Handshake Is a Promise

This has been a busy week with a lot of things going on and in the middle of it all, I've had some trouble focusing. But the other day I had one of those moments that really helps to bring your head back to the place it needs to be.  We've been working to purchase and open a new facility in the northern part of Iowa.  This has been ongoing for a number of months, but we are now getting to the point that it is real.  The transaction will happen and there will be a new facility to manage and sell from.  This is just great in my opinion since increased geography is one of the ways you can really grow a business.  This week was my first opportunity to go up and see the facility and meet the gentlemen we are buying the property from.  Just incidentally, they would also like to end up being customers of ours, so the day had a lot of great potential in it.

So, my thoughts today come from a trip to Hampton, Iowa as well as fond memories of the community I grew up in, and have in so many ways grown much too far from.  We got to town about noon I wasn't the only person who thought this was a great chance for lunch.  We drove around the square, with the obligatory county seat court house in the center and found nothing that looked like a great place to eat.  Collectively, the guys that I was with decided we should go back to the Honk 'N' Hollar. We had passed it on the way to the square.  This building, although bigger, reminded me of the Tastee-Freez in Sigourney.  The ceilings were low and although it had been there a long time, every effort had been made to take good care of it.  There were probably 20 vehicles in the parking lot - 80% pickups.  We fit right in.  Upon entry, we were greeted with a friendly voice that told us we could sit anywhere.  The folks that were there were a mix of married couples and groups who seemed as though they worked together and had come to lunch.  Although I was truly tempted by the Hot Beef sandwich - the special of the day, I went with the tenderloin, which was tremendous.  Add fries and you can hardly ask for a better meal.  The person taking care of us paid attention to what we needed, and chatted with us as if she had known us for years.  All part of the community charm. I will always be glad to return whenever I'm in town.

Following lunch, we found our way to the location that we are buying.  The current owners are still operating their business there while they get their new space ready to go.  It was obvious that they had a lot going on and were quite busy, but four of them dropped everything to take time with us. It was a chance to discuss not only the building and what was going on with it but how we can work toward the future to do more together.  It was a very easy, genuine meeting and within five minutes it felt as if we had known them for a lifetime.  And that experience brought me to the title of today's thoughts.

I am very fortunate to live in the Midwest, and more specifically Iowa.  You might have heard about the concept of a "handshake and a promise."  Well, here it is just a little different.  What I've known my entire life is that the way these people interact with each other - a handshake IS a promise.  When we deal with each other and agree on something and at the end of the conversation everyone exchanges handshakes, there may have just as well been some type of legal document signed.  What was just agreed to is what will happen.  That is the way that it is. 

As I thought about this driving back to Des Moines, it struck me that this is one of the things that I love the most about living here.  A person living and doing business here will say what they are going to do and then stand behind it, without question.  This has always been the way I like to interact with others. Even when there have been times I was disappointed because of the way others acted, I will still do everything in my power to continue to live my life this way.

We had a very interesting speaker at Rotary this morning, talking about Young Professionals.  It is going to take a while for me to process some of this, and it is possible that I may ruffle a few feathers but I feel that I must comment, so look forward to that next week.  Have a great weekend, do something with those you care about and try to make the world a better place for yourself and for others.