Thoughts on nectarine diplomacy (July 26)
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
During his roast of Johnny Deniz Thursday night at the annual Senior Farmer dinner, Bob Stanfield mentioned Deniz’s habit of making sure certain people always got a gift of fruit when it was at its best.
Deniz, who was honored as Senior Farmer, is a fruit grower and former fruit packer who spent many years on the board of the Madera Irrigation District. The MID was constantly lobbying Congress and the Legislature. Deniz’s gifts, while individually small, were always appreciated and always helped increase his standing — and MID’s standing — among the power brokers. Stanfield, former MID general manager and currently a member of the Madera County Water Advisory Commission, knows well of what he spoke.
While listening to this, I wrote a note to myself: “Nectarine diplomacy. The kindness of a small but special gift is always appreciated, and it usually is remembered.”
When I was just out of college, I worked for a magazine publisher in Seattle, and part of my job was to buy the company’s printed envelopes. We used a lot of them, because we had subscribers all over the world with whom we had to communicate. That was well before e-mail.
Several envelope salesmen called on me, but just one of them got most of the orders. The fellow who represented Mail-Well Envelope Co. would always bring a little gift when he made a call. It was a roll of Life Savers with his name on it and the name of the Mail-Well Envelope Co.
Mail-Well was a good envelope supplier, but so were the others. However, if I needed envelopes, particularly a special order, I would call the Mail-Well guy.
These days, a lot of people tend to try to get attention by complaining and whining. And complaining and whining does work sometimes. But a good deed, a little gift, goes a long way, too, and leaves a positive feeling. Johnny Deniz has shown us a better way.
