By Rick Stanton
Besides the unexpected accolades for my new book, How to Sell a Chicken, some other things have helped make the experience even more meaningful.
I’ve renewed old friendships, made some new ones… and got two yardsticks as a gift.
The other day, our mail-delivery person, Shannon, pulled up to the house, which she does when something won’t fit into our mailbox.
What came out of her truck was a cardboard tube that was about four feet long and more than two inches around.
Shannon said, “Just about the most oddly shaped package I’ve ever seen. What did you buy?”
I said I couldn’t remember ordering anything that would come in a container like that.
Once back inside, I opened it up to find two yardsticks: one from ERNST Home & Nursery and one from Pay ‘N Pak. Both retailers were mentioned in my book.
Along with the yardsticks was a note. The following is a verbatim accounting for the contents.
Dear Rick,
I really enjoyed your book. It was truly an amazing read. I learned a lot.
As I was reading the book, I was cleaning out my grandfather’s home to sell. He passed away a while ago.
He was a retired welder at Boeing and helped build the first 747. He had a workshop at home, and growing up I went to ERNST with him many times.
While cleaning out his home, I found these yardsticks he bought there and wanted to gift them to you.
Thanks for going the extra yard in writing your book.
Brett Renville
Brett is cinematographer and still photographer who was part of the crew for several projects we did at Stanton & Everybody. He always was the ultimate pro, as pleasant as could be and a damn good shooter/editor.
One of things I always tried to stand for was helping the good guys win, whether it was a client or even a competitor, for that matter. And these are not the best of times for anyone associated with advertising and design.
I exchanged emails with Brett to thank him for the touching gift, and I asked him how it was going. As expected, he said his hanging in there, but it was tough.
I’ve attached a link to his website. If you’ve got work, some ideas or just a little praise for his thoughtfulness, please help a good guy win.
https://www.brettrenville.com/