Boots

I recently found it necessary to purchase a pair of boots.  Construction site rules.  So I bought a pair of boots.  When I got on site, the boots were new enough that they captured the attention of one of our vendors who happens to be a good friend.  He said that I should scuff the boots up so that they didn’t look so new.  I said, that reminds me of a story…

When I was 19, I went from working at Baskin Robbins to Hanning’s, a roofing company in Lancaster, OH. My sister’s ex-boyfriend had worked there over previous summers and said it was hard, but rewarding work.  So I applied and got a job.  They said, “Wear old jeans and boots.”  I didn’t have boots, so I went out and bought a pair.  The boots glowed with newness and I thought that I would look like a punk kid if I had new boots on. I went into the yard and scuffed them up on rocks and grass to make it look like I had worn them for a while.

I showed up for work in my old jeans and seasoned boots. The foreman took one look at my boots and said, “Did you rub grass on your boots?”  I said, “No.”  He said, “It looks like you took a pair of new boots and rubbed grass on them.”  I said no again, but I might as well have told him yes.

22 years later I finish telling our vendor that a pair of boots is more about what is on the inside of them and a lot less about what is on the outside of them. 

He didn’t believe it for a second.

Not that it means anything, here are those boot at the end of my first summer as a roofer.

And here they are in 2006 when I finally retired them.

Here’s to my new boots. They’ve gone though a lot in their first month. Everything except grass stains.

Rodney from Russia

Rodney was at our offices for business yesterday. We wrapped up late in the day and he stuck around for dinner and drinks. We finished dinner at the Digger & Finch and then went to another bar for drinks.

As we sat down, the waitress asked what we were up to. I immediately jumped in and said that we had a client in town from Russia and that he didn’t speak English. Rodney immediately took his cue and gave a two thumbs up. I said we worked at Chase and that Rodney’s translator went home sick. We said he only knew the word “beer.” The Rodney turned to the waitress and said, “Beer!” and gave the thumbs up.

For the rest of our time there when the waitress would come back and sit with us, we would point to stuff in the bar and say, “How do you say that in your language?” and Rodney would make up some word.

We kept emphasizing that he couldn’t under stand what we were saying and we would say terrible things to his face and he’d just smile and give the thumbs up. I was trying to get the waitress to say awful things, but she was too nice.

Next time I get to be from Slovakia.

There is a line

I was out of town at a trade show recently and Al and I were having drinks with Rodney. We sat at the corner of the bar with Rodney playing the corner man. As is with most our conversations, it wandered all over the map, from industry stuff to music. If you know Al, you know that he loves music. He knows music and he appreciates it. And if you know me, you know that I suck at music.

As we were discussing music, I shared with Rodney that Al has his love of music and I have the music that you hear at Skully’s on Thursdays. Somewhere in between all of the music that Al loves and the music I love is a line. And I said the goal is to find what music lives on that line. The music we both appreciate. I said, I can’t think of any music that lives on that line.

And Allen said, “What about David Byrne?”

I said, Hey! David Byrne is on the line!

And Allen said, “What about Yo La Tengo?”

And I said, Yo La Tengo is on the line!

And given that we were two for two I said, what about Ben Folds?

Allen said, Ben Folds is not on the line.

Well, at least we still have David Byrne.