What's your average?...

Hi Bay-Bee!

90 days to go! Are you kidding me? :)

Something my father said to me after a late night with my buddies has rang loudly in my head for years.

It was very late, after 1 a.m., on a summer night. I was 16. I had been picked up earlier in the evening at my house by three of my buddies. A couple of seniors, a junior (and I was a junior) went to cruise on Santa Fe. That was what high schoolers did for fun on Friday and Saturday nights and most of the summer. Cruising Santa Fe Street in Olathe (a bigger city just 10 minutes away from Gardner) was a big deal. Hundreds of cars and perhaps 400-500 teenagers flocked to the main street in Olathe on a nightly basis during the summer. Muscle cars and muscle shirts led to revving engines and short skirts. Every night was a party on "the Fe".

This particular night I was hanging out with a couple of seniors who were perhaps more notorious than famous. They were known to be pretty wild and reckless. That night was no exception. There was alcohol available. I'm not positive, but I believe there was something smoked (and I'm positive something was smoked on the Fe that night). (Note: Don't want to insinuate that I smoked anything, I was taught well here and had the good fortune of having "sports" father me when my father wasn't fathering me so I never smoked anything). There were races. It's a wonder nobody was arrested or hurt, though I know that many people were stopped by police on a nightly basis. My parents didn't have a curfew, but midnight was an implied "time to be home" because as my dad used to say, and I'm quoting, "Nothing good happens after midnight."

The guys dropped me off and I cringed when they revved the engine and peeled out from in front of my house. So when I rolled in at about 1 a.m. (perhaps later), I was only slightly surprised that my dad was still awake. He had shorts on and his typical white t-shirt. His five o'clock shadow had browned to a 1 a.m. shadow. He wasn't upset or mad or yelling. He never did that (except when it came to coaching, and even then it was rare and most of the time I thought it was more to fire his team up then it was anger). He simple stated, "Mike, I just want you to remember one thing: You are the average of the five people with whom you hang out most." That's it.

That's all he had to say. I got it. That was the last night I went out with those three. I continued to be alert to who I was hanging out with and even to this day, I strive to raise my average at all times. So what's your average? Who do you need to QUIT hanging out with and with whom do you need to start SPENDING MORE TIME? Raise your average today and call someone you love.

Bay-Bee, this is a very valuable lesson.

To Your Success,

Bay-Bee's Papa (Michael)