Monday Meanderings - 4.27.2015

I posted a while back about visiting the Guatemalan embassy in Mexico City to get an official, stamped document for our travels. That prompted Barb to remind me of the story about the red rubber stamp.

Years ago while living in Abilene, Barb and I and were in a small Bible study group that included a couple who had lived in various interesting places, including Vietnam during the early years of the US "military action" there.

Ron, the husband, described how he and and his wife and others had set out to start an orphanage in that country to help deal with the overwhelming problem of children left parent-less by the on-going war and military conflict. He described how frustrated they were initially because they could not overcome the problems of bureaucracy and seeming indifference by those whose official blessing was needed in order to set up and run the orphanage.

He told of venting his frustration one day to a fellow American who was in that country on behalf of some other non-government organization, and that person inquired as to whether Ron had a red rubber stamp? "What red rubber stamp?" Ron asked. "Any red rubber stamp," the fellow responded. "It doesn't matter what the stamp says, but it must be liberally applied to all of your official documents, and you must use red ink with the stamp."

So Ron obtained an ornate, official-looking rubber stamp inscribed with the orphanage name and his name, and some other verbiage on it - along with a red ink pad - and began stamping all his correspondence, business cards and any other flat surface that he encountered with the gaudy stamp.

And doors opened like magic!

Officials who previously didn't have the time of day for Ron and his group welcomed them with open arms. Business got conducted, approvals were made, and the orphanage was in business! All because of a red rubber stamp.

Another follow-up. The AT&T Uverse service truck was back at the neighbor's house the other day. She had previously posted on a neighborhood bulletin board that the service call count was 6 (now 7), and the problem was still not fixed. That knowledge came in very handy when a sales person came to my door the other day wanting to sign me up for AT&T Uverse. Interestingly, the service truck was parked on our block - at yet another neighbor's house - when she knocked.

And apparently columnists and bloggers are running out of city ranking ideas. The most recent list is called "The 16 U.S. Cities that Top Every Internet List for Being Awesome." You know, “Best Places to Visit,” “Best Cities to Eat Your Way Through,” “15 Best Places to Be A Hipster,” etc. And yes, Austin ranks high on that list, though I don't give much credibility to a list that ranks Houston and Dallas above Austin in any category except traffic congestion.