Chivalry
“It’s the little boy that kisses my hand, the young man who holds the door open for me, and the old man who tips his hat to me. None of it is a reflection of me, but a reflection of them.”
― Donna Lynn Hope
Having finished being a healthcare keynote speaker for the Idaho Healthcare Financial Managers Association in McCall, I’m driving back to Boise to catch a flight for my Baby Boomer Comedy Show in Oregon. I stop at a McDonald’s for a cup of coffee and stretch my legs. Walking in I see an elderly woman throwing her trash away. Some of it falls to the floor. As I’m picking it up for her, she comments, “My, there still are gentlemen in the world.”
I respond, “Yes, plus it saves my mom having to drive from Missouri to beat me for being rude. It’s such a long drive, what with gas prices and all.”
We both laughed, but later in the car, I was reminded that though Mom insisted on me being a gentleman, it was Dad who modeled being a gentleman. When our daughter, Maggie, was young, she asked Mom what attracted her to Dad. Mom responded the most attractive thing about Dad was he was always a gentleman.
And it’s Dad’s example which motivates me today.
A few years ago, finishing a run, I see our neighbor, Linda, sitting in her yard, crying, cutting individual blades of grass with scissors. When I ask if she’s alright, she responds, “My mower won’t start.”
After unsuccessfully trying to start her mower, I tell Linda I will get my mower and mow her lawn. Walking in the house, I tell Maggie, who’s home for the summer from college, I’m going to mow Linda’s lawn. Maggie asks, “Don’t you have a flight this morning?”
“Yes, but I have 45-minutes to mow Linda’s lawn.”
When I saw Linda crying, the first thought that went through my mind was, “What would Dad do?”
And that’s what I did.
Known as the “World’s Cleanest” comedian and speaker, Kent Rader helps people learn and experience how laughter matters in reducing stress. Kent is the winner of the Branson Comedy Festival and co-stars in The Baby Boomer Comedy Show, Clean Comedy For People Born Before Seat Belts.
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Known as the "World's Cleanest Comedian and Speaker," Kent helps people and associations learn and experience how laughter matters in reducing stress and building successful, profitable organizations.
Kent graduated from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri with a B.S. in Accounting. He survived five years in public accounting and twelve years as C.F.O. and C.E.O. of hospitals before becoming a professional speaker in 1997.
Kent is the author of the stress reduction book "Let It Go, Just Let It Go" and co-stars with Jan McInnis in the Baby Boomer Comedy Show, "Clean Comedy for People Born Before Seat Belts, Safety Helmets, and Facebook.
He has been heard on NPR's Talk of the Nation and Sirius Satellite radio.
Kent is the winner of the Branson Comedy Festival and has been seen on Comcast's comedy show, "Who's Laughing Now." His clean, stand-up comedy DVD-CD titled "Kent Rader: The Grand Wizard of Comedy" was released in 2014.