Attitude Is Everything     

 

From Uncle Vellanoff's Journal

 

While playing Logansport, a small town in Indiana, I became acquainted with a gentleman who was a salesman and therefore traveled almost constantly around the State. When the troupe was ready to move on to Shelbyville, a town south of Indianapolis, Jeremiah, that was the salesman’s name, asked me if I would like to drive down with him as he was going that way anyway. I said that would be fine as his company would be better then a bunch of down-on-their-luck vaudevillians.

Now, one thing I could never figure out was how Jeremiah was able to sell anything as he was always thinking that nothing was ever going to come out all right. A good example of that happened on our way to Shelbyville. It was late in the evening and we were just north of Carmel when Jeremiah got a flat tire. Well, actually the car got the flat tire, but it was unable to do anything about it, so the problem became Jeremiah’s. Well, Jeremiah started mumbling about that he was just going to bet that he didn’t have a jack and sure enough he didn’t.

We started walking toward the nearest farmhouse to see if we could borrow a jack, and Jeremiah started in by saying, “Suppose nobody’s home?” And then a little later, “Suppose that even if they happen to be home they don’t have a jack.” And then later, “Suppose the guy won’t lend me his jack even if he has one.” The closer we got to the farmhouse the more agitated he got and when the poor farmer opened the door Jeremiah punched the guy in the face and yelled, “Keep you lousy jack!”

It took me about ten minutes to explain to the farmer that Jeremiah was a lunatic and the sooner he loaned us his jack the sooner I could get Jeremiah back to the institution and out of the vicinity. When the farmer finally understood the situation he not only loaned us the jack but came and changed the tire for us although with the proviso that we stand well back from the auto until he was done and gone.
I guess if a person has to have an attitude, a positive one is always better.