“when in doubt, do the right thing”

As I organize papers from the past, a task slowly taken, I find stories, letters, drawings, and momentos that make me realize what a fortunate life I have lead. Thankfulness for the precious wisdom passed down from those no longer on this earth is the emotion that I recently uncovered. In November of 1997, Ben had written to Grandpa Fred regarding his career, and likely as part of a school assignment. What follows is Gpa’s response. I hope it gives you encouragement, confidence, and reinforcement of your work.

“Dear Benjamin,

Thank you for your E-mail. As you know, I have been retired for five years. I retired on October 30, 1992. Since I have held a number of jobs during my working career, I will write chiefly about my last one with the Federal Aviation Administration.”

(Grandpa then goes on to list the various duties of his job, and the training required for it, and the pros and cons of the job. Ben’s questions must have included one on advice, and here is Grandpa’s response.)

The most important factor is to enter a field that has a great attraction for you. To be happy in your work, do what you want to do. If you work just to make money, your work will be drudgery.

After you are in the job, try to increase your competence to perform that job in every way possible.

Work hard. Do the very best that you possibly can in performing the job, evey if it means working overtime without an expectation of extra pay or rewards. …

Have integrity. In other words, “when in doubt, do the right thing”. At times, this is difficult, because it may seem that taking the “right” course of action is not in your best interests. In the final analysis, however, being a person of integrity will be recognized by other people, both on and off the job, and will pay off in both material and non-material ways.

Have a happy personality. Be out-going and friendly.

Always strive for perfection. Of course, it is impossible to achieve that, but try to come as close to it as you can. In the Federal Aviation, we had a “Zero-Defects” program. No one completely achieved all of the objectives of the program, but we all tried to come as close to it as humanly possible.

(and then Ben asks Grandpa about his “dream job”)

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to fly. How I was able to achieve that goal was a combination of striving, fate, and pure blind luck. At age twenty-two, I had been farming for five years. I was pretty well reconciled to a future of farming. Then, on December 7, 1941, the United States got into World War II and very soon I was classsified as 1-A by my draft board. Well, I wasn’t going to wait around to be drafted, so I enlisted in the Army Air Corps, (the original Air Force) That is what started it all. I began to see my dreams realized, and the continued to be realized until I retired from the FAA on Octber 31, 1992, at age seventy-four. In short, I wanted to fly, and I got to do it ‘IN SPADES.”