Fresh from making mud pies, Paul and I were coated in dirt from our elbows to our fingertips. We walked into the kitchen to clean up for lunch, where we found Rafe leaning against the wall, shaking, and crying uncontrollably. His face, wet with tears, was red, and a line of drool hung from his open mouth.I was shocked. I couldn’t imagine anything that could make Rafe cry. He was powerful; twice my size, and twice my age, he was the first older boy I had ever been associated with. “What’s wrong?” I asked.He mumbled incoherently, so I asked, “Are you hurt?”Just then, Frank, the brother between Paul and Rafe, walked into the room. “He isn’t hurt. He said a bad word, and...

Did you ever steal something from a store; shoplift a candy bar; anything?” asked my college girlfriend. She had just told me that, as a little girl, she took something from a gift shop without paying for it, and how her parents severely scolded her.I shook my head, “No.”“Seriously, never?”Susan was so disappointed. It was apparent that she wanted a story; and immediately my imagination kicked in. So, I replied, “Well, never intentionally.”“What does that mean?”“There was this one time, when I was twelve years old, that I accidentally stole something. And, I probably shouldn’t be talking about it because I could still get into trouble for it.”“How could you get in...

Did you just call me stubborn? If you were trying to motivate me – you just failed. Before you call anyone stubborn, consider this: there is no such thing.Stubborn is a non-word like greed. It’s a meaningless term that only exists in your mind. It’s make-believe; it’s simply your subjective perception. Its meaning falls apart when subjected to scrutiny. Think about it; you never call yourself stubborn. No one would ever genuinely refer to themselves as stubborn. If they do at all, it’s because someone important to them has called them that; and they feel guilty that they can’t please this person whom they care for.Am I frustrating you? If you find yourself foiled in getting me...

I still recall the time I led with intimidation and... wow, did it backfire!“Bobby, you gotta help us.”“What’s up?” I asked the three scouts who stopped me on the trail to the lake.“It’s Benjy. He pulled a knife on us,” replied one kid.“A really big knife,” added another.“Yeah, big like a sword,” said the third.“What do you mean, he pulled it?” I asked.“He pulled it out of its sheath, and threatened us with it.”“And, he poked it at us, and said he’d cut us.”“And what did you guys do to provoke this?”“Nothing, he’s trying to act tough, but he’s scaring us.”“And, we’re not the only ones, he’s done it to several other kids.”“Why...

I carefully filled the cake cone  from the frozen custard machine, pushing it up at just the right moment to create a perfect ball; then as I shut off the machine, I pulled the cone away with a circular motion to give it the company’s signature curl on top. It was beautiful, and I was proud of the way it looked, knowing that my customer would be happy.As I turned away from the machine, I heard, “What the hell is that?”It was the franchise owner. Baffled, I asked, “What do you mean?”Snatching the cone from my hand, he replied, “This is too much ice cream; they only get six ounces.” (Note: this was not a corporate policy, but his own.)With a large kitchen knife, he cut off...