You just never know who you may influence

Many years ago I worked at a large wholesale bakery for about 13 years. Sad to say it closed. Not really a surprise when I think about it. It was poorly ran and poorly staffed. Fast forward to this year and I found a new job after being unemployed for 3 years and it's in another Wholesale Bakery. Much to my surprise 5 or 6 people I worked with at the closed bakery were employed where I now work. We spent some time catching up on things and I mentioned I hit the gym 3 to 5 times per week.

Then one day after a company meeting we had a mock fire drill. We have to meet at a designated area to the south of the building. It's a bit of a walk. I had the honor to walk out with a pretty girl so I slowed down a bit for fair maiden. One of the guys I had previously worked with was also in the mock drill. Later in the lunch room he pulled me aside. He said, "Ron, I couldn't keep up with you when we were walking back from the drill. Can you tell me about the gym?" I didn't have the heart to tell him I slowed down for the young lady.

I told him about the gym and offered to get him some free passes for a week. Which I did. When I brought in the passes his buddy also wanted one and then another woman who works in the office also asked for one. Fortunately I had 3 passes.

I'm on another site where I have told my tail of woe about being unemployed for 3 years. During that period I had some pretty nice accomplishments including losing weight and passing the CPA exam. Many times I have posted on that site about my struggles with getting a job. Then earlier this year I finally found a great job. As it turns out one of the guys on the board has been struggling as well. What really surprised me was that he said I've been an inspiration and while he had pretty much dropped out of the job market he is back in and is being considered for a job with a great company. I'm pulling for him.

Sometimes you feel like you are in isolation and what you do doesn't really matter. Oh but it does. As a Golf Pro once told me, "Move the ball forward!"