Many years ago it used to tick me off when watching the Johnny Carson Show. Ed McMahon, the M.C., would say “Now H – e – r – e ‘ s Johnny!” and the audience would go nuts, a screaming and cheering and a hollerin’ and Johnny would slowly strut around like a cock rooster and just bask away in that fantastic standing ovation. It seemed so unfair for Johnny to be getting such an awesome ovation from the audience night after night when most people who work harder than Johnny Carson every day have never had a standing ovation and most never any such recognition in their whole lives.
At sales meetings where I was making a presentation I would select someone from the audience to act as Ed and say, “Here’s Johnny!” and the audience would cheer but never quite loud enough. Then I would get that person’s name and something about his or her occupation and point out that the audience did not stand up and nobody hollered “Yoo ooo!” I’d ask him about his job and if he didn’t believe that he worked harder than Johnny Carson and asked “Don’t you think what you do is more important than what Johnny Carson does?” After all, just what does Johnny do? He comes onstage, tells a few jokes, gets married every three or four years and that’s it.”
I called my new assistant by his name, say “Charlie, I want you to represent everyone in your industry. And I am going to get you a screaming, hollering wild standing ovation right now that you will never forget.” “I’d ask, Are you married, Charlie?” If he said “Yes!” I would say, “Well your wife will find out about this and from now on when you walk through the door at night she will give you a standing ovation. And when you come into work tomorrow your fellow workers will give you a standing ovation. Charlie, this is a life changing moment for you. You’ll walk out of here today singing with a great baritone voice, “FOR THIS IS MY MOMENT, I FEEL IT AROUND ME!”
I’d ask the audience,”Are you all ready?” And the audience would holler “YES!”
I’d crank that audience up a few more notches and explain that I wanted to hear a standing, screaming, mind boggling salute because Charlie was representing everyone in your entire industry. Let’s hear it, let’s holler the roof right off this building, Ladies and gentlemen here we go, and I yell out … “Heeeeeeerrrrrrrr’s Charlie!” And that entire audience would jump up and hoot and holler and cheer like they have never cheered in their lives and I would egg them on and they would holler and cheer some more, applauding ’til their hands hurt and Charlie would stand there stunned. I’d get the crowd quieted and seated then, and Charlie would start to leave but I would stop him and say,”Don’t go yet Charlie. I have written a special poem for this occasion and I would like to read it to you.”
Over the years I wrote poems for many, many such special occasions. Over sixty such poems. Later I would get letters from those in charge of such meetings. They would often say things like “I believe that everyone at that meeting left feeling better about themselves and their jobs. A number of those poems were published in trade magazines of the industrys or trades involved.
At Purdue University the Pest Control Association Members cheered, At Ball State University in Indiana the U.S. Navy Recruiters went wild cheering, At Ann Arbor, Michigan the Asphalt Road Builders who worked in 99 degree heat next to a several hundred degree asphalt cheered one another and I could hardly quiet them down to hear my tribute poem. These responses had absolutely nothing to do with me and my performance. What it had to do with was them and their daily performance in sometimes totally unrecognized occupations.
Look around you today. Many of the people we all encounter every day haven’t even heard an Attaboy! Not ever. Maybe it is time for us all to start “H e r e’ s Johnnying! somebody every day.
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