We have lived in Kentucky for 18 years and almost every where I go on the globe, when people hear where I live, it is common for them to ask me about Colonel Sanders and KFC.The Bluegrass state of Kentucky is famous for horse racing, horse breeding, bluegrass music, coal mines, Mammoth Cave, Fort Knox and tobacco among other things, but Kentucky Fried Chicken gets global attention...
So on our trip home from Florida, we stopped at Harland Sanders Cafe & Museum to be able to say that we did. I must admit it was interesting.The thing that stood out the most to me was the hand written poster that I believe captured the reason that Harland was successful in his business of serving customers.
The contrarian servant's heart skipped a beat when I paused to read it. I couldn't help but think that many small businesses, churches, organizations and corporations have chased fame, numbers, market share or other definitions of success until the easy way was buried in sand.
Here is the text from that poster:
The HARD Way
It is comparatively easy to prosper by trickery, the violation of confidence, oppression of the weak, sharp practices, cutting corners - all of those methods that we are so prone to palliate and condone as "business shrewdness."
It is difficult to prosper by the keeping of promises, the deliverance of value in goods, in services and in deeds -- and in the meeting of so-called "shrewdness" with sound merit and good ethics.
The easy way is efficacious and speedy - the hard way arduous and long. But, as the clock ticks, the easy way becomes harder and the hard way becomes easier. And as the calendar records the years, it becomes increasingly evident that the easy way rests hazardously upon shifting sands, whereas the hard way builds solidly a foundation of confidence that cannot be swept away.
Thus we builded. *
SANDERS COURTS AND CAFES
Asheville, NC
6 miles out on Knoxville Road
Corbin, KY
Junction US 25 - 25E-25W
* DICTIONARY:
Present participle and verbal noun.
To fashion or frame according to a systematic plan or by a definite process; to create; to BUILD a reputation.
1 comment:
My Dad and uncles brought Kentucky Fried Chicken into a part of southern Ontario over 50 years ago. It was a great association with the Kentucky "Colonel" having built narly 20 stores with a lot of hard work. I recall meeting the Colonel and hearing stories of his quiet generosity to charities.
i do recall as a youngster the "thus we builded" story on a poster with the Colonel. The values may sound old fashioned but it the long run, they do prevail.
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