RRN Online Volume 10

August 28 '96

Volume 10

One Injured

One of my good friends in Pontotoc did a foolish act and the result was disaster. On Saturday morning, Kenneth Prewett was assisting with a carport sale at a relative’s home. A pickup truck left on sloping lawn begin to roll toward an embankment. Kenneth, his wife Louise, and brother-in-law David raced to the rescue. Their efforts were futile. Kenneth tried stopping the vehicle from the front, his wife from one side and the brother-in-law from the passenger side. Louise slipped and fell just out of danger from the rolling truck. Louise recalled seeing the undercarriage of the truck as it rolled by her. David was unable to get inside the door of the moving vehicle. Kenneth lost his footing on the dew dampened grass and fell beneath a front tire. He continued to roll with the moving truck in an effort to avoid being run over by the rear wheels. He sustained injuries from the rolling as he was being bashed by the undercarriage of the truck. Hospital X-rays and catscans indicated fractures to the upper rib cage and scapula. The tire that rolled over his right side and back did not injury him internally. His injuries did not require surgery, but did require hospitalization for a few days. All involved were fortunate to escape serious injury, and are thankful life threatening injuries were avoided.

Kenneth was dismissed from the Oxford hospital Wednesday morning. He will visit his physician on Monday after Labor Day, and is hopeful the doctor will approve his return to work.

Turning Point

Sunday the 25th of August is a day I shall long remember. Life can be compared to the arithmetic principle that states ‘the whole is equal to the sum of its parts’, for life is comprised of the sum of many small events or experiences. Granted some or larger or greater than others, but it is often the accumulation of small events that set or change our course in life.

On Sunday a relatively small incident occurred that will henceforth mark a turning point in my life. On my early morning journey from Pontotoc to Mobile, I stopped at a Hardee’s in Waynesboro, MS, to stretch, get a cup of coffee, and a sausage biscuit to supplement the bowl of cereal I had consumed three hours earlier, prior to leaving the house. The young clerk who waited on me was of Oriental descent and upon entering my order into the register system, she announced the total as 88 cents. Surprised by the bargain, and since I had not observed a special price for the popular breakfast I had ordered, I asked her if she had included the sausage biscuit. She answered in the affirmative, so I further asked if she also included the coffee. Again the answer was yes. Sensing my concern that I was being undercharged for the food, she replied, "You do get the Senior Citizen free coffee, don’t you?" Stunned by her reply, I managed to reply something like, "No.... not yet."

Okay, so I just had another birthday, but I do not think the event has changed my appearance overnight. Besides, over the past 20 years, I have grown accustomed to people under guessing my age as opposed to presuming me to be older. Maybe it was the shorter than normal haircut that I received the previous morning (not white walled, but definitely short over the ears and along the neckline, much like old men wore decades ago). Maybe the lack of a good night’s sleep prior to beginning my drive to Mobile had left me looking less than my best. Yet here I stood, clean shaven, hair neatly combed, and dressed smartly in business casual attire, and actually honestly being mistaken for an ‘old guy’. My self esteem badly damaged, I shrugged my way to the parking lot, entered my car, and continued the drive to Mobile.

I had no trouble staying awake for the remainder of the trip, and I cannot credit the coffee alone for the effect. I had plenty of time to recount the Hardee’s experience. I had plenty of time to consider the implications of the clerk’s mistake. I had plenty of time to wonder where the next similar experience would occur.

I am not ready to be a senior citizen. I am not a senior citizen, and neither am I ready to be mistaken for one. In our country we seem to have lowered the age at which we classify our senior members of society. Marketing specialists presume to have done everyone a grand favor by offering Seniors discounts on everything from food to motel accommodations. Most likely, someone figured that this might benefit Seniors who were relegated to fixed income status. Thus began a movement to show benevolence to a needy segment of our society and soon mushroomed to include all persons over the age of 60. As the mushroom continued to expand, the beginning age for Seniors status was lowered to 55. I do not know where it is now, but the AARP sets up their mailing lists based upon age 50 and older.

