I grew up in the shadows of the Greatest Generation. These were the men who gave so much without reparation expectations for hard times.
One of my uncles (Tony) married my Dad’s little sister. Tony was an American German who fought in WW II. The stories he told of liberating a Jewish concentration camp stunned me for life.
Saturday, I was honored to hear a presentation by one of his sons (my cousin, Mark) who spoke about what matters in life.
Tony was a hard man. He had seen hard things and (as I understand), was a hard boss (and probably a hard Dad too).
Tony instilled in Mark however, the importance to recognize what really matters.
Mark was 17 when he worked for his Dad. Tony ran “cable-tool” type oil drilling rigs. One step in that process was coming out of the oil-well hole with all the drilling or flushing equipment (tools) on the end of the cable that could be hundreds (if not thousands) of feet deep.
The operator on the motor would run the cable spool fast until the worker on the ground saw flags on the cable go by and signaled the operator to slow down the cable spool. As I recall, there were three sets of flags set at various heights above the heavy tools.
Mark saw the first flags zip up past him and began signaling the operator. The operator was distracted and didn’t see him. By the next set of flags Mark was animated, trying to get his attention. Still clueless.
When the last set of flags flew past, Mark knew the end was near. The heavy tools flew out of the hole, exploding through the top of the tower, way up into the air, then crashed down around the drilling rig in a pile of twisted steel and cables.
Time to call Tony who was miles away checking on other drilling crews.
Tony drove in about an hour later. Mark and the operator had nothing to say as he viewed the wreck (which represented several thousands of dollars of repair and down time). Tony looked around, then at them and said two words, “Macht Nichts.”
Think About it
Macht Nichts (sounds like “Mock Nix”) was German for, “It doesn’t matter.”
Sometimes we really mess up and it seems like a big deal. If we listen, we may hear God say, “Macht Nichts.”
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