I suppose all of us in our lifetime do things of which we are not too proud. If we learn from our mistakes however, those same mistakes can be of value. Therefore I don't hesitate to tell you this story. One Christmas day, while I was a rating in the R.C.N. a group of us decided we'd have our own Christmas dinner at a friends home in a nearby town. By devious means we obtained a large turkey. Now, smuggling a turkey off a ship under the eyes of a Regulating Petty Officer is no small accomplishment. The Navy uniform is so tight that even a pack of cigarettes shows. We discussed this matter and one of the lads volunteered to take the bird off the ship. His plan, we thought, was insane. He simply put the huge bird in a paper bag and carried it by his side. We lined up for inspection prior to catching the liberty boat. The Petty Officer gave us all the once over. He looked at the length of our hair, the tilt of our hats, the condition of our collars, the shine of our shoes, but he never even noticed the turkey. He was so concerned with the little things that he completely missed the big. I have thought many times since that day how typical this man was of our humankind. How often in life we miss the obvious because we so concern ourselves with the trivial. We miss peoples’ good qualities because we dwell at great length on their shortcomings. We miss so many of the wonderful experiences of life because we can trouble ourselves overmuch with little miseries. Yes, I am rather glad we swiped that turkey back in 1943. I learned a real lesson that day which I have never forgotten.
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