Best Foot Forward

By Jeff Becraft

I was once reading a book by Tony Dungy and he was describing a time in his life where he was heading into an interview with an NFL team. Right before the interview, his glasses broke, and so he was left with a decision: “If I go and get my glasses fixed or get new glasses, I’ll be late to the interview.” And so he weighed out whether it was more important to be on time and show up with broken glasses or to get new glasses and show up late. He made the decision that it would be more important to be on time. And so he walked into that interview with broken glasses… and got the job.

Several weeks ago, I needed to go to a reception at the Central Carolina Community Foundation to welcome their new president and CEO that was coming in. This was really important to me because CCCF has been a major factor in the success of Our Place of Hope so far.

Things were really happening at work, and even though I had it on my calendar, I just totally forgot about it. Since I thought I didn’t have any major events that day, I was simply wearing a t-shirt and shorts and tennis shoes… which were soaking wet because of all the rain that day.

So, I’m at my desk at Our Place of Hope (OPOH) and I happened to see an email as a reminder of that afternoon’s reception. The reception was from four to six. It was already after four o’clock. Remarks were going to be made at five o’clock. I thought, “What in the world do I do? I should be there right now? Do I walk in with shorts and a t-shirt and tennis shoes… looking like I’m Huck Finn or something?”

I’m thinking, “I can’t do that.” I could just see someone asking me, “And who are you with?” “Oh, I’m with the Huck Finn Rafting Company… we do rafting trips for young kids… on rainy days like this. We don’t go on sunny days… we only go on rainy days like this.”

Normally for a reception like this, I would wear a coat and tie, but there was no chance to be able to snag any of that. And so I was left with a decision. I even thought about not going so as to avoid being an embarrassment to OPOH. I did have a golf shirt hanging in my area, and so I could use that… and normally I have a pair of khakis hanging around just in case some surprise meeting pops up, I can at least go as business casual. But I had taken those home to wash the day before.

So there I was… “What am I going to do?” I thought about the Tony Dungy story.

I decide that on my way, I am going to run into some store and get a pair of khaki pants and I will at least go in with khaki pants and a golf shirt.

I go busting in this store. The pants I got were really a little bit too long, but there was no time to go shopping around. They fit around the waist. I wear them to the cashier. I still have my belt and my pair of shorts in the other hand. While the cashier is checking me out, I’m pulling things out of the pockets of the shorts and stuffing them in the pockets of the new pants. I still have the tags on the new pants. I ask, “Would you mind cutting these tags off for me?”… while I’m threading my belt through the new pants. She clips the tags and I go busting out of the store.

Well, sure enough, I show up and almost all the guys are in coats and ties, which is exactly what I would have had on if I were a better man. But since I’m not, I didn’t. And so I show up with soaking wet tennis shoes and khakis and a golf shirt and a rain jacket.

I did get there in time to hear the remarks at five o’clock. And I got to thank a few people that I wanted to make sure I thanked for their involvement with Our Place of Hope. I also got to meet some other people during this time… even the dad of the new President of the foundation, who was from Arkansas…who knew where a camp was out there that I have helped with over the years.

I can’t say it was a situation where I put my best foot forward… but at least I put a soggy foot forward.  And sometimes, that is the best you can do.

Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope and the Director Emeritus for Youth Corps and has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. Our Place of Hope is a paradigm shift for people living with mental illness that encourages them to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. You can connect with Jeff at  [email protected].