President John rang the bell at 12:05 and our meeting began.
This was a joint meeting with the University Kiwanis Club who were also in attendance today.
David Hartman gave a heartfelt invocation and David Spencer led us in the Pledge to the Flag followed by singing “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and the Rotary greeting.
In addition to the Kiwanis Club, we welcomed the Mexican American Veteran’s Association and all others who have served in our military.
For the Sunshine Report, Dave Hartman reported that Walter Coppage is recovering from surgery.
Triangular shades for Rotary’s playground project have been ordered.
President John reminded the club of our $18,000 Foundation goal fueled by member participation in the “Every Rotarian-Every Year” donation program.
The Brag Bucket was carried by Colton Heinrich with Carla Dowlen and her nephew baseball star and Larry Petrash with the Iowa Park Rotary Club’s Iowa Park HS Interact Club being repeat customers.
Josh Phillips introduced our program, “Flag: Fly, Lower and Gather” given by Jim Rodriquez, a member of the Gainesville Rotary Club as well as The American Legion, Kiwanis Club and Lion’s Club. Jim has an amazing history of service. During his freshman college year, 1972, Jim received a draft letter and chose to join the Air Force becoming a master sergeant over his 21-year military career. He is now an executive with Taco Casa having100 restaurants in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. He also worked with Taco Cabana and was a top salesperson for VW Porsche Audi. Jim is an expert in corporate organization and motivation. While visiting Waxahachie, Texas HS, he noticed the janitor lay the American flag on the ground before it was raised. As a dedicated military man, allowing our flag, the symbol of freedom and all who died for our country, to touch the ground was not acceptable. Jim arranged a meeting with the HS principal and explained this task required more than one person and the FLAG program was born. Years later, over 200 schools in 17 states have FLAG programs that teach students the proper way to raise, lower and fold the American flag.
President John thanked Sgt. Rodriquez for his program and informed him that a donation to the WFISD Foundation would be made in his name. The Four Way Test was then recited and then it was out the door.
October 2, 2019
Late one morning, headed for lunch in San Francisco, Charles drove toward one of the toll booths on the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. He heard loud music. It sounded like a party, or a concert. He looked around. No other cars with their windows open. No sound trucks. He looked at the toll booth. Inside it, the man was dancing.
“What are you doing?” Charles asked.
“I’m having a party,” he said.
“What?” Charles looked over at other booths; the other people were not moving inside. “What about the rest of the people?” Charles asked.
The man said, “They are not invited. What do those look like to you?” He pointed down the row of toll booths.
“They look like toll booths,” Charles replied.
“No, they look like vertical coffins!”
“What are you talking about?”
“I can prove it,” the man continued. “At 8:30 every morning, live people get in. Then they die for eight hours. At 4:30, like Lazarus from the dead, they reemerge and go home. For eight hours, brain is on hold, dead on the job. Keep going through the motions.”
Charles was amazed. He could not help asking, “Why is it different for you? You’re having a good time.”
The man looked at him. “I knew you were going to ask that. I’m going to be a dancer someday.” He pointed to the administration building. “My bosses are in there, and they’re paying for my training.”
He added, “I don’t understand why anybody would think my job is boring. I have a corner office, glass on all sides. I can see the Golden Gate, San Francisco, the Berkeley hills; half the Western world vacations here and I just stroll in every day and practice dancing.”
17 toll booths, 16 people dead on the job, and the 17th, in precisely the same situation, figured out a way to live.
Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
– Abraham Lincoln
– Abraham Lincoln
– Originally published in December 2012
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