WHAT A WISE OLD DAD!!

Like most people, as I get older I realize how much I learned from my parents. My Mother is now gone and I think about her all the time. I think about my Dad, too. Here's one of many stories about my wise, old Dad:

In our LDS Ward in Chula Vista, CA was a young couple named Jimmy and Sally Allison. Jimmy was my Aaronic Priesthood advisor. Sally was also a distant relative, somehow related to us through Aunt Tina. Jimmy asked me to take care of his German shepherd, Calypsa, for a week while he and Sally went on vacation. He asked me to (1) feed, (2) water, and (3) play with her each day.

Since I wasn’t driving at the time, Dad drove me to the Allison’s house each afternoon, so I could do the chore. On the first day, after I gave Calypsa fresh water and food and played with her a little, I told Dad I was ready to go. He said, “Why don’t you pick up the newspapers that Calypsa tore up and scattered around the back yard and put it in the trash?” I complained that Jimmy hadn’t asked me to do that, but I did it anyway, to avoid a hassle with Dad.

When I finished cleaning up the newspaper and putting it in the trash I, again, said, “Okay, let’s go.” Dad said, “Why don’t you get that shovel over there and scoop up Calypsa’s huge poops that are all over the lawn? You can deposit them over in that pile of poop that they’ve started in the corner of the yard.”

I, again, told him that that JUST wasn’t in the job description. I was only told to (1) feed, (2) water, and (3) play with her. Dad said to do it anyway. So, I did it, so we could get out of there.

On the way home, since I felt kind of overworked and put out, I said (in my most smart aleck voice, I'm sure), “You know, Dad, they won’t even notice that I cleaned up the torn newspaper and the poop. It was a waste of time and they didn’t even ask me to do it.”

Dad then told me something that I’ve tried to remember and to apply to every job I’ve done as an adult. He said, “They might not notice that you DID it, but they certainly WOULD notice it, if you DIDN’T do it.”

I’ve always tried to go the extra mile in my church callings and my secular jobs, thanks to great advice from my wise, old Dad.