BEING ORGANIZED

BEING ORGANIZED

I can't emphasize enough the importance of getting organized and staying organized. Some people just don't have any organization about them. This is more a habit than anything, I think. If you develop the habit of being organized, it will stay with you the rest of your life.

My grandfather was an example of someone who needed some organizational skills. Much as I loved him, I can look back and see some of his problems with being organized. As soon as I was old enough to get a Work Permit, at age 14, I went to work for my father and grandfather, who owned a shoe store and shoe repair business with my uncle. They put me to work repairing shoes, and when this didn't work out (due to the fact that I didn't have any mechanical skills and I couldn't stand the dust thrown out by the finishing machines), they put me "on the counter" waiting on customers, taking in orders for shoe repairs, selling new shoes, and being the "gopher" - you know, go for coffee, go for change at the bank, go for toilet paper at the grocery store, and go for light bulbs at the local electric wholesaler. Anyway, they had an elaborate cash register that I thought was really something! It had department keys that broke down the items as to whether it was a new shoe sale, a shoe repair sale, a "rip" job (sewing up rips in shoes and leather purses), findings (laces and shoe polish), plus other categories, then a miscellaneous key when nothing else worked (this was long before computers were even thought of). Well, when everybody got off work and came in to get their shoes around 5 p.m. or so, we had long lines of people, and that was when my grandfather got real frustrated and began ringing up sales on "miscellaneous." He just couldn't get anything to fit the proper category. I well remember my father going over it with him the next day, explaining patiently that it didn't do any good to put everything under "miscellaneous," as that was why they needed a "break-down" of what had been sold and what inventory needed to be re-stocked. My grandfather understood all that, but the next time he saw long lines of people backed up waiting for their shoes, his mind just wasn't organized in such a way that he could figure out which key to punch, and a whole bunch of sales began to suddenly appear on "miscellaneous" again. This is kind of like the secretary who filed all the letters in the filing cabinet under "L."

After my grandfather retired, he developed "itchy feet," and he began to revert to his younger days when he went out and called on stores, selling various items to them. By that time, the shoe store and shoe repair shop had developed into a small factory which manufactured house-shoes, baby shoes, Indian moccasins, and leather-related products such as church-pew cushions and archery items that fit on the hand to keep the arrow from burning the arm. My grandfather wanted to go out and try to sell these to stores, mostly so that he had an excuse to "ramble around" the country-side and see as much territory as he could. In his younger days, he had been too nervous to drive a car, so he depended on the trolley cars, trains, and busses. When I was in college, he paid me $ 5.00 a day plus meals and gasoline, and I drove his car and we went out and called on stores, selling the above products and some others which he obtained from other sources.

We hadn't been out too long the first day when he said that he had forgotten and left his hat at the last store we called on. So, we drove back about 5 or 10 miles or so, and he went in and got his hat. Later, he forgot his order book, so we had to go back to another store to retrieve it. Soon, I figured out that, even though he was handling the sales and I was doing the driving and shuffling of merchandise, it would be much smoother if I would simply follow him inside each store. I found that he would go in, ask for the manager (or owner, or buyer), who was usually in the back of the store, or upstairs, then as he walked down an aisle, he would lay his hat on top of a rack of merchandise, walk some more and lay down his order book, then later he would lay down his sample of whatever it was he was selling. Soon, he had "stuff" scattered all over the store. By walking behind him, when he laid down his hat, I simply picked it up, then when he laid down his order book, I would pick it up, then later when he laid down his sample, I would pick it up, too. By the time he got to "Mr. Big-Shot," I was standing there beside or behind him holding all his "stuff." Then, when he began telling "Mr. Big-Shot" what he was selling, I would hand him his sample. Later, when "Mr. Big-Shot" decided to try some of the wonder gadgets, I would hand him his order book. When we got ready to leave, I would hand him his hat. Things really went a lot smoother from then on! In my own way, I guess, I got him about as well organized as I could.


Copyright 2011 by Preston Smith, Walker Enterprises/Silver Dollar Press. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s a good website to check out: “Studio Quality Portraits For Less” - http://studio-quality-portraits-for-less.weblodge.net

Here’s another good website to check out: “Green Cleaning Products” - http://green-cleaning-products.weblodge.net

Here’s another good website to check out: “How To Adjust & Repair Your Sewing Machine” - http://www.silver-dollar.zoomshare.com

Here’s a good Forum to check out: http://dachshund-forum.forumotion.com