Think Fast, Talk Slow: Jerry T. Crites

Good morning to all of my JWT Friends. Today's story is about a person who had a huge impact on my life. I also want to take a minute to thank everybody for supporting the site. I get so much feedback from good friends, long lost friends, and random people. I am glad to share these stories, but it makes me feel good to know that they "strike a nerve" with some of you. So thank you again.

Today's story is about a remarkable man. Jerry Crites was the high school principal at Scott County Central for many years. He was my principal grades 7-12. The world would be a better place if we all had somebody in our life at an early age, there to give us advice or scold us when we needed it. I know how lucky I was to have him in my life when I was a kid.

Mr. Crites talked with a southern drawl. He was about as "country" as a person could get. My best friend, Scooter Mize, impersonated that drawl to PERFECTION in a skit we did for the talent show during my senior year. It was hilarious, so funny that even Mr. Crites had a laugh at it.

The thing that I loved so much about the man was that he took time to talk to you. He really, truly listened to you. Time is the greatest gift any of us can give another person, because it's the one thing we can't get back. Mr. Crites gave all of us his time.

The best example I can give of this was a situation that happened during my 8th grade year. I didn't feel good. Mom told me to get up and catch the bus. I didn't really feel like going to school. She told me to get up and go anyway.

So Mom left for the day, expecting me to get myself on the bus. I guess I was feeling "grown" or something (big mistake), so I just didn't catch the bus. I stayed in bed all day. Mom came home later, found me in my room, and asked me why I hadn't gone to school. I told her, like she didn't hear me the first time, that "I don't feel good."

She said "Okay" and walked off. No big deal. I thought to myself, "well THAT was easy!" Man, was I wrong! So I got to school the next day, and sometime after lunch, Mrs. Cook, the high school secretary, came over the intercome... "Send David to the office."

I was nervous. I didn't really get in trouble at school. I'd never been paddled (we still do that in parts of Missouri). What could this be about? I had no idea.

So I got to the office, and Mr. Crites, in that southern drawl, said "David, your momma called me and told me you skipped school yesterday." I explained to Mr. Crites that I hadn't skipped school. No, no, no... I was sick, and sick. My mom just didn't understand that. But I was sick. Skipped school? Me? No! I was sick. That's what it was.

Mr. Crites nodded. He told me to come with him. I was thinking to myself, "he bought it! I'm not in trouble!" He took me for a walk. We looked at the school grounds, the bushes, the grass, etc. Was it being mowed right? Then we checked the halls. Were they clean? He took me all around the school, the whole time talking to me about listening to my mom and how I had such a good mom.

So after about 15 minutes of this, we came back to the office. He pulled a chair out, told me to put both of my hands on the chair, and that he was going to "thrash" me. I didn't know what that meant, but I was 99% sure that meant I was getting paddled.

Turns out I was right. I got two swats and sent back to class. I never skipped school again. I realized that Mr. Crites was a nice old man, but that he was also working with my mother LOL.

So here is the moral of the story... One, before I forget, I had an awesome mother. I was right at that age where kids rebel a little, and she was having NONE of that... Two, Mr. Crites could have questioned me, listened for a minute, and then sent me back to class. Instead, he took the TIME to try to teach me something. I've never forgotten that. By taking just a few extra minutes and actually caring enough to listen to me, he actually taught me something instead of just punishing me (there is a difference).

So as you go through your day today, who has had that kind of impact on your life? Even better, how can you pay that forward to somebody else?

Think about it. Try to help somebody today. You can do it. I believe in you.

#JWT #JoinTheRevolution