Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Don't Ask Rambi -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Don Pueblo who wrote (14987)	12/6/1998 8:03:00 PM
From: Jack Colton	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71178

Try this one out... Plagiarize from Message 6715518 Holiday Story ----------------- In the tradition of the Dilbert Newsletter, I include my holiday story with no attempt at humor. Between the ages of twelve and fifteen I earned money by shoveling snow during the frigid winter months in Windham, New York. My best customers were a retired Greek couple -- Mr. and Mrs. Amanatides -- who lived half a mile from my house. The standing agreement was that on any morning after a snowfall I would arrive at their house at 6 a.m. and shovel the sidewalk prior to Mr. Amanatides' morning walk to town. This was no small task for a 95-pound kid. It was challenge enough to reach their house through the snow. Usually the roads weren't plowed yet, so I'd take the back way, often crawling through waist-high snowdrifts. I'd be exhausted before the shoveling even began. As sidewalks go, this was a big job. The Amanatides' walkway went around the entire perimeter of the house and included a patio area and several sets of steps. I was instructed to shovel four inches past the edge of the sidewalk on each side to allow for proper drainage when the snow melted. I had to shovel like a crazed beaver to finish in time for school. After school, I would return and do the driveway. It was hard work, but it paid embarrassingly well. At a time when five dollars would have been fair pay for an hour of work, Mr. Amanatides volunteered twenty. I was so uncomfortable with that amount that one day I decided to convince him to pay me less. I didn't mind the hard work, but I couldn't bear taking so much money from this nice man. Normally we didn't talk much. I was always in a hurry and he was a man of few words. Maybe that's why I remember the conversation so well. After the shoveling was done, I tried my reverse-negotiating technique. I insisted he pay me less from now on. Mr. Amanatides did a quick read on the situation and told me to put my shovel down and listen. He explained his thinking in simple terms, distilled from seventy years of living. When he was done, I thanked him for the money and never brought up the topic again. Mr. Amanatides passed away some years ago. He didn't get to see that his overpaid snow-shoveler turned out okay. Although he's gone physically, he bought a bit of immortality that cold winter morning, when he looked at the skinny kid from Windham and told him something that many people never hear in their lives. He said, in his thick Greek accent, "You're worth it." This holiday season, make yourself immortal. Let someone know how much they're worth. You'll be surprised how long they remember it. Thanks to all of you for making this a great year for me. Have a great holiday and a great 1999.