Marge’s kids had a history of keeping her upset during shopping trips.
They ran all over the store and were frequently lost. They had trained her to keep her eye on them to the expense of her doing her shopping.
Contrast that to my own dad, who trained his kids to keep their eyes on him instead.
We’d enter the store and as he went through the front door of Republic Drug he’d be saying, “Well guys, try to keep up. I’ll be moving kind of fast. Hope you don’t get lost, but if you do, find one of the security guys over at that desk. He’ll probably help you find a way to get home. I’ve never seen a kid lost for more than a few months.”
As he said this, he never looked back. Needless to say, we stayed close. Not only did we believe that his word was good on these shopping trips, but any other time he opened his mouth, as well.
It wasn’t until years later that he admitted to us that he had talked to the security people before he took us shopping, and these trips were nothing but training sessions.
He was a strong believer in the idea that advance training could save him a lot of time and frustration later.
