Days 12 and 13 After a day of training at the Rural King store in Litchfield, IL and multiple meetings at the corporate HQ in Mattoon, Il, our host took us for a ride in Charleston, IL.

We met at Bike and Hike in Charleston https://bikeandhikeweb.com/. Brendan came back home to the Midwest after attending law school at Hastings and practicing for a bit out in the Bay Area. We needed some pedals for my mountain bike, (which Brendan nicely swapped out for us) and a helmet for Mike’s big dome! Of course, I took the opportunity to talk about R.I.D.E.S. We discussed the differences with Red Shield and a few others.

Ready to Ride! Our host, David Porter of Rural King took Mike, (our CFO) and I out for a gorgeous ride amongst the newly planted corn and soy fields. The temperature was about 70 degrees, the wind light, and the pedaling with smooth, fairly flat and fast. Look at the sky behind us and that structure behind us is miles away. In a couple of months those stalks will be so tall it that same ride will be like riding in a maze of maize! What a treat this was and it reminds me how lucky I am to be in the business I have chosen.

Days 14 and 15: These were training and travel days. Got into 4 more Rural King stores from Mattoon to Champaign to Peru to Plano, all in Illinois. The road then lead past Chicago into Indiana and I am now in Michigan to visit 4 northern stores this week. When we are out here, we detail the merchandising of the Rural King Plus Protection Plan by putting out the new brochures at the counters and in the aisles. Hang tags galore. When we are in the stores, we also meet with members of management, discuss how to utilize the performance metrics to manage and communicate and drive results. As importantly, we train each and every cashier on the philosophy of why RK wants to offer RKPPP, what products qualify, what the program covers, and how to offer and sell the plans, including actual register training. We leave no stone unturned. No employee too new, too young or too old It’s about having everyone on the same page.

Speaking of being on the same page, it’s time to discuss Resignation versus Acceptance. While this blog is mostly about our programs and experience relative to our company, there is a lot going on in the world right now.

With Covid-19, on this trip I am seeing first hand how people either have resigned themselves to accept it as either very serious scientifically, thus taking precautions to keep themselves and others around them healthy, or they have resigned to define it as not that bad, or worse, as a hoax, thus not accepting it and are not even willing to wear a mask. The behaviors I see change from state to state, county to county, city to city and town to town.

With our race issues in this country, I also see people confusing resignation and acceptance. Are we resigned to accept the horrors that happen to young colored people on a regular basis all over the country? I am a 61 year old man who grew up in a fairly affluent, and diverse bay area, but even in our area, we have our “sections”. Yes we are diverse, but like with many communities large and small, we have pockets of demography that varies greatly, as do the opportunities, treatment and representations.

This blog will not solve the issues, but as a recovering alcoholic of 15 plus years these two subjects tie into a June 11th reading from ‘Walk in Dry Places” published by Hazelden. I am going to copy two paragraphs. The title of the thought is “What Can We Change?”

“We might resign ourselves to bad treatment that is unacceptable, or we might put up with personal shortcomings that we could change. When someone points this out, we defend ourselves by asserting that we’re practicing acceptance. As human beings, (whether or not you believe we are children of God), we are entitled to live with dignity and to receive fair treatment. We should never resign ourselves to anything that robs us of this basic humanity. Our Higher Power will show us how to eliminate resignation if we have been practicing it. The message of the program is that we never have to accept things we should change.”

“Today, if I am uncomfortable with something, I’ll ask myself if I’ve been practicing resignation instead of acceptance. There may be many things in my life that can and should be changed”

We can help you make changes to your OEM Warranty or ESP programs at frank@ensureprotect.com or call us at 844 927 7689, (844) WARRNTY.

See you out there. In the Interim enjoy a little Bowie. “Turn and face the strange! Gonna have to be a better man.”