How to deal with your problems

It was the mid-1940s and Frank had just gotten back from the war. In the spirit of being a true Hoosier, he took my grandpa, Tom, to the high school basketball sectional tournament.

In those days it didn’t get any bigger than high school basketball in Indiana. The local sectional was being held in a gym that only seated 1,000 people. Frank knew it would be packed so he and Tom planned to get there early.

There were already lines when they got to the game, but they went to a side door and were only fourth in line, an excellent spot. While they were waiting for the doors to open, a man came and cut in front of them.

First, Frank politely asked the man what he was doing. The man simply ignored him.

“I’ve been standing in line for 3 years in the Army and I don’t want guys cutting in front of me.”

The man continued to ignore him.

“Grab a leg,” Frank said to 13-year old Tom.

Tom grabbed the man’s leg as Frank grabbed the rest of him.

They dragged the man over to the nearby railing and pitched the man onto the concrete steps 6-8 ft below.

The man quickly scrambled to his feet as Frank offered him a spot at the back of the still-short line. The man said nothing and walked off.

The nearby fans said nothing as they agreed with what Frank had done as that was how you handled things in those days.

“Frank taught me that was how you handled things like that,” Tom said. “You don’t let people push you around.”