One of the best educators I sat under through all my years of school was Mrs. Bauer. I had her for freshman speech at the Enterprise High School. Her husband, who went by Mr. Bauer, was my high school French teacher. Both of them were excellent teachers. My junior year Mrs. Bauer left our school to become a teacher at the Enterprise State Junior College. After graduating from high school, she became my teacher again at that institution. My second and final year there, she offered me a full scholarship to be on her debate team. I liked the sound of "full scholarship", but I did the math. What would take more time and effort? Thanks to the state of Alabama, I could write a check for $67.50 a quarter or work my butt off night and day for her. I chose to write the check. I don't say "shame on me" often, but "shame on me" for not accepting that offer, for choosing laziness over excellence. I have no regrets of where my life went from there, but in some alternative universe, I honed my speaking and communication skills by being on that debate team. I enjoyed the rewards of a "full ride." In that universe for the rest of my life, my people skills and powers of persuasion were more pronounced and useful. Who knows in that universe I might actually enjoy buying cars. I'll never know.
What I do know is that I learned a ton of things about myself and about public speaking in that high school speech class. First of all, I learned that a speech is one of three kinds. It is either a speech to inform, to persuade or to entertain. That's it. It's one of those.
When I write, I do not consciously categorize my writings. I just write what I feel like writing. However, when I look over my shoulder, it seems that I most often write to entertain or to inspire. One of my readers once told me, "I feel something when I read your stuff." Well, I often "feel something" when I write. I'm glad that those feelings sometimes bleed through my words. That entire introduction was to say that these words that follow are to inform and to entertain. I seriously doubt that you will find these words to be the least bit inspiring.
Yesterday on my way home from work, an advertisement came on the radio. He was talking about termite insurance. Termite insurance? What the heck is termite insurance? Before I could figure it out, he said that you could get this insurance for $200.00 per month. Two hundred dollars a month? That's more than my car insurance! What do I get for $200.00 per month? No doubt termite protection is a good idea. Homeowners rarely covers termite damage. A barrier bait system makes a lot of sense in termite protection. But those systems normally cost less than $1,500.00 to install and about $400.00 per year to maintain. Or signing up for an annual termite inspection is a good idea. But that usually costs less than $150.00 per year, much less than $200.00 per month. However, a person who has dealt with extensive termite damage may think the $200.00 per month isn't unreasonable. The average cost of termite damage repair is $3300.00. But when you consider that many repairs for less than $500.00 are included in that average, that means that many jobs are in the tens of thousands of dollars. It's like they say, "The average depth of a swimming pool is five feet. But if you dive in the wrong end, you'll break your neck". All of a sudden termite insurance was beginning to make more sense. Termites have been called "eating machines", because termites never sleep. They just eat. While you sleep, they can do a lot of damage in a relatively short period of time.
As I drove on and considered all of that, he said that even someone over fifty with diabetes could qualify. What? An age and health requirement? What the heck are you talking about? I have to qualify for termite insurance? But he said it one more time and I finally understood. He was not selling "termite insurance; all along he had been selling "term life insurance."
These words may not have inspired you, but the experience inspired me. Today I made an appointment with my audiologist.
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