FROM GOOD OLE UNCLE VIC

January 2008

Happy New Year everyone! 2008. A new beginning, a clean slate. Now, if only my credit card companies thought the same way.

    The answer to last month’s quiz, how many barrels of crude oil does the United States use a day? 21,000,000. That’s 21 million! No one got the answer right this time.

    This week’s fitness quiz: How many books are published a day?

    I don’t know about you but we had a great Christmas/Holiday Season in the Brick family. One of the highlights of the season was our trip to Seattle, Washington to see Jon and his Citadel basketball team play Washington State University, currently undefeated and ranked seventh in the nation. Vicki was coming back from The Philippines after playing on the Filipino National Women’s Basketball Team in the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand and she met us there as well.

    Now, I went to Washington State for a year, ostensibly to run track but really to chase an old girlfriend from high school "Victor is leaving tonight on a train; I can see the red tail li---ghts heading for Spok-a-a-ane. Ooh and I can see Victor waiving good-bye. And it looks like Victorrr has a tear drop in his eye!" (To be sung to the tune of Daniel by Elton John) Sorry I got carried away! Anyway, I know Washington State is in Pullman, Washington, on the east side of the state but the game was in Seattle because no one, and I mean no one, is in Pullman over the holidays.

    Although the Citadel was a bit out-manned, they played a great game and only lost by 22. Seems like a lot but remember, Washington State is ranked seventh in the country! Jon played great and all in all it was a great experience. The next morning, before we caught our flight back to Baltimore, Lynne, Vick, Jon and I went down to "The World Famous" Pike Place Fish Market a few blocks from the hotel.

    Have any of you ever heard of "The World Famous" Pike Place Fish Market? I am sure some of you have. It is the outdoor fish market where the fishmongers make it an experience by clowning with customers, throwing and catching two and three foot long fish, joking, carrying on and generally making it a memorable experience. It is really more of an outdoor stand than a market really, but it is "World Famous".

    In 1984 that same fish market was on the verge of going out of business. The still-owner, John Yokoyama, hired a consultant to help him turn the business around. They got all the employees together and asked them what should be their goal as a company. After much deliberation they came up with the goal of being "world famous". They decided that they would make a positive impact on everyone that came in contact with their store. They came up with four principals to run their business:

    Be present
    Choose your attitude
    Play
    Make their day

    And they did. Not only did they (and still do) all four of those things, but they are "World Famous" as well. They have written books, have a training video (which we show to all new Brick Bodies/Lynne Brick associates, or employees to the rest of you), do speaking engagements and consultant to companies as big as Boeing and IBM and generally are held up as one of the greatest customer service companies in the world. And, more importantly, they are making money and having fun doing it. All in a small outdoor market with 160 other assorted stores, restaurants, shops and stands.

    So anyway, back to my story. There we were, on our way down to the "World Famous" Pike Place Fish Market. When we got there the fishmongers immediately starting messing with us. First one of the fishmongers, Keith Bish (a.k.a. Bear) asked Lynne to go look at the latest catch. When she got over to the display the head of a rubber fish jumped out from beneath the ice and startled her! It was, of course, attached to a string that could be pulled from behind the counter. Fish and full-size king crabs were being tossed back and forth from one fishmonger to another as they were being ordered and either wrapped for a customer to take or boxed on dry ice to be shipped. At first no one wanted to try catching a fish but finally Vicki got up the nerve to go behind the counter, put on an apron and catch a fish thrown by Bear. She caught the fish on the first try to roar of the other fishmongers.

    Meanwhile Lynne was buying some king crabs and smoked salmon to be shipped back home and I bought several copies of each of their books to give to friends and staff. After I paid for the books Ben Bish yelled "book signing" and every single fishmonger came running over to sign each and every book. We clowned a little more with them and off we went. As we were leaving Sammy Samson, one of the fishmongers, who is Filipino, said jokingly "coffee would be great right now!"

    As luck would have it we were going to Starbucks on our way back to the hotel. After getting drinks for ourselves and buying a drink for a soldier in line (without him knowing who did it, of course. We do this any time we see a serviceman or woman in line at Starbucks), we ordered 12 coffees for the guys back at Pike Place.

    As we approached the market with our coffees, the fishmongers let out a howl. But our intent was not simply to bring them coffee. Jon and I had decided that we did not come all the way to Seattle not to catch a thrown fish. And that’s what we did. Each one of us. Including Lynne. We got behind that counter and we caught a fish. And after Lynne caught hers she had to get out in front of the counter on the wet, damp, smelly concrete floor and start doing her signature one-arm push-ups. We took pictures and held the fish over our heads and really experienced the signature event of "The World Famous" Pike Place Fish Market. While we were doing all this a crowd had gathered, of course. As we left we glanced over our shoulder and guess what? They were selling everyone in that crowd fish!

    What is the moral of this story? Several. First, never go out to Washington State to chase a girl when there are plenty of great ones right here in Baltimore. Right, Lynne? Second, decide on a goal and then make it happen, ala "World Famous". Third, and what we personally learned as a family, life is not a spectator sport. When you get a chance, don’t wimp out. Do it. Just think how bad we would have felt if we gotten all the way home and then suddenly realized that we really should have tried to catch a fish. Carpe Diem! Seize the day! You may never pass that way again.

    That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY