Character Exposed!

One of the greatest truths told to mankind goes like this....Adversity reveals character! This plays out everyday if your paying attention. So I've made a special effort to notice how I personally handle adversity, and invite you to do the same! As always there is a story attached.

Yesterday I set off on a quest to purchase 6 new mattresses for the yacht. I headed for my favorite mattress dealer where I've established a relationship with the manager and gotten some great deals. Low and behold, much to my dismay the store was staffed by a new face. He cordially greeted us and I took that opportunity to make a joke, and place him on his heals so we could barter for the best price. Apparently that made him incredibly nervous as the transaction went down hill from there. We found mattresses that suited our need at a price we could live with and proceeded to write up the work order. While finalizing the paperwork I noticed a mistake so he begrudgingly had to void the ticket and the refund the credit card. I thought I'd caught a whiff of profanity as he apologized for being inept, and went through the process to redo the order. The process was taking way more time than it should have and a number of customers had come and gone while the salesman fumbled through. Once again we attempted to finalize the process so we could be on our way, and darned if he didn't mess it up again. This time there was no doubt about the profanity, he cursed himself like a shrimper after a bad catch. I have to say as a man of the sea, even I was a little taken aback at what came out of his mouth in front of customers. "Bad form Pan", as Captain Hook would say! Anyway he finally completed the paperwork properly, the third time is a charm, and the sale was final, but at what cost? We won't be returning.

This is just a simple model of people's behavior when put to the test. Look at other examples we've been exposed to on a larger scale. Looting has accompanied all of the natural disasters of late, a sign of a lack of character when adversity is applied. Survival doesn't demand you take advantage of others. Men of character provide for their families. Just what did the population do prior to there being stores to loot? Has our lack of resourcefulness led us to being no better than common thieves?

I think it'd be a good idea to reflect how we might behave should adversity strike. Are we prepared to provide for our loved one's survival? What would you do with no store to go to, or no money to buy supplies? Would your character be diminished, or are you self sufficient? All great questions to ponder!

God Bless
Capt. Bill