Something Positive with Little Effort

The past few weeks have been difficult ones for the people of northern Alberta in Canada.  The Fort McMurray fire has consumed thousands of acres of forest, forced thousands of people from their homes before burning many to the ground and have thousands more wondering how they are going to move forward with their lives.  There have been innumerable efforts to help those who have found their lives in the path of the fire and this is just one example.

At a hotel in Bloomington, Minnesota this past weekend more than 75 Optimists www.optimist.org came together for a leadership conference.

 

This is the region that includes the province of Alberta.  Southern Wisconsin Optimist Governor Howard Crowfoot and Dakotas, Manitoba and Minnesota Governor Ken Schulz got up and asked everyone to donate to the cause and help Fort McMurray. 

10 minutes later, the passing of the hat raised $700.  The Canadian government is matching such donations meaning 10 minutes generated $1,400 for the Red Cross and relief efforts in Fort McMurray and other areas affected by the fire.

I am certain there have been instances like this one held throughout Canada and in many parts of the United States as well.  It shows the really good side of people in what often has become a really dark world.  And it is all in the name of doing something for the less fortunate.  Maybe if more of us did something like this there would be fewer, “less fortunate,” people. 

Be well.

A Round of Golf and Community ser ice

It started with a phone call.  “Jim, I have a lead on an international club” said Optimist International www.optimist.org  President Dave Bruns.  “I’ll send you an email with the info, he’s from Thailand.” And so would begin a little more than eight-month project to establish an Optimist Club in Bangkok.

Tony ( tony@blackhatgolf.com) is with the Thailand Junior Golf Guardian Association.  The connection was made at The Optimist. It is one of the premier junior golf championships in the United States drawing competitors from countries in Europe, Asia and South America.  Past Champions include Tiger Woods, David Toms, Ernie Els and Notah Begay III.  Tony has accompanied teams from Thailand every summer for the last several years to West Palm Beach, Florida for the competition.  He wanted an Optimist presence in the “Kingdom”.   

International development is a different animal.  It takes time and usually a lot of it to go from getting the contact information to what happened May 6^th in Bangkok when via SKYPE, a new Optimist club was formed. This is especially true when all of the development was done electronically (I hope some day to visit the club) I would wait for email replies and Tony would do the same.  The 12-hour time difference had to be overcome, exchange rates had to be learned and there are always cultural considerations to take into account.  Iowa is not like Bangkok and Bangkok is not like Iowa.   Scheduling was also an issue and it turns out the effort this month was the third attempt to get everything together.  

But the positives in this instance far outweigh the occasional hiccups along the way.  It is and was a truly eye opening and exhilarating experience.  To work with people halfway around the world who share similar values through a desire to help young people is a project more of us should be involved in.  All it takes is some time…and a willingness to develop a positive relationship with someone who you may never meet in person. Those ingredients help make the final product really worthwhile. 

So much so that tackling the next projects waiting in the wings (Morocco, Great Britain, Australia, India, Senegal, Germany and Holland) means there are more exciting times ahead.  You can help the cause too by letting me know of international contacts you have who might entertain the notion of bringing the Optimists to their corner of the world.     jim.boyd@optimist.org

Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down for Airline

There was a road trip last week from Des Moines and I feel compelled to share an experience  with one of the major airlines.  I am certain these remarks will be received favorably, well, almost. 

The itinerary was from Des Moines to Denver to Spokane for a week’s worth of work for Optimist International www.optimist.orgwww.optimist.org.  The flight to Denver was uneventful on United Airlines, www.ual.com one that I have made several times on an Airbus 319.  Turns out the same plane was used on the second leg and I actually wound up in the same seat.  It’s what happened at the end of the flight that is of note.

I gathered my belongings, deplaned, got my luggage and was picked up by the shuttle  to my destination in Coeur d’ Alene.  It was then I realized, my tablet and keyboard were still in the front seat pocket of seat 10B. Panic raced through my mind for two reasons. There was a lot of important stuff on the tablet and I felt I would never see I again.  The other thought was how was I going to tell my wife back home that I was absent minded enough to be dumb enough to leave something like that on an airplane.  (I just told her, since I know she reads my blog) J

I called United, made a lost and file claim and hoped.  (Said a prayer too) I would have to wait two days before I could expect to hear anything. Turns out the tablet was found in the seat pocket of United Economy Plus by a gate agent.  I had it back in less than three days and obviously it still works fine since this was written on it.  Kudos go out to the folks from United for the system in place to find  lost or in this case, left behind items.  It’s a top notch system.

Now, remember almost?  I flew economy home and not economy plus for a reason and that’s the price. I believe the airline is getting a little greedy when it comes to pricing for the sake of an additional six inches of leg room.  When considering Economy Plus on the way home I was astounded that seats for a two hour and 14 minute flight were between $79 and $89.  (Exit row seating even higher)  Is the cost of nearly $15 per extra inch of legroom really worth it. (the exit rows were empty until people moved into them, at no cost just before takeoff.)

It’s the opinion of this frequent flier that United would probably glean more revenue if pricing for those extra inches was a little bit more reasonable. An extra 90 bucks for legroom is a bit much.

Did I mention Thailand……next time on the blog.