Sunday, January 20, 2008

Plug Into the Right Outlet

Captain Abrashoff chuckled at the sailor who said that he wanted to be a social worker when he left the Navy. He said that he could get him a job paying $60,000 to $80,000 per year if he stuck with electronics, the wave of the future. But he was put in his place by the teenager's response, that he'd been in and out of foster homes all his life and didn't want to see the same thing happen to other kids.

After picking his jaw up off the ground and crawling out from under the rock he felt like hiding under, the captain soon found a way to make the most out of the sailor's passion. The next time they docked at home in San Diego, the sailor was put on a mission to find a local elementary school that the ship could adopt. The crew painted the building and tutored students. It was a winning situation for everyone, especially so for the rejuvenated future social worker. And it happened because the captain took the time to plug his energy into the right outlet.

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