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Davis Young

Sep 27, 2022

DY: In Just a Few Words (#102)

Can I wear shorts to a formal dinner? Asking for a friend.

It seems like there’s not much we collectively can agree on these days, but there is one thing I’m pretty sure we all feel. The past two-plus years have been LONG. And increasingly casual. Okay, that’s two things, but I digress.

When you are laying low, you really don’t have to get dressed up. Even though I have donated a bunch of my neckties, I still have 29 ties gathering dust on a rack in my closet. (Save those really narrow and really wide ties, guys. Sooner or later they'll be back in style.) Tell me when I’ll wear all of those or perhaps even some of them. Thanks to COVID I can run around in shorts or cargo pants and a tee-shirt and an old sweatshirt anytime I want. And, I do.

You may recall my Ruthless daughter, Tracy, has declared war on any and all pants that have pleats. Ha, ha, Tracy. You missed one.

My tuxedo has pleated pants. I haven’t had it on since well before COVID. And I'm in no rush to pull it back out. Why, you ask? I dislike my tuxedo with a passion. I go out of my way not to have to wear it. But, sometimes that just can’t be avoided.

Now I know ladies have complicated outfits - ones that require help with a zipper or perhaps a button in the back. They are not alone. I have trouble with a tux, even when I have help. Those darn cufflinks, not to mention cummerbunds and bow ties.... You can imagine how much fun putting on a tux is for me when help is a long way away. I have been known to struggle into one in a small men’s room on a college campus, but it was not pretty.

One night several years ago I was going to a formal dinner in New York City. My home base was the famous Marriott Marquis, but the dinner was a good six or seven blocks away. With every bit of effort I could muster, I got into this monkey suit. The time had come to venture out of my hotel room.

It was about 5:30 in the afternoon and I was headed for an early reception before dinner. I headed for the escalator. I felt like a fool. Who in the world would be in the heart of New York City at this early hour wearing a tux?

Courageous as I am, I exited the hotel onto the sidewalk and set out for the humiliating trek to my destination. I know a lot of people. I just hoped none of them were in New York that day.

Wait, what’s that? He must be going to my dinner, but he’s heading in the wrong direction. I’m going north and he’s going south. Oops, here come a couple of more. And some more.

It turns out these were all guys who put on a tux every night - waiters going to work in New York’s finest eateries. I fit right in.

Dust off that tux, fellas. Practice wearing it around the house. You never know when that big opportunity - whatever it may be - will present itself. I, on the other hand, will be hiding in the corner in my trusty shorts.

DY: In Just a Few Words is a blog that comes out when something needs to be said or every Tuesday - whichever comes first. Davis Young is a communications professional who adds 50+ years of experience and perspective to issues of the day. His emphasis in DY: In Just a Few Words will be humor (a touch of sarcasm here, a pinch of facetiousness there...). Once in a while, he will touch on something a bit more serious - but hopefully not too deep or depressing.

This blog is a product of DY Author & Speaker LLC. Feel free to quote content with attribution. Respond. Agree. Disagree. Share the content with your friends. Heck - even invite him as a speaker for your group! Enjoy!

Davis Young

Sep 20, 2022

DY: In Just a Few Words (#101)

I had NO clue I was in so far over my head.

Hope springs eternal. So does help.

A work colleague and his late wife devoted their lives to adopting and fostering children. They truly made the World a better place.

Thus it was that, one day in the 1970s, my associate stuck his head into my office and said, I hear you’re going to be in Phoenix next week on business. We have a baby coming into Portland from Vietnam. As long as you’re in the area, I was hoping you could swing by Portland at the end of your trip and bring her back to Cleveland.

I gulped. I gulped again. Then I said, Yes. Portland isn’t exactly a suburb of Phoenix. It would be a 1,300 mile detour. But, I had never been to Oregon before and needed to check it off my bucket list. I arrived in Portland mid-afternoon to hear this announcement: Paging Mr. Davis Young. Please come to the United Counter. I did and found a message. There was a change of plans. The baby would be coming into Seattle, not Portland. What’s another 175 miles? That airport stop in Portland is the extent of my time in Oregon to this day.

