a lousy job of it Max, because people are still killing each other for the same reason.
Oh, I remember you Max. You didn’t talk much, but we spent every moment together, sitting in that stinkin’ bunker, through those long nights. We took turn on watch, putting our lives in each other’s hands for a couple of hours sleep. Max, I remember how we went without food for two days because somebody screwed up in our supply lines. Finally, I got so disgusted that I crawled up to the Command Post. While I was there those rounds came in. Later, when I went back to our bunker, I found you Max. You and that other guy I’d never known before. I guess he was just passing by when that barrage came in and he jumped into our hole and he met death there for me.
So I’m still here to remember you Max; you and that other guy and that beat up hill where we chose to meet the enemy and say, “Hold it! We’ve come to make this world safe for democracy.” They didn’t listen, Max, and they killed you.
Max, I’ve got the feeling that maybe we made that trip overseas in vain. That the place to make the world safe for democracy is right here and the time is right now. What we’ve really got to remember today is that war is hell and that death is real and what the world needs right now, Max, is love. Love and a lot more love. Not a lot of men running across oceans to make the world safe for democracy.
You didn’t say very much, Max, but I remember what you did say. It seemed pretty corny right then. You said, “Man must learn to love his fellow man.”
Max, it is finally beginning to make sense to me. Like you said, Max, Love is the answer.
Signed, Your Buddy Art
Say Something Good
Memorial Day and I’m remembering a lot of friends and relatives that gave their lives for this country. Many of them served and then came home so messed up that they could not function in the normal world. May God bless all serving our nation at this time and all who have served. And may God Bless America.
Points To Ponder
Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. Lou Holtz
A Little Humor
Our company has a huge abacus under glass in case our computer breaks down.
Quote of the Week
The possibility of stepping into a higher plane is quite real for everyone. It requires no force or effort or sacrifice. It involves little more than changing our ideas about what is normal. Deepak Chopra
Yesterday my wife Jean and I were driving down an old country road looking for a church meeting site where I would be delivering a humor talk next week. As I was thinking about all of the picturesque country roads in this area and I thought about John Denver’s song Country Road. YouTube.com There has been a heap of living that has gone on along those roads in the past and it is calming and rewarding just to take a slow drive down a country road and thinking about old times. May God bless urban and rural America and keep our troops from harm.
