Good Dictators

As I watched Governor Beshear's press conference today, he reminded me even more of his father than he usually does.

I never really thought Steve's son Andy resembled him very much, but watching him speak and how he processes facts reminds me of Steve Beshear. He is informed, he is interested and curious, and he is very polite when dealing with other attorneys and other members of the government. He is careful not to reveal people's names who might be at risk of being bullied or harassed somehow. He is a father, and you can tell he adores those kids. Good dictator? I think so, yes.

I had cried happy tears
and the rain dampened my spirit ... and makeup.

When I was a legal secretary, there were good dictators and bad dictators, and every secretary who had to type their tapes for them knew who was what. If you were a bad dictator, you would instruct the secretary to get the file; look up a certain detail in the middle of a 30 or 40 minute dictation tape.

The good dictators always knew exactly what the citations of the law they were quoting and they also always knew how to instruct me to capitalize a letter or put the quotation marks in a certain place or to sign the page in a certain way that they liked, and if the attorney told me, I would make sure I got it right and return the document to them in perfect shape. Well, as perfect as I could make it by their instructions on the dictation.

If you're a bad dictator you will not speak properly so your secretary can understand what you're trying to say. Most legal secretaries are not only typists, but they are also very efficient mind readers.

The worst thing a bad dictator could do would be to have something in their mouth while he or she dictated. I would listen to a tape and hear a cough drop or candy of some sort being unwrapped from cellophane being unwrapped while they dictation was going on, and I would always pray that it was not a cough drop being put into their mouth. When I would hear the cough drop tumble into their teeth, I knew the rest of the tape was going to suck, trying to figure out what they were saying with a cough drop rolling around in their mouth.

Steve Beshear was a good dictator, he always understood what my job was and consequently, that his job was to make my job easier, and thus I could produce a higher volume of work. 

At least that's the impression I always got, and I still stick with that thinking today. My friends who still work at Stites and Harbison tell me the same thing about Andy. He was always courteous, he was always polite, and he always thanked them for every little task they did for him.

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His daddy Steve was the very same way. I loved when I got to sit at Carol Mitchell's desk. Carol was Steve's longtime secretary, and she had a foul mouth on her. She had certain rules and regulations for sitting at her desk, and if you did anything wrong, she would wear you out about it. I am fortunate enough to say confidently that she never yelled at me. Everything I did for her she seemed okay with and her lawyers are very pleased with, so Carol never had a reason to start a kerfuffle with me. Also when I took my second  granddaughter Shelby around to show everybody my beautiful new grandbaby, I remember Carol asking older sis Melody if she wanted some candy, and she actually had a little stash of candy up in her cabinet to give to Melody, and it changed my impression of Carol at that time. She was actually a human being with a heart of gold, she was just mean because she had the power to be mean. Enough about her, let's go on a little bit more about this good dictator thing.

😎

Watching Andy's press conferences, I am always pleasantly surprised when he uses a phrase of his Dads, like "that's on me," or "we can't be doing that." With his straightforward manner and his honesty, he got the entire state to stay home, keep the coronavirus from spreading so rampantly like it is in Arizona for example, and the pandemic all happened only 15 days after he was sworn in as our new governor...one day after my birthday oy.

Our Governor is someone we look to for guidance in emergencies, and we have been in an emergency situation since January and now it's July. There is so much to process, and so many questions to ask, I would not know where to begin without him. He is a problem solver. We love him!

He unnecessarily takes blame for bad numbers or misinformation. He responds promptly and returns phone calls, too. He doesn't leave all the work to be done by just one person; and he solves problems, and he listens! Yahooey

I'm just lucky I have WellCare as my Medicare insurance provider. I never had to worry about toilet paper, because I just ordered baby wipes from WellCare and they arrived within 14 days every time, which is a wonderful benefit for that Medicare company. Also for my stomach I take Pepcid AC, and I can get that from WellCare as well, they will send it to me in the mail, and I don't have to pay for it. I'm just glad I chose WellCare!

I've seen 4 lit up ambulances heading down MLK on their way to Good Samaritan Hospitals tonight. I'm going to include whomever they were taking in my nightly prayers. I hope you are doing well and are happy too, lambchops!
Sleep tight!
Loves and peace,
Kimmy