Duty called, so I was on the next plane to Seattle, where I patiently waited for the rerouted plane to land. Right on time, here came a nun down the concourse with a baby in each arm and a paper bag in each hand. I can close my eyes today and still see her. We started toward each other. She said, You must be Mr. Young. Here is your baby. She was seven months old and weighed just 11 pounds. She came from an orphanage in Vietnam where nearly all of the children had died from an outbreak of measles. In the paper bag were all her worldly possessions.

Naively I asked, Would you like a receipt? She declined saying, That’s not necessary. Nobody would do this who wasn’t who they say they are. She wished me well and went on her way with the other baby, vanishing down a long concourse.

Think about this. You’re a guy in his 30s. You are a dad yourself, but the primary caregiver has always been your wife. You are 2,400 miles from home in an unfamiliar airport in charge of another family’s baby. You need help. This is when you discover there are lots of good people willing to lend a hand. And, that continued on the long overnight flight to Cleveland. I slept while a planeload of grandmothers took turns passing this baby around, making sure she was changed and fed. I remember one of them asked if the infant spoke English. Many Vietnamese babies were coming into America late in the Vietnam War and there was widespread interest in them.

We arrived in Cleveland to a boisterous welcome from the baby’s new family and friends. There were signs and cheers as one of the grandmothers handed the baby to her new family. (Being the 1970s there were no cell phones for photos or videos, and the few photos we did have are - sadly - long gone.)

I lost touch with that wonderful child years ago. Last I heard though, she was doing well. She’d be about 50 years old today. As I reflect back in time, that few hours was an amazing and enriching experience.

If a friend ever asks you to swing by Portland to pick up their baby, do it. You’ll never forget the experience, especially all the help that will come your way.

Davis Young

Sep 13, 2022

DY: In Just a Few Words (#100!)

I'm just getting started.

Today's blog marks a real milestone in the history of DY: In Just a Few Words blogs. This is #100, and I’m proud to say we’ve never missed a Tuesday.

I say “we” because my daughter, Tracy, is my full partner in these blogs. I write them, but she is the editor and also handles all techie details to get them published, including selection of what we use week-to-week to illustrate our work. She is one tough editor (think “Ruth”, but throwing away words instead of clothes). Tracy’s editing suggestions and comments have made the posts so much better than they would have otherwise been. Also serving as a reactor is Karen, who reads content before something is published. So, thank you, Tracy, and thank you, Karen. This is a real family activity.

How did all this start? Karen and Tracy were gabbing on the phone one day (as they do 5 or 6 times every day) and came up with the idea that Dad should do a blog. That’s a serious suggestion and I gave it serious thought - three minutes - before I committed to doing it. It sounded like fun and it has been fun.

During my time publishing DY: In Just a Few Words, I’ve had multiple aspiring bloggers ask how they can get started. Here’s the formula I used.

Before I published a single blog, I made a list of possible blog subjects. I hoped the list would reach 25 to start. I ended up with 317 possible topics.

I also held my feet to the fire by creating 10 blogs before I published a single one. I wanted to see the rhythm required to do this weekly. Plus, it’s helped to have some “gas in the tank” for a week when time or inspiration might be lacking. Don’t start a blog you can’t sustain.

My goal from the get-go was to publish a blog that is uplifting. Find the bright side.

So, where do we go from here? More of the same. I’m a storyteller and I have a lot of stories to tell. Stay tuned.

And, thank you to all who read this blog, and a special thanks to those who share it. I have no idea whatsoever how many readers we have. We use a list I created, plus we put it up on Facebook and LinkedIn every week. All I know is that people I don’t know react to it. A Like or a Share sends a good message my way.

Enjoy reading it. Enjoy every day of your life. Stay positive. Move forward with a smile on your face. There are a ton of good people and great opportunities in front of all of us.

Thank you for your readership. Thank you for your friendship. The second 100 starts next week.

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