The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.

Sugar and Spice and the Squeaky Wheel

by Dessa Rodeffer, Quill Publisher/Owner

July 23, 2008

My father always told me it was the squeaky wheel that gets fixed and it taught me to be consistent with something that needed to be done.

You know, a squeaky wheel is rather annoying and sometimes we just have to be that way to make a point.

Byron Sebastian, took this little saying to the test when he decided he was going to call IDOT in Springfield each day to inquire when they were going to open Highway 34.

The number of people this road closure has affected we will never know, but what we can remember is that we do have a say in our destiny many times, but just fail to use our energy to let our opinion be heard, or we are just too willing to accept things, even when they are bad for us.

The other side of the coin comes from the Wisdom of Barnyard Bruke - "Sugar water is most generally way better than vinegar, if one expects positive results."

My mother would agree with that one. Where my father would tell me it is the squeaky wheel that gets fixed and encourage me to call and take care of business problems if it took several times to get the job done, my mother would tell me you can accomplish more using sugar than you can using bitters.

I think it is always best to listen to both of your parents as often as possible and by taking the advice of both of them we can consistently get our message across by letting others know what the problem is, even if it takes a daily phone call, but also being tactful and respectful of the person we are talking to. If you are really good at being tactful, rather than treat the person you are talking to like a fool, you will probably end up with a listening ear and your problem being solved.

We all have a bad day and say the wrong things, but when we look over the times we were most affective, it probably was when we were sweet and considerate yet at the same time consistent and to the point.

I think I would add a third ingredient to a successful confrontation, and that is forgiveness. The success of one woman's long happy marriage was due to the fact she had chosen to forgive her husband of 10 things he might do, and each day, not matter what he did, she would tell herself, "He's a lucky man, today, that is one of the things on my list."