Neil Dudley: Hey, everybody, here comes another episode of Straight From the Horse’s Mouth. And I got to ask you, do you pay attention to how vehicles park in a parking lot? I was out, matter of fact, I recorded one of the episodes that’s coming up in a couple of weeks at the studio in Fort Worth with Johnny and my guest. And then afterwards, we went to grab some lunch. As we’re walking out of the studio, I was just noticing that I do things different in a parking lot than most people. At least I’m guessing most people, I don’t know. So that’s one reason I’m just talking about this. I wonder, do you guys agree, disagree, guys and gals? So, I drive, or on this particular day, I was driving my ranch truck and it’s a one ton Dodge Ram pickup. Once you have ever driven one of those in, let’s say, a city, you understand it requires a certain amount of preparation or thinking about what you’re going to do when you get to the parking lot. And I think that parallels what I learned from cowboys throughout my life. When you gather a pasture of cattle and you get to the pens, you should have already thought about what you’re going to do once you get to the pens. That’s the guy if you’re leading the crew or if you’re the newest guy on the crew, you need to be thinking about what role are you going to play to either help, stay out of the way, close the gate, just a whole bunch of things should be on your mind. So, it occurred to me that when I pull into a parking lot and I’m driving that truck, a whole lot of things are on my mind. First thing is I’m going to back it into the spot. So whatever spot I choose to park in, I’m going to need to be able to back it into the spot. Now I do that pretty much all the time just because I feel like if for some reason I need to get out of there fast, I’m ready. Do you think about that when you pull into a parking lot, that, ooh, I’m going to back into the spot. Now in the very best case, I find the spot that I can pull through and already be pointing out. Like I love those parking lots – Target, high five to Target. They don’t have the bumper, so you can just pull in and they don’t slant the- Walmart, I don’t know. It’s a parking lot efficiency thing when they start slanting the parking spots. So, you’re going down one aisle, then you come to the other. If you’re driving down the wrong way, you can’t get into a spot or it’s really hard to. I love the parking lots where they’re just squared off straight so you can pull through. You just find a spot, you pull through to the other side, you’re pointing out, you’re ready to roll.
I don’t know if everybody thinks about it like that, but I do. And so, I know now, when I am with people that don’t think about it that way, I’m subconsciously making a little bit of a judgment on them. I don’t, it’s not fair. It’s not right, but it’s true. It’s in my subconscious that, oh, this person hasn’t thought this through. Now, it’s also a little bit of an OCD thing. So, I’m not saying you need to change your life and start getting OCD about how you park in a parking lot because people are judging you on it. Actually, who cares if somebody judges how you park. I’m just telling you this story because it happened, it was interesting to me, and why not share it, right? Somebody else might have very similar experience or a great way to rebuttal what I think, or what goes through my head. I think it is valuable in a macro sense that you think about things that are coming. So, you’re kind of prepared for them, you have a plan, doesn’t mean that the plan always works out. I’ve been into a million parking lots, you go to parking garages with that truck, it’s like all plans are out the window. But I know that I think about it. Before I get there, I’m thinking, okay, where can I park? And it’s also a factor of being in this big truck that just doesn’t fit anywhere. I’ll drive a big loop around the parking lot to go find those easy places to park that park me exiting the parking space instead of needing to back up. If you have to back up, you might wreck into somebody. It’s just tougher. As you’re parking, you know you have time, you’re not in a hurry, you have a chance to back it in there so it’s not going to be an issue. And you don’t end up bumping into somebody or causing a wreck or being liable for putting a dent in somebody else’s car.
All of this to say, there are things in life that you do unconsciously that it might be worth considering doing consciously, thinking about, simple as parking in a parking lot. And I get that cowboy perspective from those cowboys that taught me and were disappointed in me every time we got to a place in the day where they had a plan and I had just been riding along like a bump on a log without thinking and expecting the next thing coming. In business, in family, in faith, in life, all of those things, embrace that truth. We’re living, what a blessing, things are coming. Can you know and see every one of them? No. But you do know certain small things are coming. Like you’re going to pull into a parking lot. Do you have a plan for that? Is there a reason to? Yes, no – that’s up to you. I’m just telling you, for me, I have a plan when I go in a parking lot and I look around and pay attention to the stuff that’s going on.
I think military guys and gals do this a lot. Like they’re just aware, they’re paying attention – oh, this guy’s drives a, I don’t know, Bentley or something. And he’s parking in a Target parking lot. What’s up with that? Something’s interesting. I don’t know. That might be a slight on Target; it doesn’t- it’s not intended. But everything there can give you clues about what’s happening in that store or in that area. And I think the, kind of the military people are used to that because they’ve been in places where those clues are very important. They could mean life or death. How people park doesn’t mean life or death, but it might tell you a little something about that person that could give you insight into a great conversation that you and them might could have together or even into yourself.
Now, then I’ve rambled on plenty long about what I think are parking lot insights. I hope it gets you thinking. And I hope you really just have a great day. Thanks for listening. Catch you on the next turn around or in the next pen or on the next conversation. Hasta luego.
I hope you guys found some value in this quick conversation. I’m going to be doing these Straight From the Horse’s Mouth, trying to nail down some specific things on topics for everyone so you get a little quicker listen. And if you want to get deeper, you can listen to these full episodes. Thanks everybody for listening.
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Now for your listening pleasure, a little Traversing the Trail from Mr. Byron Hill.