According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a “hero” is a “person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.”

There is a genuine hero residing right here in the little village of Lodi. Sam Huffman is just 20 years old, but fellow Lodian and octogenarian Marguerite Jones is alive because of his selfless courage.

Jones, who utilizes a wheelchair, was en route to a party this past Saturday night. As she crossed the railroad tracks that bisect Lodi to get to what folks here refer to as the “east side,” the wheels became entangled in the rail, leaving her trapped in the path of an oncoming train traveling at an estimated 40 miles per hour.

By the time Huffman, who had heeded a stop sign at the adjacent intersection, heard the train approaching, the crossing arms were down, the warning lights flashing, and the bells ringing. He glanced in his rear view mirror, saw Jones, and took action: He threw his truck into reverse and sped to Jones’ side, jumped out of his truck, and pulled her out of the wheelchair.

“I probably got three steps away (from the tracks) before (the train) hit her wheelchair,” Huffman said.

Lodi Police estimate that the train missed Jones and Huffman by a mere three feet.

In fact, the engineer stopped the train after it struck and destroyed Jones’ wheelchair, thinking that the locomotive had, in fact, hit Jones and Huffman.

Downplaying his remarkable act of courage, Huffman told KXTV News that he reacted, but only realized what he’d done later. “I’m just really glad I got the opportunity to save a life. Because not everybody gets that opportunity.”

Jones, who suffered no injuries, was shaken, but convinced that Huffman was an angel sent by God to rescue her. “He put him here so he could pull me off the tracks,” she said.

It was inspiring to pick up the Lodi News-Sentinel this morning and, in the midst of reports about escalating gas prices, the sputtering economy, California’s ongoing fiscal crisis, and various natural disasters, find this story about Huffman’s bravery. There is indeed a hero “stuck in Lodi.”

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“Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were
Flopsy,
Mopsy,
Cotton-tail,
and Peter.”

So begins “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.” So begins “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.” When you were a child, did your parents read those words to you? Mine did. And I read them to my children. Although, as they grew older, we donated most of my children’s books to various organizations — several boxes of “Goosebumps” stories went to our local elementary school, for example — there were a few that I simply could not part with. And our six-volume set of Beatrix Potter’s most popular stories was remains on the bookshelf.

I recently watched “Miss Potter” again. The 2006 film tells the story of Beatrix Potter’s refusal to conform to late-Victorian societal norms and determination to see her stories about her animal “friends,” as she called them, published. She was a naturally gifted artist who, as a solitary child, escaped into her own imagination, developing the characters and storylines that would ultimately make her the most popular children’s author of all-time. It is a charming movie featuring exceptional performances by Renee Zellweger, Ewan MacGregor, and Emily Watson.

Potter was a story-teller and artist from early childhood who struggled from her early 20’s until the age of 36 to get her first book published. In 1902, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” defied publishers’ expectations and secured Potter’s legacy.

Beatrix Potter found her calling as a young girl and channeled her interest in natural history, mycology, archeology, fossils and farming into her delightful stories about Benjamin Bunny, Samuel Whiskers, Tom Kitten, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Mr. Tod, and all the rest. She had to draw — and write.

Watching “Miss Potter” again caused me to ponder the point in my own life that I knew I was a writer and would continue to write throughout my life. I realized, not all that surprisingly, that I have self-identified as a writer my entire life. I literally cannot remember a time when I did not enjoy writing or feel compelled to write, although my writing has taken many different forms over the years.

When did you know you were a writer? Was there a moment or period in your life when you realized that you were meant to write? Did a specific event or occurrence compel you to write? Or, like me, have you just always considered yourself a writer? Leave a comment or a link should you decide to write about this topic on your own site.

Originally published at Write Stuff.

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Connected Lives (Part Six)

LOL.

ROFL.

POS.

TTYL.

TTFN.

Do you recognize each of those abbreviations? If not, they stand for:

Laughing on line.

Rolling on floor laughing.

Parents over shoulder.

Talk to you later.

Ta ta for now.

I wonder how many times each day, those and other shortcuts like them are transmitted via text or instant message, or email. I think it would be even more interesting to know the age breakdown of the folks using those abbreviations. Are they the vernacular of teenagers? Twenty-somethings? Or Baby Boomers?

Actually, they are used by all age groups.

