Page 2 - MidWeek - Aug 4 2021

2 MIDWEEK AUGUST 4, 2021
Pocket Full Of Poker Chips
“When I speak with a child, he inspires in me two sentiments, tenderness for what he is and respect for what he may become.” — Louis Pasteur
By using poker chips as a reward, the author taught her son how to be confident when speaking to others.
IPutting Out Fires
When I raised my three children, earning straight A’s was not important to me. Sports were not important. The primary gift I wanted to give them was social skills. I wanted them to make eye contact and be able to have conversations with adults.
n a bizarre, post-truth world, we still find items that can amaze and/or amuse — like these two recent local stories:
John, he will help you.” And I waited for him to make eye contact but instead he gave me so much more.
The Hawai‘i Authority for Rapid Transportation (which is proving to be anything but rapid) announced that the latest projections for daily choo-choo usage shows an expected drop of 18%, from 122,000 to 101,000 daily boardings when the train runs its full route to Ala Moana Center. But we’re supposedly still nine years away (wanna bet?) from the full implementation of that plan, and rid- ership is apparently already down. Apply this logic every two years through 2031 and we could be down 18% five more times, and potentially see very few riders by the time this steel-wheeled enigma gets going!
This came very easily for my first two children. How- ever, my third child, Riley, was a bit shy. No amount of cajoling could make him look at the person he was speak- ing with. One day, I promised him a poker chip for each time he made eye contact. These were not ordinary pok- er chips mind you. Each chip was worth $1.
Suddenly, it was as if a cannon shot out from his right side, as Riley thrust his hand forward and said confidently, “Nice to meet you!”
While ridership numbers are constantly looked at and adjusted (after all, what else have they got to do right now), it is disconcerting to see usage projections drop while prog- nosticators, experts and weekend warriors still postulate whether or not this train will even run past Middle Street. Stay tuned, because you know there’ll be another “are you kidding me?!” HART story just down the tracks.
event Riley and I encountered an adult while walking out to get the morning newspaper. In 1999, I carried them to our family reunion in Wyoming. That was a very profitable trip for Riley. I doled out more than 35 chips during the three-day event. Upon our return, a very happy young man went to the toy store to redeem his chips.
KELLEY
well that one day I took him to Nordstrom to buy a pair of shoes. I think he was 8 at the time. As we waited for a salesperson, I asked my son if he felt comfortable trying on a pair of shoes while I ran downstairs to buy lipstick. He said yes. At that mo- ment, a salesperson came up to help us.
John smiled and offered his hand back. A very small investment for a very big payout.
On another local transportation front, a fire truck was stolen two weeks ago while idling outside of a late-night, emergency medical call. The leeward side call was ap- parently completed when the first responders went back outside to find their light-flashing vehicle gone. This theft might require a new dictionary definition of the word “chutzpah,” as there is no subtlety tooling around in a purloined, bright yellow, 40-foot truck with a cool ladder.
My quest for eye contact began. Wherever I went, I carried poker chips with me. He only had to make eye con-
Jeri Lynch is a wife, moth- er and pug owner. She writes a monthly newsletter called OLIO. In it you will find the most important and least im- portant things you’ ve ever dreamed of.
Chasing The Light is pro- duced by Robin Stephens Rohr and Lynne Johnson.
tact, nothing more. He was too shy to introduce himself. Sometimes, I had two chips in a bathrobe pocket in the
New Century Schoolbook bold (scaled H 73.6)
This system worked so
I looked at his nametag and said to my son, “Riley, this is
with Jeri Lynch
The alleged absconder was soon found at a nearby 7-Eleven store in Mākaha, undoubtedly sucking on a Big Gulp. How do I know? Well, the only plausible excuse one could have made when asked why he would do such a thing is, “Hey, I was thirsty.” Yes, nothing is as satiating as a huge drink, no matter the obstacles.
In 2021’s twilight zone universe, where sides are taken and lines are not simply drawn but often constructed with mental cement, many hope for a return to semi-harmo- ny, sensible discourse and rational compromise to once again run our democracy. A proven way to calm down and stop making everything a major, politically charged issue is to chuckle, laugh occasionally, and take important things seriously while not taking ourselves too seriously. Well, maybe we can all agree on one thing: Don’t steal fire engines.
Think about it ...
john@thinkaboutithawaii.com