Preparing for the Unexpected

“Preparing for the unexpected” is part of my company’s mission statement.  In a further conversation with my colleague, J.D., it seems that no one (except possibly my mother) expected Derek Jeter to hit a home run.  J.D., a diehard Yankees fan and my expert on all things baseball and company-related, said that Jeter isn’t known for his home-run.  Everyone was prepared for him to hit that 3,000^th ball as a single, not a home-run.  No one was prepared for it, not even Jeter himself, who’s seen running to the outfield to retrieve his ball, which the fan who caught it graciously returned to him.

Even though it’s part of our motto, we were no more prepared for this ballplayer to hit that ball into the stand (right on top of our sign) that anyone else was.  In this life, you must be prepared for the unexpected – the Hurricane Katrina (how much more of a sign did people need than a hurricane the size of Florida?), the terrorist who gets “lucky”, the tornado that drops out of nowhere, or a government that votes in secret to create bureaucratic, life-altering rules?

We must be prepared to do the unexpected as well.  Probably no one was more surprised to see that ball head for the outfield than Derek Jeter himself.  When we least expect it, we succeed at doing the most amazing things that we never expected to do.  Years ago, a local man was working on his car.  The jack slipped and the car fell flat on top of him.  His mother, all of about 120 pounds, ran out when she was what happened and lifted the car off him so others could pull him out.  She strained some disks in her back, but saved her husband’s life.

We have this tendency to think that the government is too big and all-powerful for us.  That’s certainly what the Progressives would like us to think.  But we’d be wrong and so would they.  There’s nothing we can’t do armed with enough determination and faith in that Invisible Hand that guides us down the right path.

We don’t have to sit passively in front of our televisions while our nation’s fate is decided for us.  We can do any number of things to proactively save our nation from ruinous debt, corruption, immorality, and malaise.  Even if you think you can’t make a difference, take a swing at the ball anyway.  Don’t bench yourselves, waiting for the other guy to win the game.  We have what it takes; it’s our turn at bat and we can hit a homerun for freedom and liberty and America right into the stands.

My company wants to dispense with regional photographers.  The Progressives want to dispense with dissenting opinions.  Nobody believed Jeter could hit a ball so far out.  They were all wrong.  Conservatism, though a political underdog, will win the game in the end and the crowds will cheer.  All you have to do is believe.