In September of 1976, I showed up to eighth grade English class with Miss Horvath at McGrath Middle School with my peers. We were a unique bunch, similar in differences like the characters in the John Hughes movie, The Breakfast Club. We were awkward, immature and lacking confidence, but I don’t think we realized any of that. About a week into the semester, Miss Horvath faced us, leaned up against her desk, arms crossed as we walked into class and took our seats. Usually, she stood out in the hall to greet us. She was a tall lady, with short dark hair, nicely styled and she dressed very professionally wearing with a dress or skirt with a matching top or blouse and jacket. Even though we were just a few days into the school year, we knew something was up. I will paraphrase what I remember her saying…
“Good Morning ladies and gentlemen. I have been going over your papers these past few days and your content and grammar are looking good. In fact, a very nice place to start so early in the year, actually much better than in years past. However, your penmanship, well that is another story. It is down right atrocious. I would have expected much more from a group with such proficient writing skills. I let it go the first few days, thinking maybe it was just getting back into the routine, but seeing no improvement, well, we are just going to have to address this problem head on. We are going to start over with penmanship. I am not going to take credit for sending you on to Grand Blanc High School, and to my friends up in the English department, with handwriting like this.” It was then she passed out cursive writing paper with upper case A drills followed by lower case a. Miss Horvath then proceeded to talk us through how to make a proper A and a and then she wrote a few words on the chalk board for us to practice down on the lower lines of three lined rows, probably apple, airplane and a few more words. We all looked at her with stunned faces and started to whisper amongst ourselves. “I don’t want to hear any complaining. You will all thank me later. Trust me. I want you to learn the significance of dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s. It’s about more than writing.” It’s amazing that all these years later, I remember that story and I DO thank Miss Dixie Horvath for helping me perfect my TEACHER PENMANSHIP that over the years I have received many compliments on. In fact, people have commented on just how neat my writing is. Thank you Miss Horvath. And she was right, it WAS so much more about the writing. Over that eighth grade year, I learned so much from her about attention to detail and doing things right…
In the last decade or so, it seems as if there has been a decline over all in doing things right, like crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s and it seems as if it’s gotten worse. The pandemic gave people reason not to show up to work and those who did in the service industry have almost been pushed to the edge in terms of hours to work and with less people showing up to work, those who do are expected to do more than their job. We were at a Jimmy John’s out of state, a small business that serves fresh made sandwiches, not a huge operation, but requiring more than a ‘one man show’ to run, especially during a lunch hour with counter service and a drive through as well. We were greeted by the owner behind the counter who said “Hello folks, I am short staffed today, doing my best, but if you are on a limited time for lunch, I just want you to know I’m running a little behind.” Not. Being in a hurry, we told him we were glad to wait. We sat at a table until we saw his rush let up. When I ordered, he told us that he had a staff and none of them showed up to work and his high school employees were still in school. We told we understood since we have family in the business. He said, “don’t these people want to work and make some money?” Those employees who do show up to work, are over worked or so taxed and so stretched that the quality of service is on the decline, for the most part. It’s a bit disappointing for anyone, especially for someone like me who likes things done right, and with a smile. Dixie Horvath would be so disappointed…
Several times a week, I am assembling music for dance and fitness classes, so often, there is a search for new, old and unique artists for interesting playlists, Lately Michael Buble’s Higher album has shown up. The music is outstanding. There is range, there is classic, there is sexy, there is old Hollywood and there is love. A few of the music videos have been released to go with the songs and those are equally outstanding, but then what would one expect out of one of the best performers of our time? He has a timeless and near perfect sound. Pretty spectacular for a guy who grew up working with his dad on a fishing boat during the summers as a teenager living in Vancouver, British Columbia. Interestingly, we share a birthday, September 9, and we share a similar heritage coming from the Balkan area, Michael’s grandparents from Croatia and my Dad from a little further south, northern Macedonia, both from formerly, Yugoslavia. His parents and grandparents all saw his singing talent early on and it was a grandfather who would pay for his singing lessons since his parents couldn’t afford it. He practiced and practiced, and even slept with his Bible, praying that he would someday be able to make a living as a first class singer, heavily leaning on his Catholic Faith for his strength and inspiration in reaching his goal. He caught the eye, or rather, ear, of music producer, and fellow Canadian, David Foster, when he performed at then Canadian Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney’s, daughter’s wedding. I saw David Forster tell the story in a documentary. The Prime Minister, a friend of Foster, called him and said that he wanted him to see what he could do for this guy preforming at the wedding, ‘he’s really good.’ He sings Sinatra. David Foster thought to himself, “I’ve heard this before, sure.” Well at the wedding, he hit it out of the park and it wasn’t long after that that Michael was in LA, he raised some money for an album, David helped fund the remainder and the rest is history. His unique sound, his work ethic to practice and practice until it was right and his attention to iron out every minor detail, along with his incredible talent, has made Michael Buble’ an international first rate performer. Your can hear the attention to detail and to getting it right, in each of the songs on this album. You can tell he is the type of person who dots his i’s and crosses his t’s.
