Heartfelt thanks remembered

In this morning's Northwest Herald was an AP photo of a coffee shop manager shoveling snow from the sidewalk in front of his coffee shop in Dubuque, Iowa. Bill Henson was shown, clearing snow from the front of Jitterz Coffee & Cafe.

The photo reminded me of a snowy morning in 1986 Kansas City, Kans., when I was VP of Membership Services for the local chamber of commerce. We were an 1,100-member chamber, and my job was serving the membership, as well as building the numbers.

On that morning of the first snow of the season, I asked where the snow shovel was. I grabbed it and went outside to clear the sidewalk. Never thought twice about it. It needed to be done. I had thought of it, and so I took care of it.

When I returned to my desk, the VP of Administration came by. She had been there 18 years, and she told me I was the first man in all that time to shovel the snow.

One of the books I ought to write is about my experiences with that chamber. And later with the Phoenix, Corpus Christi and Richmond (Virginia) Chambers of Commerce.

I have since told friends that, if they ever find out I am thinking of working for another chamber of commerce, they should drag me out to the "back 40" and shoot me.