Already there is an underground movement among Seniors to refuse the offered discounts unless a true need exists on their part. To grant a discount based solely upon age is a form of discrimination that will not forever be tolerated by a numerically expanding segment of our society, described as Senior Citizens. I applaud and offer my support to such a movement.

Having chased the rabbit a bit, let me return to my topic sentence. Life is the accumulation of small events in our lives. Sunday, a turning point for me hinged on a first, a first time to be guessed a Senior. So go ahead, argue that I am practically a Senior already, but I shall remind you of the respected proverb, ‘A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion...still.’

Cat Psychiatry

At the food show I attended in Mobile, I had the occasion to hear a few after breakfast speakers from our corporate office in Minneapolis. The speaker on Tuesday morning spoke of changes that had taken place in the past few decades. He stated that that there is more computing power in the microchip that plays ‘happy birthday’ inside a greeting card, than existed in our entire world in 1950. He mentioned his farm background and the role of the county Vet in keeping their livestock and even the family members healthy. He spoke of change even in the role of the country Vet and related an interesting story about his household pet.

It seems that he has a pet cat that adores him. The cat has learned to listen for his owner’s car and greets him at the door each evening when he arrives home from work. At the dinner table the cat can be found located at his master’s feet. He even curls beside his owner in an easy chair and sleeps alongside his owner in bed.

It has been necessary this year for the owner to be away from home far more frequently than his pet is accustomed. The cat soon correlated his owner’s luggage with his owner’s absence, and implemented a plan to deter his master from traveling by doing his cat business in the master’s luggage. The cat continued to act strangely, and was subsequently taken to the Vet by the wife of our speaker.

The speaker was out of town when he received his wife’s report from the Vet. "Your cat is suffering from Separation Syndrome" she reported, "and the Vet has put him on Prozac." He explained that his wife now claims this as a status symbol, since in the neighborhood theirs is the only cat seeing a psychiatrist.

Louise Mandrell

SUPERVALU in association with Sanderson Farms of South Mississippi, provided quality entertainment for our retailers on Monday night at the Mobile Civic Center. Following an assortment of Western foods served buffet style in a building adjoining the theater of the Civic Center, we were treated to an outstanding performance by Louise Mandrell. Louise is the spokesperson for Sanderson Farms Miss Goldy poultry products. Louise appeared in a red western jacket over a black knit top and sequined red mini skirt, that bared at least 6 inches of leg above the knee. The spiked-heeled red shoes served to sensuously tighten the calf muscles of her graceful legs.

Louise happily updated us on her family, explaining that she had been able to keep steady commercial employment while her sister Barbara seemed to move from one commercial to another. She laughed when she said Barbara is now selling prunes.

I almost did not attend the performance because the Country Music that I hear on the radio today is somewhat akin to my pastor’s preaching in that I don’t need much of it to do me. I found that Louise did not use many contemporary Country songs in her performance. In addition to Country standards, she sang medleys of Gospel, old time Rock and Roll, and a touch of Blues.

Louise had 6 or seven instrumentalists and sextet (4 men, 2 women) that performed backup singing and dancing. The hour and a half performance included a trip into the audience to shake hands and exchange hugs as she belted out a song. She even got a couple of the guys from the audience onto the stage and into her act. Just a lot of good natured and wholesome fun. Louise, like her famous sister, is a talented player of stringed, percussion, and wind instruments. At various times during the performance, she played every instrument in the band. I recall her playing the Keyboard, a Bass Guitar, Drums, Electric Guitar, Clarinet, and Fiddle. I discovered she could also play "The Orange Blossom Special" as good as her sister, Barbara.

During a question and answer time with the audience, she revealed her age as 42. I found it difficult to comprehend that the attractive, shapely singer-dancer was 42. She did dance routines that would tax a 25 year old, with rolls over the backs of male dancers, deeply arched back bends, swings and even full body lifts by the males.

It was quite evident that she enjoys entertaining a live audience and the audience, including me, loved every minute of her show.

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