Seasoned With Sult N Papper 6/23/19 > The art of using “leverage”…. it can bring preachers to their knees.
Boycott is finally over….
Well it has been a very long time but as of this past Wednesday evening the boycott of our church by Blondie and me is officially ended. It was a thirteen month ordeal that had gone on way to long but I finally had enough and sent the preacher his “final warning”.
Vacation Bible School time…
Last year,( if you remember), Mrs. Papper was hired by the church and that sort of put a damper on me complaining to loudly since she had started working there.
The Mrs. and our four children play a big part in helping put on the Vacation Bible School that starts 6/24/19 at 8:00 AM.
I am not saying that it couldn’t be done without them but having their help is a definite plus. So I used a little leverage on the preacher and informed him on last Sunday that if we didn’t have Blondie’s paper by the start of Vacation Bible School he had better have some replacements to fill their five spots because they will not be there if he doesn’t return her original paper.
Leverage applied ….
Seeing how Vacation Bible School is one the largest things that this preacher is in charge of it made perfect sense to me apply some leverage at a point when he is counting on every volunteer and employee on being there.
Shortie served as the mascot last year for VBS and did such a good they gave her that role again, of course she had to buy her own costume so they would be without a mascot if she wasn’t there this week.
Blondie has the job of being a “shadow” for an autistic child and she has done this in the past for this child so both him and the parents have a comfort level giving them peace of mind.
The boys have leadership roles and are in charge of groups of kids and both have youth helpers’ working under them and the Mrs. is in charge of seeing that all the crafts are ready and distributed to all 650 participants each day.
So, I made it a very easy choice for the preacher … give back Blondie’s paper or figure out how to replace these five people on the VBS team.
Didn’t take long once he got the message…
Last Sunday the youngest boy delivered the message and he said the look on the preacher’s face was priceless. The preacher started to ask if I was serious and the boy stopped him… “he’s serious. If he doesn’t have the paper you won’t see any of us at VBS that week.”
So the preacher said he would have it Wednesday and he did have it for the boy to bring home after their youth group meeting that night.
Some of you thought we never would see it again…
Some of you thought we never would see it again and I kind of had that feeling too. I figured he had gotten rid of it since he plagiarized some of what she had written for use in his sermons.
One thing I had going for me was my delivery person. We play quite a bit of poker and he still has trouble telling when I am bluffing or not so he was the perfect person to deliver the message.
Was I bluffing? Not a chance.
Until next time,
Sult
PS: The results of the permeability test are being written by lab right now. The lab manager said he couldn’t detect any moisture line in the samples with our admixture in the concrete. He has never had that happen before with that type of test.
That's good news Mr Papper, I honestly did not think that paper would ever find its way back to Blondie! Really doesn't make sense that he held onto it for such a long time; had he lost it and then found it or was he just being otherwise?
But at least its now back with Blondie, some story she can tell one day to her children, no more going to church in your pajamas not so ;);)
I'd love to read what she had written!
The concrete tests sound really promising, great to see you around here again.
Thanks Lizelle. I had my doubts on if she would get it back as well. If I hadn't used that leverage at the correct time it might have been a whole different outcome.
I don't believe Blondie is going to let me publish her paper for all to read, but it was very well written and she put a lot of thought into it.
Thanks for all the support, very much appreciated.
Ha! Leverage is a good thing, indeed! I am glad the "Prodigal Essay" was finally returned!
This makes such little sense to me. WhyTF didn't he just give the ever-lovin' paper back? (Yes, I know all about the possible plagiarism, etc.) But ... I could understand the delay if he had honestly lost it. I could understand the delay if he just couldn't be arsed to go look for it. I could understand if he had destroyed it -- accidentally or otherwise.
But this is starting to smell like some kind of power play for crying out loud. And of all the senseless reasons for this extended mess -- that one makes the least sense (to me.)
I keep asking myself ... "How did he think this was going to play out?
Did he expect you would just forget about it and stop asking? Did he think it would all get swept under the rug? Did he think he could ignore you -- until you stopped coming to church? Did he have this paper all along and was just "sitting on it?" (Which seems more and more likely.)
Does he think after all this you're going to be able to return to church and enjoy a cordial let-bygones-be-bygones relationship? What the hell was his end-game on this?
Seriously, I expected the paper would just go "mysteriously missing -- so sorry" -- forever and ever. (What Nixon should have done with the tapes.) The fact that it has now shown up (ta-da!!) just adds to the puzzle. I mean it ... I don't get this one.