Does all the text messaging, emailing, commenting on blogs, and other forms of shortcutting impact the quality of our writing such that tomorrow’s adults will be less competent writers?

The results of a recent survey might surprise you, as they did me.

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Connected Lives (Part Five)

In a recent meeting with my colleagues, we all sat around a conference table, our identical Blackberries in front of us. As one by one the Blackberries chirped, clicked, chimed, and buzzed, we found ourselves laughing at we looked at each other and then down at our individual devices, simultaneously declaring, “It’s yours” or “It’s mine.”

As the meeting went on, we each took our turn emailing as the speaker continued talking, holding the little silver gadgets in our laps or just under the edge of the table, typing with our thumbs in a failed attempt to be unobtrusive and not disrupt the proceedings. Every one of us was, at some point, guilty of allowing technology to interrupt and compete with our focus upon what was being discussed in that room.

I have now made it my practice, when I am speaking to a group, to announce at the outset that I expect cell phones and Blackberries to be turned off or, at a minimum, put on the “vibrate” setting. I ask my audiences not to place their devices on the table in front of them, but, rather, to store them in their bag or pocket and use them only during breaks.

For the most part, my request is ignored. It is not uncommon to see attendees going in and out of the room as I am speaking.

I have tried a number of techniques to discourage and eliminate the behavior. For instance, when the IPhone first hit the market, I jokingly told my audiences that, if their phone rang during my presentation, I would confiscate it the way my son’s high school principal once collected his — and kept it until Friday afternoon. (You would have thought the world had quit spinning on its axis! I think I was actually punished, rather than my son, because I had to listen to him whine and complain about not being able to send text messages to his friends for four days.) I added, “So if you have an IPhone, please let it ring because I’m looking for one. We will trade phones and I’ll thank you before you leave today.” Everyone laughed, but no one really got the message.

I’ve also stopped my presentation and waited for the offender to finish his/her activity, encouraging the rest of the audience to join me in watching him/her type. Undeterred, their thumbs have generally continued flying over the tiny keys until they are ready to hit “send.” When a class participant gets up and leaves the room, I sometimes encourage the rest of the class to wave at them as they exit, saying, “Let’s all wave!” or asking the person walking out with his/her cell phone up to his/her ear, “I hope you’re not going away angry.” Generally, they turn, wave back, laugh . . . and keep talking as they walk out the door.

Yes, I am a frustrated stand-up comic.

But I am also a frustrated public speaker.

I am old enough to remember life before cell phones and Blackberries. I recall when business was transacted without those convenient tools. I remember when a secretary would have to actually get up out of his/her chair and walk to a conference room to summon his/her boss to take a telephone call. Better yet, I remember the days when my secretary told callers, “I’m sorry, but she’s in a meeting. I’ll have her return your call when it concludes.” People were satisfied with that response. Whatever the issue was, it would wait for an hour, two hours, or even until the following day.

These days, secretaries just send an email, knowing that the boss will read it while in a meeting, class or seminar.

It seems that every issue has now been elevated to “urgent” status, requiring an immediate response. Just as our attention spans have shrunken so has our ability to receive responses to inquiries, address issues, and resolve conflicts. And as the acceptable “turn-around” time has evaporated, so, too, has our ability to analyze, ponder, consider, and deliberate over important matters. To our detriment, in my opinion.

With those quick responses come off the cuff remarks, snarky replies, and split-second decision-making that all too often, we regret later, especially when we realize that there was more information to be gathered, more factors to be taken into account, about which we were unaware when we fired off that reply email or text message.

How does all of this bode for the business and world leaders of tomorrow? Teenagers and even younger children are experts at text messaging. While weBaby Boomers have had to work to become adept at typing with our thumbs, and still struggle to remember which key is for punctuation and which is for the number keypad, not to mention grasp the text lingo, our kids find it perfectly natural.

Are we raising a generation of impulse buyers and leaders with attention spans matching those of gnats? And how can we ask them to pay attention in school and refrain from text messaging and emailing during class, using the cell phones and Blackberries we provide them, if we can’t refrain from the obnoxious and rude conduct ourselves? In other words, shouldn’t we be setting a better example, modeling behavior that will encourage them to “do as I do,” rather than as I say?

Leave a comment!

Originally published at Write Stuff.

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