Saying thanks & A good read
August 10th, 2007If you could go back and time and say thanks to one person, who would it be? The only rule is, it can’t be a relative. There are a lot of people I’d thank, but the one that immediately comes to mind is Speech Therapist dude.
When I was a little kid, I had a real bad speech impediment. I also had an accent, and supposedly, I was hard to understand. I did my assignments well and was well-liked by the teachers, but I remember some of them having problems understanding me.
I think it was in the 2nd grade when my school brought in an outside Speech Therapist. I forgot his name, but we called him by his first name. There were several of us in the class, and each one of us had a different speech problem. I couldn’t pronounce R’s, and had a thick accent.
Mr. Speech Therapist dude fixed the problem, and also got rid of most of my accent. By junior high, my accent was completely gone. If you’re a teacher, you know that the junior high years are probably the most crucial years of all when it comes to growing up. It’s the time you start figuring out who you are, and you have to learn to fit in.
For me, junior high was the best time of my life (until college, and until some years after that, but those are other stories). I was on top of the world and had a great three years. Had I had that speech impediment and that accent, I imagine I would have turned out insecure about my voice.
My immediate job doesn’t require social skills. As you know though, I’m doing some work on the side. That does, especially the sales aspect of it. I’ve also been 6 for 6 in my last six interviews. It’s not only for my software skills, but mostly because I know how to interview. If it weren’t for the Speech Therapist, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this. So thanks Speech Therapist dude!
This is a d*** good read
Read Scott Bob’s post on War and Economy. Click here and go down to his August 07th post.
i’d probably thank my high school economics teacher. going in i hated the subject. i disagreed with many of the teacher’s positions too. he enjoyed getting us to debate and few would…i always rose to the bait. my only goal was to corner him in extrciably and win a debate. i derived great pleasure from seeing teachers i disagreed with twist in the wind and become angry when i could best them. it took until nearly the end of the year but finally the day and the debate came and i backed him up into to where he had no logical retort. i waited for the color in his face to rise and the frustration to show. instead he smiled, bowed and said, ‘very nicely done, miss lime. excellent arguments.’ i wound up being the one who was knocked off balance but it was then that i realized his goal was not argument for argument’s sake nor did he want us to concede defeat to his way of thinking but that he wanted his students to think and reason and be able to defend their own conclusions themsleves. i’d thank him for requiring me to think and for respecting his students when they did.
Lime - That’s the kind of teacher who should get teacher of the year. Great story.
Where to start? There are dozens of people I’ve never met who I’d love to thank — Harriet Tubman and Emily Dickinson top my list at the moment. In my own life, I’m obviously indebted to many past teachers.
But if I had to just pick one person, and one person who I didn’t thank at the time, it would be the anonymous woman who angrily swerved her car around me one afternoon when I was playing in the street with the neighborhood kids. She stomped up to my house and complained to my parents that I nearly got myself killed. Even though I was mortified at the time, that woman probably saved my life. That’s worth a thank you.
Z, I know this has nothing to do with this post, but saw this video and figured you HAVE to see it.
http://break.com/index/bush-worried-about-new-threat.html
I have so many to thank too. Teachers, friends of the family and others that I have learned so much from. Its hard to pick just one really. I suppose we dont have to pick just one though. I will do this, I will think on it for the rest of the weekend and do my own post on this on Monday. We have a few things to do this weekend. So I will catch you all on Monday morning bright and early like usual.
Tweety - Looking forward to seeing it.
Yonder - Yeah, that one was good, but Neal beat you by a week.
Jessica - Of all the ironies.
Same thing to me. A van almost hit me when I ran in front of it when I was a kid. The guy honked his horn, got out, and yelled. At the time I got scared, but I never ran in front of a car again.
I would like to thank the person who took me in from Social Services when I was little. I was 7 pounds, 14 ounces at birth. At the age 5, I was not even 10 pounds. I was in the system until I was 8. I was given back, and I wish I was never given back.
Kate - You’re an example of Free Will. You turned out to be a huge sweetheart.
Well, ZS, this is a subject near and dear to me. I’m glad your speech therapist was able to help you. I’m surprised you got a male - most of the field is female dominated. I love hearing that someone knows what we do.
Although, I wish sometimes that I could just fix an “r” - my cases are much tougher now. I still have “run of the mill” articulation clients, but mostly the kiddos are more involved. I often think of the kids I work with and wonder what the future holds for them. I worry because other kids are not kind.
Hmm… one person to thank who’s not a relative. I’d have to say my sixth grade teacher. I was going through a rough time and he let me stay after class and spill my guts. I don’t really remember if he was a good at teaching me academics or not. But, he listened. That’s what I needed.
Notta - I was really hoping you’d read this post. After I wrote it, I remembered you’re a Speech Therapist and of all the people to read it, I was hoping you’d read it. Maybe they don’t thank you now, but they’ll look back and they’ll be glad what you’ve done.
My life is so much better now that I’ve been to one. So much of my life revolves around my speaking ability. I wouldn’t be a tenth of the man I am today without communication skills. I’m supposedly a heck of an orator as well, or so I’ve been told. I couldn’t be one if I had that bad accent and speech impediment.
As for your teacher, sometimes the best anyone can do for you is just to listen. A good listener sometimes is just what the doctor ordered.
Damn.
Groovy. I wish somehow your speech therapist would find this and get a warm fuzzy!
I would thank my friend Bob. When I first moved to this city I was feeling sorry for myself because my marriage sucked, and one day when I was griping he made this hilarious mock-sympathetic face and said, “You want a guitar? Wanna write a country song?” That snapped me right out of self-pity…life’s too short for it, and I sure as hell don’t want to be a country singer.
Yonder - He’s fast.
SME - That reminds me of a joke. Do you know what happens when you play a Country song backwards? Your horse comes back to life, your wife comes back, the tornado brings back your trailer, your truck starts again…
I would thank my next door neighbors, Mr. & Mrs. L. I could thank Mrs, but Mr. died a number of years ago. When my little brother and I would feel the need to escape our house we’d go to their house (they had kids our age). They didn’t feed us or anything crazy. They just let us be ourselves, because we couldn’t be that at home as nothing we ever did was right.
One time my parents were out of town (I was in college) for a week or so with the younger kids in CA visiting the aunts. I took the opportunity to play my Billy Idol albums on my father’s stereo (this was allowed, actually, just not at the volume I was playing it). One afternoon I was in the backyard hanging the laundry and Mr. L was in his backyard. I yelled Hello. He said, “Hello, Kathleen.” back to me and then commented, “So, where are your parents these days? I’ve been hearing some pretty interesting music coming from the house.” I was mortified, of course, and stammered that I would turn it down. He laughed at me and said, “Don’t worry about it. You play it as loudly as you like. You kids never get to let go.” That is how I always always always think of Mr. L.
BTW, saw your favorite movies listed - I didn’t think many people saw Once Were Warriors - great movie.
Kathleen - Goes to show, people do pay attention to the world around them.
Once Were Warriors is my all-time fave movie. You’re one of the few who’s actually seen it, and sat through it. Never read her book though (the book the movie was made from).
Yep, I’ve heard that joke. I love country-song titles like “I Got Tears In My Ears (from Crying on My Pillow Over You)” and “I Bought the Shoes that Just Walked Out on Me.”