Some things should never go together. For example, orange juice and hamburgers.
A number of years ago when my marriage was young and my kids were small, our little family was running late for church. Not the cute, Gee whiz kind of late, it was the ugly kind. There are few things as ironic as the loss of religion that occurs while trying to get everyone ready and out the door to go to church. Things are said — none of which fall under the category of grace — and it’s often a real mess and not at all what Jesus would do. If you have small kids, you know what I’m talking about. So that was us.
Survival Of The Parents
Anyway, we succeeded in getting out the door fully clothed, but sans-breakfast. So we decided to do what desperate parents everywhere who start out only wanting the most natural, healthy, non-GMO meals for their kids right up until the wheels fall off of their fantasy — we went to McDonald’s. Let’s be honest. All your best, most idyllic hopes and dreams go out the window when it’s crunch time and you are aggravated and on your last nerve. You do what you have to do to survive; survive or admit that your parents were right.
I pulled up to the McDonald’s drive-thru in our turd-brown 1988 Toyota Camry with a lightly stained beige cloth interior. (Hey, the car was ugly but it ran like a top). I ordered breakfast by the numbers and was on pins and needles waiting to get my hands on a sausage-egg-and-cheese McGriddle. When asked what I wanted to drink, I told them orange juice — orange juice for everyone — which is the universal beverage of breakfast-eaters everywhere.
Let It Go
Upon receiving this information, the voice on the other end hesitated — the kind of hesitation involved when one person judges another. Then a long, drawn out, doubtful acknowledgment came through the speaker: “Okaaaay…” Which left me feeling judged and a little put off. Like, who is this person to be judging me and my orange juice?!
A voice inside me said, Just let it go, man, just let it go. So I did. I pulled up to the window and took the bags of food and the cardboard tray of drinks to distribute to my wife and our two kids. I was happy that I had succeeded in providing for my family on this most trying of Sunday mornings. As I took the bag and handed it to my wife, the bag naturally passed in front of my face. I took a big anticipatory whiff and thought to myself, “This doesn’t smell like breakfast…it smells like hamburgers and fries.”
By The Numbers
Further investigation revealed that the white paper emblazoned with a pair of golden arches did, in fact, contain hamburgers and fries. So I did what any hangry father would do at a McDonald’s drive-thru window — I demanded an explanation as to why I had not been handed the breakfast value meals that I had ordered. After all, isn’t that the very reason why the value meals were numbered? So it couldn’t get screwed up?!
I looked at the clock in the car and saw that it was only 10:05 a.m. (church started at 9:45 a.m. by the way) and they were supposed to serve breakfast until 11:00 a.m. Everyone knows that!
“Um, sir, it’s 11:05 … the clocks changed this morning. Maybe you forgot?”
“I was supposed to change the clocks? Son of a motherless goat!”
Changeable
Let’s recap, shall we? Not only had I missed church and spent the morning getting all hot and bothered for absolutely no reason since we never would have made it anyway, but to add insult to injury, I got what I ordered and had to drink orange juice with my hamburger. And that, my friends, is just a small example of what happens when you don’t change something that you should.
Entrepreneur and motivational speaker Jim Rohn said that, “Character is a quality that embodies many important traits such as integrity, courage, perseverance, confidence, and wisdom. Unlike your fingerprints that you were born with and can’t change, character is something that you create within yourself and must take responsibility for changing.”
Imperfect People
Fingerprints have been a staple of criminal investigations and court cases everywhere since the early 1900s. Thieves, burglars, and homicidal maniacs have been leaving their prints behind for decades — the same fingerprints they’ve had since birth. The amazing thing about fingerprints is that they are unique and unchanging.
In the same way that we leave our fingerprints behind on the things that we touch, our character also leaves an impression on the people we interact with and the lives that we touch. Though your fingerprints are unique to you and never change, your character is a very different story. You can mold it and grow it, shape it and transform it. That’s pretty good news for all of us imperfect people who can’t walk on water — which is all of us.
Avoiding Awkward
Positive change won’t happen by accident. It’s something you will need to pursue, and continue to pursue for the rest of your life. Unfortunately there’s no quick fix or one-time thing to do or box to check. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that if you’re not happy where you are or where you are headed, you can change it, but more importantly, it’s your responsibility to change it. Maybe you regret the way you treated someone in the past or some opportunity that you squandered because of your character. That’s not the end of your story. You don’t have to leave the same impression next time. Don’t make the mistake of not making a change that you should. It could cost you more than an awkward moment in a McDonald’s drive-thru.
__________________________
- Whose lives have you touched?
- What kind of impression did you leave?
- Was kind of impression you would like to leave?
- What aspect of your character needs to change or improve?
__________________________
Thanks for reading! Do you have a story that you think we could learn from and that you’d like to share with Johnny Tactical nation? Fill out the contact form and include your name, rank, and department, or email it to [email protected] and follow these guidelines:
– It must be a firsthand account
– True
– Have a lesson, principle, or tactic to apply
– Cleaned of names, dates, and places
– Include your call sign
If your story is selected and published in our blog you’ll get the credit using your call sign and we’ll send you a free Live Tactical t-shirt!
Leave a Reply
Your email is safe with us.
You must be logged in to post a comment.