A Cowboy's Guide to Growing Up Right by Slim Randles

Author:Slim Randles
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rio Grande Books
Published: 2014-06-10T00:00:00+00:00

Remember: Work that is cheerfully done for free usually pays best.

SEVEN

cow-boy (kou’boi’) n. a man who will walk three miles to catch a horse so he can ride a mile to town.

Courtesy makes the homeliest

of us beautiful

Courtesy, by which we mean respect for others, may be the one thing that sets people apart from the dinosaurs, and today is likely to set cowboys apart from other people.

When I was learning the dating ropes, my mother, Betty Randles, told me that courtesy was very attractive in a man. She then cited the case of close family friends, where Miro Cornish became Evelyn’s choice of a spouse, and the one thing above all that made him attractive to her were his manners.

The really amazing thing about this particular beauty secret is that anyone can be beautiful this way, no matter what you look like. Not everyone can have wavy hair, but everyone can have good manners.

You grew up in a house without manners? Get a book. The library’s full of them. Why is this important? Because when we show little courtesies to others, we honor them. When we honor them, they like us and honor us. Hey, if this keeps up, we’ll be having fun and liking each other and just honoring each other all over the place before you know it.

I was editor of a daily newspaper in Texas for a couple of years in a place that was flat and had almost no trees. Not my kind of country. But the Texas Panhandle has two things that set it apart from nearly everywhere else; it has thunderstorms you can sell tickets to every spring, and its people have very nice manners.

It’s always “Yes, sir,” or “No, ma’am.” And there are always pleases and thank yous. One of our good friends always makes a habit of sending a small hand-written note after having visited us, even if she just stopped by for coffee.

Now, I don’t do this, even though I should, and it really isn’t necessary to go that far. But that’s real class.

That makes you put her at the top of your “invite list” when you’re planning to have some fun. These are what we were taught to call “bread and butter notes” and we were required to write them to our aunts, uncles and grandparents after birthdays and Christmas, even when they lived next door. Why? Because that’s how caring, civilized people do things. Caring, civilized people … like cowboys.

You went for a job interview and didn’t get the job? Send a little note that says, “Dear Mr. Jones: Thank you for taking the time to consider me for the job. I enjoyed our chance to get acquainted.”

How long does it take to write that? Fifteen seconds. Put on a stamp. You now have someone who will think kindly of you forever, even if, 20 years from now, he can’t exactly remember why. But he knows that when he thinks of you, he feels good about himself.

Remember that the most important person in the world to Mr.

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