Find The Boots

Rantings from a few corporate types about life, technology, travel, guns, politics, and everything good in the world.

I Want New Neighbors

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Not that there is anything wrong with my current neighbors, but I want VDH as the one I can talk politics with and Joe Paterno as the one I go for advice on how to raise my kids.

Why?

Well, some Penn State players got in a fight and Coach Paterno (he's like a million years old now, or 80, I forget which) didn't think that was acceptable behavior.

According to Paterno, the Penn State football team will clean Beaver Stadium after each home football game this fall. It'll gather garbage, sweep stairs and maybe even hose parts down.

I'd like you to ponder that for a minute. All of use who have lived in college towns know that no 17th century Burgher was more privileged that a football player. Coming from a school with a crappy team, I can only imagine what things are like at Penn State.

It gets even better.

It's a job that usually goes to members of club sports on campus – say, rugby or crew – which do it to raise money so they can compete. Paterno said the clubs still will get the $5,000 for the job, but his guys [ed: the whole team!], fresh off playing 60 minutes of major college football the day before, will do all the work starting Sunday morning.

The football guys are now LITERALLY supporting the so-called non-rev sports. That's probably worse than the cleaning, in terms of hemorrhoid sting.

See, that's the kind of standard I strive for as a parent.

What does that mean? Well, I have several kids, all pre-teen. Or, as I like to say, still in an uninfluenced state. By that I mean that popular media has had a first shot at them (my daughter wants to be a princess, my boy a fireman) but they still watch me and their mom like a hawk.

I want to be a Joe Paterno kind of guy and instinctively know to do the right thing, even though it's hard. Let's face it, if Joe wanted to let his guys slide or dodge the work, there a thousand guys who'd carry his water.

Instead he gave the team the bad news and is undoubtedly going to show up on Sunday morning with a broom of his own to provide 'leadership from in front.'

I wanna be that kind of dad.

Go, Joe, go.

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Find The Boots

An executive goes on a business trip. When he arrives, it's raining cats and dogs. To avoid ruining his shoes, he purchases a pair of galoshes for $15, which he expenses under "Misc." on his expense report. A week later, the accounting department rejects his expense report, with a post-it note that says that the company does not reimburse for items of clothing. The next trip, the executive turns in an expense report without the galoshes, but with a post-it note that says "FIND THE BOOTS!".