On the first trip down to the US Virgin Islands we ended up in a school. I think it was probably the last meeting we had with the locals. I’m fascinated with schools – you can tell a lot about an area from the building (not even the kids – just the building). This school in particular had just had some kids break in and vandalize it – you could see where the cleanup had been occurring with enthusiasm. On the way out I found the pizza of greatness:
A few months later I found myself headed out to the country on St Thomas and I found:
I started watching and I kept seeing small phrases scattered about and around. One of my favorite bumper stickers was “Positive is how I live”. At any one point I was having a bad moment and that bumper sticker would go whizzing past and I would mumble “I’ve got your positive over here”.
I am fascinated with the phrases – mostly because they were centered around being positive and living positive. Ask about anyone and you’ll hear me described as overly negative. I would like to think it’s along the lines of more practical and realistic but I’ll take the description as the truth – yes – I’m negative. The phrases would creep their way into your brain. At one point I had decided it must be a problem here and this was the best way to combat it. The more I thought about it the more I decided that maybe we all actually need some positive re-enforcement. Small slogans written in odd spots to just remind you that you are who you are and don’t be afraid to succeed.
So I heard two stories this week of two companies and I decided I didn’t want to be either. I enjoy this spot – this small GIS company who does crazy things. Good things. We are who we are. We don’t want to be famous – just great at what we do. Which is whatever people give us to do: teaching, map making, data fixing, or telling silly stories about an island 1700 miles from here.