(Yeah, I tend to over-think things. I drive myself crazy, too, if that's any consolation.)
Needless to say I don't have all the answers to your questions , only the preacher could answer most of them. What I do know is this...
-- missing church for almost a year straight didn't seem to have any effect on getting it returned.
-- it must not have been misplaced as he had no problem telling the boy he would have on Wednesday night and he did have it Wednesday night.
-- I can't speak for Blondie but I have a new church; and it is easy as hell to get too. Turn on the TV Sunday morning at 10:30 AM.
I don't see myself ever going back except on Christmas eve and Easter Sunday. In fact the whole family skipped church this passed Sunday at the local church.
I'm not one to "forgive and forget"; it takes me a while to get the "forget" part of that equation.
Thanks for all the good questions and I agree ; Nixon should have done things differently.
Well, well, well! Isn't that some news! I didn't think you would ever get it back but I'm glad I was wrong. Too bad or should say sad that the pastor took things that far. I just don't get it but hopefully you can try to put this behind you. I think I'd need a heart to heart with the pastor though as I don't think what he did was very pastor-ly. (imo)
The test sounds promising with the admixture and I hope it continues to advance forward! 🙂
Yes, I did have doubts she would ever see it again too. I am not going to waste my time having a heart to heart with the pastor, my time is to important to me to waste on him.
The tests are very encouraging and once we have the latest written results we have meetings lined up with people who can really jump start this venture,
Thanks for all the support.
I don't blame you. I think if he really cared then he would've reached out and returned the paper when you first asked for it back. As you say, he's not worth wasting any time over.
I'm excited for you and hope you get the backing you need to get the ball rolling so to speak. 😉
Well. How cool is that. You and I both know that boycotts rarely work in the real world unless there is some real leverage to be applied.
I'll just say that I've never run a bluff on a poker table unless I got caught. If nobody challenges it, it's just the hand. Nicely played sir.
The concrete test sounds really good. I don't think I asked last time. Will this make ordinary concrete 'underwater grade' just by the addition. That alone would be worth a large pile of Steem or any other medium you would like to trade in!
Always glad to hear a good report, and getting two great reports in the same post is like bonus pinball. Big smile material.
I'll get the concrete question out of the way first. Yes. Adding a liter of ES1 for each yard of concrete when it is being mixed will make the concrete "underwater grade" as you call it. So a 10 yard truck load would get 10 liters put into the mix.
Leverage is a good thing , but you are right , most boycotts fail to get any results without some good leverage applied. The timing on the leverage was key in this case, it put him between a rock and a hard a place with no time to make adjustments.
For the record I have been know run a bluff on the poker table and show it when it worked. When you can't get a call you sometimes have to get them questioning does he have it or is he bluffing.
I'll give up a few chips early to set the table up ....
Thanks for dropping by and I 'll have more on the concrete soon once we have the written report.
I never thought Blondie would get that paper back! As far as I am concerned, I probably would have left that church a year ago. But that is just me. Now, to get the paper back is almost insulting, although, I am glad she got it back, but, what an idiot this man is.
I truly would have lost it or thrown it away, but, then again, I would never do that so, I wouldn't have to worry about it. Agree about Nixon. Truly. I loved that guy. Was I too young to believe he was a hero?
You certainly shake up the feed with your writes. LOL
!tip
I don't have the ties to that church that my wife does as her family was one the founding families in 1872 so for me I am pretty much done with them. I will go maybe twice a year now at Christmas Eve and Easter; the other Sundays I will get my bible preaching from Joel O on the television.
I don't know what was going through that preacher's mind but at least he didn't trash it and she did get it back.
I should have dubbed this 'papergate' in honor of Nixon.
Thanks for the support & the tip. Very much appreciated.
You, my friend, are always my guilty pleasure to read!
It is a great story, but I don't remember last year so well. What is so special about this original paper?
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It was the paper that she had to write as part of her getting confirmed into the church. It started a real uproar as she was selected to read it at the ceremony but she refused to read it in front of the whole church.
Long story... but it is over now.
Thanks for reading and commenting. Very much appreciated.
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Boom 💥 the subtle and not so subtle art of leverage... gotta love a good extortion play!!
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Howdy sir sultnpapper! I'm sorry I missed this! But I'm glad the boycott is over! What a pain. So all is back to normal on the church front?
Hey by now I'm sure you have finalized results from the lab on the concrete moisture resistance formula, what do they say?