Attention to detail. Crossing the i’s and dotting the t’s. Those who have that quality are at times mocked, called OCD or even laughed at. Sometimes it is in jest, not malicious and at times it is. I don’t know about you, but if I was having heart surgery I’d want my surgeon to be a details person. When I’m getting on a flight, I hope the pilot is a details person. I want the craftsman doing my woodwork or the mechanic repairing my brakes to be a details person, so that our house looks good and my car stops when it needs to. Being a details person can mean the difference for some between life and death and a quality job done and a mediocre/ unsatisfactory job done.
The ‘Type A” personality can be inborn and likewise, it can be nurtured as well. I have one child who from day one was type A, interestingly right handed and we have two who have developed it over the years, each in different ways with different skill/experiences, and interestingly these two, left handed, like me. You know the kinds of personality I’m talking about, those people who can trim a shrub to look like something that could be on the grounds of Disney World and they are the people who make amazing managers if they work for a company and if they run their own company, it is a company that stands out and has incredible success, even ground breaking. As athletes, they are the Michael Jordans, Tom Bradys, Tiger Woods, Roger Federers or Martina Navratilovas. As coaches they are the Bear Bryants, Bo Schembechler or Lou Holtzes. As directors they are John Hughes, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielbergs Tyler Perrys Performers they are Barbara Streisands, Donna Summers, Diana Rosses and Michael Bubles. You see them in every profession, they are the Dixie Horvaths the Mr. Hollands, if you live in Grand Blanc or Genesee County, where I am from it’s the Bob Bureks, Lavonne and Don Bomeli, the Chris Swansons, the Bob Weisses and the Bob Himmelhochs.
You know them too. The people who show attention to detail, to not just get the job done, but to do it RIGHT! It means something to them to do things right. My Dad was like that at Atlas Coney Island with sparkling clean stainless steel tables in the kitchen and always wearing a bright white apron, tied in the same manner, ties taken to the back and then tied in a small bow in front, always wearing a nicely pressed shirt, usually white. My Father-in-law was like that at the dental office. The occlusion had to be perfect so that the patient didn’t grind. “Tap, tap,” with the little piece of carbon paper to get it just right. These people aren’t perfect. None of us are. Some who are the details people are details people across the board, they manage their life like that-in a good way. Yet, sometimes, we see those who are such perfectionist lacking in other areas or they let the quest for perfection cause defects in other aspects of their lives, think Tiger Woods. A perfectionist as a golfer, but early on, he let it get the best of him and it caused problem in his personal life. Most likely, he has learned from the mistakes, as we all do, and he has used those mistakes to learn from and to make him a better and more compassionate person.
They type A personalities, if managed, can do incredible things. Those who run companies or start companies can inspire others and they can make our lives better. Think of Thomas Edison and the light bulb, think Henry Ford and the automobile. think Clara Barton and the Red Cross. Think Billy Graham the Evangelist. Think Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook. Think Barry Gordy and the talent he assembled at Motown. Think Elan Musk and Tesla or think the inventor and engineer, Nicola Tesla. Think Marie Curie and her work as a physicist. Think of the impact these individuals who were known for dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s. We read stories of them and their disappointments and hardships, their sleeping on the floor of their factories to get the job done. No doubt were there sleepless nights, maybe days when they wanted to give up or do something else, but they kept pressing on.
Interestingly, sometimes, these people make success look easy. When you see them receiving an award or dressed up for a performance, athletic competition, interview or a days work, they may look like it’s a day in the park. Sometimes these people are roasted, torn apart by the press and many times sneered at by people who are ignorant of the hard work, dedication and sacrifice these people make to pursue their dream, and many times, the result of their labor, improves OUR lives. Think of the surgeon who performs bypass surgery so that someone can live to see their grandchildren, the lawyer who pleads a case for an innocent man, the educator who could have succeeded in the corporate world but followed his/her dream to inspire children, the performer who writes and performs the songs that makes the whole world sing, the athlete who inspires so many kids to play a sport and just do it, the inventor that invents the pacemaker to keep a heart beating or the researcher who comes up with a medicine that allows someone with a rare illness to have quality life. Any success or reward these individual receive, in my mind, is well worth any recognition or monetary accumulation they receive for their effort, risk, knowledge and time. Think of how different our lives would be without just the technology of a cell phone, a car, a computer, much less a car, television or air travel and the people who deliver these goods to us in terms of manufacturing, servicing, selling to us and maintenance.
There was a time when doing things right and quality work wasn’t just a characteristic of the inventors, engineers, CEOs, doctors, educators, performers and athletes, it was just the way things were done. My Dad would often say in his later years that he noticed a big decline in the quality of employees. Early on, most of the staff he and my Uncle David had at their restaurants would show up on time, neatly dressed, and they had a good work ethic. As the years went on, he saw it, but less of it as the years progressed. I am sure you have noticed it too. It makes me think of a quote, I will paraphrase from Billy Joel in describing his work. “We have come to a time when when one who does the ordinary, become extra-ordinary because there is such a low standard, I just do the ordinary, playing the music I write” again paraphrased. I don’t think Billy Joel is ordinary, but I get his point.
Let’s raise the bar. Expect more from yourself and those around you, within reason and not in a bad way. It starts with one person at a time, elevating the way we speak, act, treat people and the way we live our lives, dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s, turning it on when we need to and backing off, letting the little things go when appropriate…Making for many days to say…
It’s a Great Day ☀️
