Jitney Jungle and Life-giving Correction

The Joy of Words

I love language. A well-turned phrase can sink deep into one's psyche; a clearly-communicated concept can change lives; a thoughtful placing of letters together becomes words placed together to form sentences to communicate new ideas to change the world! I blame this love on growing up in the South.

I grew up in the land of sweltering heat, dripping humidity, overabundant fried foods, and a playful usage of the English language I have not found anywhere else. For example, where else would one hear

• "It's hotter than Satan's front porch today!";

• "I'm fixin' to take you to Fit City, and I'm the only one coming back" (still not rightly sure what Momma meant with that one);

• "You're 'bout as useful as a screen door on a submarine"?

Perhaps most obviously, this playfulness can be seen in our grocery store names. Drive through the countryside, and one finds these juicy nuggets scattered throughout the landscape--Winn-Dixie ... Piggly Wiggly ... Jitney Jungle. One does not attempt to discern actual meaning from these names (a jitney, for instance, is a small bus but also a slang term for a nickel), but rather sinks into the soft rhythm of nonsense words spoken in a languorous drawl, feeling for all the world like one has stepped into Alice's Wonderland.

Leadership delivered at high volume

Jitney Jungle was the place of my second job, attained by the good graces of the store's butcher and a fellow church attender. I worked in this store for six years, through high school and college, and attained the lofty position of BOOKKEEPER! I wore black pants, a white shirt, a red vest, and a black tie (here's a picture--I wore this uniform while riding my bike to work!). The bookkeeper sat in the elevated booth at the front of the store and watched over the cashiers and the customers while keeping the tills full of cash, balancing the store’s books for the day, answering impatient customers, juggling phone calls, handling complaints, spying potential shoplifters, and hoping it all adds up at the end of the night! Here's the description in verse ... https://camilladowns.com/2024/04/19/jitney-jungle-national-poetry-month-april-18th/

During one of the crazier days, I made a mistake. Don’t quite remember what it was, but the magnitude was such that the Mr. D., the store manager, came up to the front and we had a quick "Come to Jesus" meeting! He was madder than a cat gettin' baptized and the correction I received was loud ... pointed ... and in front of the ENTIRE store. I had never in all my 19 years of life been so publicly chewed out like that! After he stormed off into his office, I continued working, regretting my life choices at that point in time. Shortly after, however, I received a call from Mr. D, and he said, “Kraig, come to my office.” This turned out to be a life-changing moment for me because the conversation went something like this:

“Kraig,” he said, “I want to apologize to you. I should not have yelled at you like that in front of the whole store. To be clear, I’m not apologizing for yelling at you, just for doing it so publicly. Now, get out of my office.”

Lessons Learned

I gained two bits of wisdom in this moment.

1. Life-giving leadership has the humility to take responsibility for doing wrong. Mr. D. did not have to apologize, but knew that public shaming easily could have produced resentment instead of rehabilitation.

2. Life-giving leadership seeks to correct in private and praise in public. Public shaming effectively cuts a person to pieces emotionally, while public praise exponentially builds a person. The emotionally-intelligent leader tears down in private and builds up in public.
   

Reflect:

1. When is a time were you corrected either privately or publicly? How did that feel?

2. How has a leader ever exhibited humility towards you?

3. In what ways have you practiced humility in your leadership?

4. What are your favorite regional sayings?

BONUS: These links to Southernisms will make you happier than a dead pig in sunshine and may have you grinnin' like a possum eatin' fire ants!

https://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/g36804202/southern-sayings/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=mgu_ga_clv_md_pmx_hybd_mix_us_18711629947&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw2Je1BhAgEiwAp3KY7_YpwdG8wIsv_UnwIWBCon5gWlAhUPrD9WP3IhYNvcfnQZX5xD1mERoCbs4QAvD_BwE

https://wanderwisdom.com/travel-destinations/Funny-Southern-Sayings-and-Southern-Expressions

https://www.southernthing.com/southern-sayings-2629974672.html