Whit’s World: Meet Joe: A real pro with blue-collar street smarts
America’s 1973 hit song “Tin Man” just as easily could have been named “Scarecrow” — because Oz never did give nothing to the scarecrow — either — that he didn’t, didn’t already have. Playing the...
View ArticleWhit’s World: Treasure Trove
A 5-ft. iquana swimming laps in the hotel pool was my first clue. The resort staff and some of the more-settled guests acting like it was nothing was my second. I didn’t know it on the first day of the...
View ArticleWhit’s World: Want to grow on the cheap? Better leverage customers’ e-mails
According to a July 2009 Landscape Management survey with 170 respondents, just 30% of landscapers know the e-mail addresses of even three-quarters of their customers. Very few landscapers know — and...
View ArticleWhit’s World: Got gratitude – for The Gift of today?
Every day is a bonus. Tomorrow is promised to no one. I’ve had a few too many reminders of this during the past 12 months. Adam Gaspar, my buddy from the first grade, learned — and taught me and many...
View ArticleWhit’s World: Help set the record straight
SmartMoney makes quite a living systematically tarnishing the reputations and threatening the livelihoods of all types of professionals. Its often-shoddy journalism produces a plethora of dirty laundry...
View ArticleWhit’s World: Learning to laugh at ourselves
Roses are red. Violets are blue. I sleep naked. How ’bout you? Last month, I promised I’d close this rather difficult year by sharing a few “Jamie gems” — humorous stories proving our middle son, who...
View ArticleLet’s not re-enact ‘Lord of the Flies’
Ever read “Lord of the Flies,” or seen one of the two flicks based on the novel? I only ask because some within the Green Industry have forgotten the book’s golden message. In the allegorical novel by...
View ArticleHomeless, but not hopeless
Chris Gardner, author of the best-selling autobiography ‘The Pursuit of Happyness,’ shares his street smarts with Green Industry professionals. Every time I see the movie ‘The Pursuit of Happyness,’...
View ArticleDo you have multiple personalities?
In 2004, archaeologists digging in Israel unearthed the earliest evidence to date of the controlled use of fire — charred wood and seeds — at a site dating back 790,000 years. At least one academic...
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Role reversal and the Age of Necessity
It’s the circle of life. As our children grow into adults and we grow into grandparents, we hope our children remember at least some of the things we did for them and lend us a hand during our times of...
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Honesty always rings true
Remember what it was like to possess unbridled honesty? For many of us adults, it’s been decades. Unbridled honesty is what made “Liar, Liar” — the 1997 comedy in which Jim Carrey played an attorney...
View ArticleWeighing in on wellness
I’ve spent most of my married life — the past 20 years — dodging our bathroom scale. In ducking this weighty issue, I’ve spawned a virtual Dockers store: My closet now is overflown with dozens of pants...
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