I took my first plane ride in 1967. Because few seats were occupied, it was a luxurious and expensive adventure, afforded by few. My frightened 12-year-old mind will be forever imprinted with the glamour of seeing a pretty stewardess, propped up on an armrest chatting up the businessmen on board, who were smoking cigarettes (each seat had a built in ashtray) and sipping highballs in the middle of day. It was like a Frank Sinatra movie.
Boy…those days are gone! Last week, I flew to Atlanta, Georgia to speak at a Future Farmers of America convention. I could swear the airline designers took another inch out of our leg room. American’s keep getting bigger but the seats in the sky keep getting smaller. The stewards were far from friendly. They looked haggard; and one, being retirement age, looked to be counting the days. And don’t get me started about entitled Americans with poor phone etiquette. Geeze, people!
Speaking to the Future Farmers of America
Once at the FFA convention, I had a good time and learned a lot about their hard work and mission of “Creating the Future Agri Leaders of America.” I was on stage first for a 30 minute “go get ‘em” speech on the 7 qualities of a good leader (video below) . I was followed by an unbelievable guitar soloist and the evening ended with the comedian Tim the Dairy Farmer, who really is a dairy farmer.
I laughed until my checks hurt. For proprietary reasons, Tim asked the audience not to video him because he’d just signed a deal with Larry the Cable Guy, and they have a Netflix special coming out soon. Can’t wait. It was fun to be part of the cast. I was honored to be asked and deemed knowledgeable. Though my host and organizer of the event was disappointed in the turnout, (he was expecting 400 people), the event was a success, in my book.
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