The answer to yesterday's question was William Howard Taft. Since two of you commented on how easy that question was, we are going to try a little more difficult one today:
I was Born in Fort Collins, Colorado on June 8, 1917 and died in Denver, Colorado on April 15, 2002. Married to Marion in 1946 and we had two children, one girl and one boy. I went to the University of Colorado on a sports scholarship. I was an All American Halfback in football and served as senior class president. I also played basketball and baseball in college. I deferred my Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University one year to play professional football for the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, leading the league in rushing and at the time becoming the highest paid player in football. I hate the nickname given to my by a columnist due to my amazing speed. Despite my hate of that nickname it would follow me through both my sports and legal career. In 1940 I returned form Oxford to once again play professional football, this time with the Detroit Lions. I retired from football after thirty-three games. I hold an embarrassing NFL record: While against the Los Angeles Rams in November of 1952, during a game I took a snap and ran backwards 51 yards towards my own goal fumbling at the 1-yard line, at which point the Rams recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. To this day, it is still the biggest loss of yardage on a single play in NFL history. During WWII I was refused entry into the US Marines because of colorblindness. I still was able to serve my country as an intelligence officer in the US Navy. I graduated magna cum laude from Yale Law School in 1946. In the 1960's my first political appointment was as RFK''s second in command. On January 20, 1993 I administered the oath of office to the second banana of the United States. I believed strongly in affirmative action. When retiring I was touched by what one of my co-workers said about me, "He saw life steadily and he saw it whole. All of us who served with him will miss him." While Pat might think that the owner of The Dahn Report violated his promise not to use sports stars in his daily quiz, she would be judging him incorrectly as I served the fourth longest term of anyone in history in a job where I gained my most fame. Who Am I?
When researching this famous dude I was struck by how someone of his obvious intelligence could do something so dumb as to run the wrong way on a football field. That moment must have been on the news for a week after he did it. He must have felt awful about it. Yet he recovered from it and when on to make an impact on history in other arenas the rest of his life. This begs a question. Do you have an embarrassing moment that you have recovered from?
In sports I once scored two points for the opposing team in a basketball game. And it was the winning basket for the other team too. I was in junior high at the time and boy did I take a terrible amount of ribbing. However, by high school it was all forgotten when I set the record for points in a summer league basketball game. Other than my one and only attempt at roller skating reported on here http://thedahnreport.blogspot.com/2008/06/visit.html the winning basket for the wrong time ranks as my most embarrassing moment.
OK, confession is good for the soul. I told you an embarrassing moment in my life, tell me one in yours!
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9 comments:
I have any number of embarrassing moments, mostly because I've had so many years to gather them (g).
However... I was 21 or 22 years old and had miraculously landed the position of admin ass't to the Director of Purchasing at a major electronics firm. Despite three or four years in the big city, I was still a country girl at heart, with all the values of my upbringing, including "proper vocabulary." I was taking ntoes at a meeting with my boss, the Director of Production, another Director and, I think, a major sales rep. My boss used the "F" word and, without a thought, I stood up, leaned across his desk and slapped him, without any thought to what I was doing. While I looked for a hole to crawl into and waited to be fired, he was quiet for many seconds, then looked around the office and said, "Gentlemen, I suggest we not use that particular word when Dana is involved in a meeting." End of discussion.
What was funny was that after that, Jon (Dir of Production, who couldn't talk without using the "f" word) adopted a whole new vocabulary. He didn't stop using the word but it became part of a hyphonated pharse. Whenever in my presence, whether in the office or socially, he'd say "That 'fing'-excuse-me-Dana-SOB" or whatever. And word spread quickly and the "f" word wasn't used in my boss's office any more, at least when I was present, nor in other meetings I attended.
DR, that's hilarious! I'd never have survived my work life if I had been that sensitive to F-bombs. With one particular Assoc. Producer, I'd have had repetitive motion injuries from slapping him every few minutes.
But you reminded me of a work gaffe I did many years ago. My doctor boss was reviewing an article for a medical journal. He dictated something like, "There has long been need for a study of [insert disease]. Doctors S and J have now provided such a study". When I typed the letter, the sentence became, "Doctors S and J have NOT provided such a study". I signed it for him and sent it out, not noticing that I had changed the entire thrust of his review.
Fortunately for everyone (except maybe me), he proofread the copy. It was totally embarrassing. Being a Very Good Boss, he just laughed and said I would have to write my own letter to the publisher apologizing and explaining the error. Which I did, groveling as much as I could manage in a mere letter.
Like DR, I've had many embarrassing moments over a long life. Most of them, I wouldn't care to publish, but that one still strikes me funny.
Oh, Pat, what a story. How a single letter can change an entire story/review/report! I imagine the groveling wasn't much fun, but sounds like your boss was really good about it.
The funny thing about the "f" word was that it "followed me" in the electronics industry, which was extremely incestuous in the late sixties and seventies. I moved on to become office administrator for Raytheon's regional offices and the guys there tried to clean up their act and always followed the "f" word with "excuse me, Dana." Then, one day, we lost a major contract because my boss's boss screwed up bad and Russ came in the office and every other word was "f" and he finally looked at me and said, "Sorry, but sometimes, there's just no other word that works," and I had to agree with him! It cost him a huge chunk of commission and the office a big bunch of credibility.
Hi DR
Trust me, I have probably a thousand embarrassing moments and some couldn't be published or talked about!
I do think you slapping the dude is absolutely hilarious and his response was classic!!
Bill
Hi Pat
That makes three of us with numerous embarrassing moments!
I started work in a much stiffer enviornment than you or DR, we would have been fired for using the "f" word.
I think the mistypping is a riot. I just can't see you groveling, though!
Bill
DR
On my first job we spent a lot of time at clients. We had to constantly maintain a profession demeanor. Three piece suit. Wing tip shoes. White Shirt. Dark Tie. Fresh haircut. Couldn't pack our lunch to a client, because it would indicate we weren't successful. AND NEVER US THE F word.
Bill
Bill, I tried to be funny in my groveling. I wish I'd kept the letter so I could see how successful I was. Or wasn't.
DR, yes, my boss at the time was a prince of a guy, with a good sense of humor. And I'd worked for him for quite a while by then, so he was forgiving. [s]
When I worked in film, in departments where I was the only female, I always tried at first to put the guys at ease by cussing myself a time or two, just enough so they would know I was unshockable, at least by language. It seemed to work well, and I could tone it down after the first few times.
Hi Pat
I would love to read the groveling letter and I know it was successful!
I really respect the way you handled being the only woman on a job! The men were lucky to be working with a women with your personality and awareness!
Bill
Byron White could not have run backwards in 1952. He quite playing football before entering the Navy in WWII. This is an error in Wikipedia, which shows that the web can certainly perpetuate a lot of nonsense.
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