Thank you for stacking the apples

By Tim Peterson, Corvallis

I woke up this morning wondering how many people I interact with during my daily routine. My thoughts moved on to how much does the success of my day rely on the people I interact with directly and indirectly. Does my day rely on the person that manages the grocery store more than the person that that sorts and stacks the apples? The longer I thought about my daily routine I realized my day is affected by the actions of hundreds if not thousands of people some like the gas station attendant directly and others like business owners, delivery truck drivers and teachers indirectly.

Then I pondered how can I rate the importance their actions have on the success of my day? On a scale where a person who has the least effect on my day is a one and the most effect is a ten, who is a one and who is a ten? How do I rate walking into the produce department and quickly selecting a ripe red Gala apple against the talent of selecting and managing a quality produce department employee? What about the affect a teacher had on the ability of both the produce worker and manager to acquire and keep a job? What things do I do daily, weekly or regularly? Shouldn’t those people I interact directly with daily have the most influence on the success of my day, week and by extension life?

The importance of the interaction with another person often depends on the situation. A doctor is more important to me when I am sick otherwise I really don’t care about the doctor when I need hay for my horses. Those people that provide what I need most should be rated highest.

Many interactions, like those with a convenience store cashier are short in duration. While their proficiency and pleasantness are important, the longer the duration of the interaction the more likely those people will have a positive or negative effect on my day. So, co-workers and family members should be rated highly as having an effect on the success of my day, week and life. Right? At my Marine Corps retirement ceremony, I said I’d like to think I could have done my 20 years in the Marines without my wife. It just would have really sucked. Truly some people we can’t live without.

Then self-realization hit me, Am I a one or a ten to the people I interact with? Which jobs have I had that would be rated higher than the others? (electrician’s apprentice, administrative assistant, security guard, US Marine, employment specialist) What about my volunteer work? While my 20 years as a Marine is rated highly by much of the population. What I did as a Marine had very little direct effect on the daily lives of American citizens outside those in my unit. So, are the jobs I’ve held where I interacted with a large number of people more important than the ones where I only interacted directly with a few people? What about the times the people I interacted with that had a positive effect on a large number of people because of our interaction?

Ultimately, I decided that I am content being rated a one in my daily interactions with each of you. To value how interconnected we all are. To realize that we cannot do it alone. Then to strive to treat you each with the compassion and appreciation I enjoy receiving. Thank you for stacking the apples.