With Mother's Day coming tomorrow, I thought it would be nice to share a memory about writing.
"This writing assignment is so stupid, Mom. Once I'm out of school I'll never write a report again. Why do I need to learn all these grammar rules and junk?" Mike jammed two cookies in his mouth and downed his second glass of milk, a brief reprieve to the hour-long diatribe he'd been issuing from his seat at the dining room table. He forked his fingers through his hair. "Writing is so dumb. I read the book. Wasn't that enough? Writing is so out of style."
Oh, the moaning and groaning of a fourteen-year-old.
I mentioned he might get a job that would require writing.
"No way! It'll never happen, I can guarantee you that!"
Mike is a Certified Safety Professional now with a degree in Occupational Safety and Health. He's worked for Volvo Trucks for nearly three years after fifteen working for the Maryland state government and five with Hughes Network Systems (think Howard Hughes). He made the job move to add managerial experience to his resume of private and government sector experience.
When he took the job as Safety Manager, the plant had the worst safety record within Volvo. The employees were imbedded in the "us against them" thinking. Mike knew to get his union workers on board he'd have to get the union president on his team. The gentleman was surprised and pleased when Mike asked him to be part of plant safety.
Implementing his safety plans to get employees to take ownership of their own safety, Mike saved the plant nearly a million dollars the first year by reducing accidents and lost-time injuries. His second year saw a million and a half in savings.
This year he and his plant won the corporate safety award. He was flown to Sweden where he met the President of the corporation and the nation's President in a big celebration in his honor. In addition to records of proven results,part of the criteria used to chose the winner involved a video. Guess who wrote the winning script? Bwahahaha.
I love it when Mom's admonishing to finish the dreaded report turns into something positive years later. Here's Baldy ... er ... Mike's winning video. He wrote and produced it. Writing rules, right ladies?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLaltjmpHM0#action=share
15 comments:
Talk about one of those proud mother moments. Isn’t it great to be proven right? Bwahahaha!
Yes! Mike would waste more time complaining about the assignment than it would have taken to simply write it. Now he sends me his training manuals on safety and ergonomic improvements. He knows I'm going to laugh when I see it. He's such a smarty pants.
Very impressive and proud mama moment! :-) Any chance he might consider going into politics? We could use smart people like him who know how to bring opposing sides together! (Although he's probably much better off staying away from that quagmire!) Happy Mother's Day, Vonnie, and all our Roses who will be celebrating tomorrow.
What an impressive record! All due--naturally--to the hard work and perseverance of his mother. LOL My favorite line here: Writing is so out of style! Have a wonderful Mother's Day, Vonnie.
Thanks for this story, Vonnie. I used to tell my grumbling students 'writing is thinking'...the act hones the thinking process. I'm sure they swore at me under their breath anyway. But we were right...still are right. I watched the video, Vonnie...tell Mike "well done." Then I watched the Uptown Funk old timers dancing video...and now I'm primed for my own writing time. Shout out to all Rose Mothers. Thanks for your service and have a happy day!
Very well done video. Congrats to Mike...and to you for raising a man who knows how to succeed. Writing is key no matter what your occupation. It's inevitable you'll be called on to write something at some point, and producing an intelligent report/letter/whatever will make you look a whole lot smarter than the guy writing a error-riddled grammar disaster!
Leah, Mike takes a very personal approach to safety. He has a sharp memory for faces and names. When he sees a factory worker without his safety glasses, he doesn't growl at him to put them on. He'll walk over and ask "Bart how's it going? How's his boy doing in basketball? Would be a shame if something happened to your eyes that you'd never see him make a winning basket." Then he walks off and lets his remark sink in. Bart wears his glasses now and there's no hard feelings between the two.
Alison, he sings a different tune now. Although he tells me my writing is wordy. "I could strip that down to twenty-thousand words, Mom." I gasp. Does he have any clue how long it took me to reach eighty-thousand?
So true, Rolynn. Writing is thinking and feeling. Sometimes I forget to put the feeling in until the third pass. As a retired technical writer, clear and concise was the rule. Boy, have I had a lot to learn on this new journey of romantic and/or suspenseful writing!
You are so right, Jannine. Now Mike edits all the communication going out from his department. "I don't want us to look like a batch of dummies. We're professionals." My, how his tune has changed.
What a great story, great video, and great Mom for impressing on him the importance of good English!~ I used to teach English at college level, some courses to students studying Engineering--soooo difficult to get it across to them why they needed good English! Well, done, Vonnie.
Thanks so much, Andrea. Mike was a sports jock which made getting the importance of writing across to him that much harder. I simply told him he was better than average work. Boys and their egos.
Great post, Vonnie! Happy Mother's Day!!!
Thank you. I hope your day is a lovely one.
Vonnie, love your story. Just proves Mom knows best. Wonderful safety record. Just imagine all the injuries and/or deaths he prevented. Terrific. Proud Mama moment.
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