Life’s a Beach
I am not a beach person. First of all, beaches are often in hot, humid, tropical climates and 60 degrees is about as warm as I ever want to be.
Secondly, I have obsessive-compulsive tendencies and one is I never walk barefoot anywhere. The minute I get out of bed I put on socks and shoes, always in the same order, left sock, left shoe, right sock, right shoe and I don’t take them off unless I shower or go back to bed.
Ten years ago I was an educational keynote speaker in Seaside, Oregon. When we get to our room, the first thing my wife, Twyla, notices is it overlooks the Pacific Ocean. She wants to take a romantic, barefoot walk on the beach.
I ask her, “Have you not met me? I won’t walk barefoot on this hotel carpet, let alone on a sandy beach.”
“But, Kent,” she counters, “they have public showers where you can wash your feet when we’re done.”
“Yea, the term ‘public shower’ isn’t sweetening the deal.”
So as she’s walking barefoot in the sand and surf, I’m 50 yards away in my socks and shoes walking on the boardwalk, yelling, “Yes, that is a beautiful sunset.”
Twyla and I spend many a summer evening at the Kansas City Royals games (Have I ever mentioned our son, Keith, works for the Kansas City Royals?) and our companions for many of these games are Twyla’s cousin, Brenda, and Brenda’s husband, Jeff. These three have what us comedians call a “day job” and our conversations often turn to the difficulties they are experiencing. Mean bosses, unrealistic expectations, difficult co-workers.
Wanting to be part of this, I rack my brain for something to complain about and all I can come up with is travel hassles such as late flights, lost luggage, and waking up in a hotel room not knowing where you are or why you’re there.
Jeff is kind enough to just commiserate with me, but Brenda and Twyla aren’t buying it. Twyla says, “You have no idea how many times he calls me from a hotel room that is overlooking an ocean.”
Brenda piles on, “Yes, last month I was talking with him on the phone as room service was arriving with his supper. Just once would I like someone to fix and serve me dinner after a hard day’s work.”
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.