Hugh's Moblog

My Dad is the sort of guy who knows lots of people. I am not sure where he got this trait - he was an only child who grew up in the middle of nowhere, the son of a single mother - but somehow he ended up with it. I spent a lot of time in sales, and knew lot of folks who like to “network”, but Dad is the real deal. He really knows these people - he knows their wives, their kids, who married whom - he thrives on that. He was not gathering names or prospects so he could sell them something; he genuinely cares what they have to say. And it did not matter how wealthy or how poor they were - they always get the same treatment from Dad. When I was about 15, I got a job bagging groceries at the grocery store in the small town we lived near. I remember Dad telling me it was a good job because I would meet lots of people. I made a comment about how I was meeting lots of the important people in town - the banker, the lawyers, etc. He sat me down, knelt down and looked me in the eye and said, “Son, they are all important. Never forget that”. I never have.