Saturday, April 20, 2024

Do the right thing

   I

When Dad was 18, he enlisted as a US Marine, serving and surviving 3 World War II Pacific island battles to do the right thing

When I was eighteen, I got a draft number for the Vietnam war, that I hoped would not call for me, unless it was the right thing

Now 50 years ago from that Vietnam conflict, when those that did serve returned, they did not get the recognition that should have been the right thing

War was hell and being home in the US wasn't much easier; anti-war protests, race riots, gas shortages, all trying to do the right thing

The news headlines were big, dramatic, chaos seemed to reign, and yet many of us survived those days, times trying to do the right thing

I had trained for a few years with a rifle drill team. I was captivated by their precision, cadence, moving in unison doing the right thing


  II

Looking back, that was likely a reach for stability in the midst of the chaos around; along with lessons from Coach Wooden to do the right thing

UCLA was THE team, consistent, dominant on the college basketball court. Coach melded great talent in his system for success doing the right thing

I still take my new shoes, and re-do the laces just like I had read about as one of the lessons Coach Wooden taught in prep to do the right thing

To play the game Coach started with the basics. If the shoes were tied properly, no need to lose time during a game doing the right thing

A simple thing, shoe laces, but tied properly, they stayed tied. When time was critical, using time wisely paid off doing the right thing

88 game win streak, 10 national championships, 7 consecutive, a set of records unmatched today, doing the right thing

So check Sherlock’s shoes when you can. You should see the right lace goes over the left, a reminder to always do the right thing


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