Chapter 21
“Okay, Buddy. Let's rock and roll! You said that first of all we need to know which backpack is ours, decide what we want in it, and . . .?”
“Accept it,” Buddy filled in.
“Okay. I'm not sure I get that last one, Buddy.” Jon said. “I thought this was about taking a journey of improvement. And doesn't deciding to improve something imply that I am not accepting things the way they are?”
“That is a great question, Jon! I love the way you are thinking about your backpack. But, if you don't mind, I'd like to take the points in order; then the idea of accepting our backpacks will make more sense. That okay with you?”
“You're the boss,” Jon replied.
Buddy laughed. “Son, the only thing I'm boss of is me and my backpack, and there are times that I should be fired from that job. But ‘boss' is a good place to start.
“Think about the best boss you ever had, Jon.” Buddy paused to let Jon reflect. “You got 'em?”
“I do.”
“Okay, tell me about 'em.”
“Her name was Vera. She owned the neighborhood grocery store where I worked during high school. Man, was she a hard worker. And smart. Did she know the grocery business! Wow.”
“All good traits,” Buddy said, “but what made Vera the best boss you ever had? I'm guessing you've had some other bosses with some if not all of those traits.”
Jon paused and thought.
“Yeah, you're right about that,” Jon continued.
“She made things fun. Even though she was extremely confident, she could laugh at herself when she made mistakes. I always loved that ...
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