In a family of ten kids, my father was always isolated, and us kids always stayed away from him.  If you wanted an argument...you were sure to get one, if you talked to my father.  He was always the opposite of everyone else.  If we liked football...he hated football; if we liked fishing and camping...he hated fishing and camping; if we went to the doctor...he thought doctors were fools and ignorant, etc.  Yes...if you wanted an argument...you could talk to my father, and that's why we just stayed away from him.  He had this unusual and negative personality, that isolated him. 

When my father made a decision...it was FINAl...right or wrong...nothing would change it!  My mother was from the old school...not much education and no skills.  She couldn't even write a check or use a calculator for simple math.  My father was 70 and my mother was 66 when they divorced! So, she couldn't just walk out on a marriage and survive out on her own, etc.  In the end...and not surprisingly...my father died alone! 

Many people...like my father, are not able to say two of the most important words in the world..."I'm sorry."  Are you one of them? 

"The only disability in life is a bad attitude."  Scott Hamilton (skating champion)

Several years ago...I was a temporary employee, and I was
assigned to an engineering company who was doing work for a large engineering.  The large engineering company was manufacturing machines for the U.S. Postal Service, so this would be a long-term assignment if I chose to stay there.

pig-headed: (definition); stubborn; perverse;

When I started, the job couldn't be any simpler.  It was just a matter of pinning electral wires to a connector.  That's it...about as simple as it gets.  What was involved, was to take 19 electrical wires of different lengths and pin them into a connector about the size of a saltine cracker.

There were three different modules (1-2-3) and different wires for each module, and wires measured from a foot long to about 8 feet long, etc. 
Once all 19 wires were pinned into the connector, they were wrapped up and put into a plastic bag, and sent over to the soldering department, to be soldered into the various modules.  Sounds simple enough, right?  Not when you're dealing with a pig-headed person!

My trainor began to show me what to do, and he showed me the three boxes on the floor, consisting of the wires we would need to do the job.  We started out with module number one.  He took out the plastic bags which contained the various 19 wires.  He then began draping the long wires over chairs and tables in the area.  He took the connector, and began to start pinning the wires to the connector, and he placed the wires in the sequence that they would go into the connector.

After he finished the first connector with all the wires, he bundled it up and placed the bundle of wires into a plastic bag, and it was now ready for the soldering department.  He handed me a connector and I got started.  Over the next hour or so, I did about 50 bundles or so.  This was about the easiest job you'll find.

When I finished the first bundle, I called my trainor over and showed him what I had done.  Now, I was ready for the second module.  So, I opened the box for the second module and started pinning the wires to the connector and so forth. 

When I finished the second module, I started on the third module, and draped the long wires all over the chairs and tables in the area...just as my trainor had done.  I knew right away, there had to be a better way to do this job, but I didn't say anything for a few days, and I just did what I was told, etc.

Day after day, my trainor would have me doing this...take the wires out of the plastic bags...draping the wires over tables and chairs and pin the connectors.  When finished, all the wires were put back into the boxes and I would start on the next module, etc.  As the reader can see, this was a ridiculous and tedious way to do things, which was so time consuming.  There had to be a better way to do this job!

Just off the soldering line, there were several wooden fixtures, which measured about five feet tall by 3 feet wide, and they were built on casters, so they could be moved around.  I asked if anybody was using them, and they said no.  So, I came up with the idea to use the fixtures to drape the wires over the top of these fixtures, and now I would not have to put the wires back into the plastic bags or boxes anymore.  I would need three fixtures...one for each module.  By doing it this way, it would make the job faster and easier. 

I could knock down a few nails on top of the fixtures to keep the wires separated and stay organized and to keep the wires from getting mixed up, etc.

"Attitudes are contagious.  Are yours worth catching?"  Wendy Mannering

Since the wooden fixtures were alread on casters, they could easily be moved out of the way.  The wires could be places on the fixture, in order that they go into the connector, and the person would start on one end, and finish at the other end!  Simple, eh?  The idea would not cost the company anything, because there were several fixtures and they were sitting there doing nothing!

But, getting an idea...and implementing it are two different things!  The problem was with my supervisor, who was the baffoon of the department.  He was one of those..."my way, or the highway" type of guys...who had to have and do things his way...or hit the highway.  You know the type...they want to control everything around them...the type with a "soggy bowl of cornflakes" mantality!

It took me THREE MONTHS...that's right...THREE MONTHS...that there was a better way to do this job, which would save the company time and money.  And, every time i would approach this goon, he would tell my that he was working on it! 

For over three months, I was pinning connectors the old fashion way...emptying out plastic bags and boxes and draping wires over tables and chairs, etc.  I had to deal with this pig-headed such and such...and FINALLY, he gave me permission to use the wooden fixtures! 

I went to maintinance right away, to get  hammer and nails, to divide the wires on the fixtures on a permanent basis.  No more plastic bags or boxes to deal with.  This made it easier for the people on the soldering line, too, because after they had soldered the pins to the wires, they could just drape them over where they belonged and no more bags and boxes, etc.  Anyone could pin these modules now...with no muss no fuss, and the time saved, could be devoted to other jobs, etc.

"There is nothing more stubborn than a corpse...you can hit it...you can knock it into pieces...but you will never convince it!"  Alexander Herzen

At a company I worked for, a few people came over from another section, to help us get caught up, etc.  I didn't know the woman that came to our section, but one of the first things she told me, was that she was physically abused as a child.  None of us can condone abuse of any kind, so I felt sorry for her.

But, as the week went by, I could see why she was abused...she was defiant; stubborn and pig-headed and controlling, etc.  And, this is no reason for abuse, but I quickly learned about her personality, etc.  Almost everything I did...she would do the opposite...and she seemed to have a glow on her face, because she did the opposite of what I did!  This irritated and agitated me!  She had that awful..."my way or the highway" attitude, and in just a few days, I was pulling my hair out and I hated her!  I was glad when she went back to her section!

I received this email recently...

"Thanks Jerry...I dealt with a pigheaded person this morning...double the oink."  Cynthia

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."  Winston Churchhill

Why do you think the divorce rate is still so high...there are millions of controlling; stubborn and pig-headed people out there, who think they know everything...and everybody else in the world is WRONG! 

What makes these type of people so difficult to deal with is denial!   If you tell a person that they are stubborn; defiant and pig-headed, and they should get some therapy...you could get an answer like this...

"Who me...stubborn; defiant, controlling and pig-headed?  You must be talking talking about somebody else!"

When dealing with a pig-headed person...it is bad enough...but when that person has authority...it makes it worse.  And, it can make for a more stressful work place and morale can be affected too.  Pig-headed people are negative people with an attitude!   They try to control everything around them, and the only solution, is I try to stay away from them! 

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his or her attitude."  William James

QUIZ:  Choose a word(s) that best describes YOUR personality;  (be honest for once in your life!)

1) arrogant; 2) selfish; 3) pig-headed; 4) controlling; 5) defiant; 6) bonehead; 7) liar; 8) greedy; 9)cheater; 10) manipulative; 11) hypocrite; 12) unfaithfull; 13) dishonest; 14) abusive; 15) perverted; 16) in denial; 17) all of the above;

WHAT DID I SAY EARLIER ABOUT THE DIVORCE RATE? 

If it looks like a pig-headed, controlling person...and walks like a pig-headed, controlling person...then...gee...(oink-oink) 

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