How One Word Changed My Life

One word changed my life. Oui. It wasn’t even English, but it started an adventure of a lifetime.

Years ago I taught computer courses for a private company. The salesperson was meeting a government employee regarding a huge contract. A prerequisite of federal contracts is teaching in both official languages, so she had two bilingual instructors lined up to accompany her. The only trouble was one didn’t show up.

I first knew of this when she frantically rushed towards me and said, “John, you speak French. Come.” This wasn’t an invitation; it was an order. Like a tourist on a mystery tour, I had no idea where I was going and why.

I sat for half an hour listening to the presentation. The government manager asked Christine, a francophone instructor, a question. Then it was my turn to respond in French. I simply said, “Oui.”

At the end of the meeting, the government representative announced that our company had the contract, and it was assumed that these two bilingual instructors – Christine and me - would be delivering it.

As we exited the building, I asked the salesperson what had happened. She told me that I would be teaching Microsoft Outlook in four days. I asked her, “What’s Outlook?” The product had been just released. Her reply was, “It’s for email and you have four days to learn it.”

This was the earlier days of the Internet. How do you learn an email application when nobody you know has an address? I blindly poked around Outlook with the faith of a fanatic and taught the course. It worked.

For the next few months I taught Outlook, learning each day. I became an expert, not because I was so intelligent, but that few had been exposed to it.

About a year later, another contract came up with the federal government. It was 1999, the year of theY2K scare. Every computer in Canadian embassies and consulates had been replaced and a new email software had been installed – Microsoft Outlook. They needed instructors. I passed the test with flying colours and travelled to Guatemala, Poland, Turkey, Taiwan, Kosovo, Macedonia and India. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. And the journey started with one word – “oui”.

Sometimes you will never know what effect something you have said or done will have on life until it does.

Years ago in Edmonton, I wrote and produced television commercials. One featured an entertaining Italian restaurant owner. In it he said things like, “You want veal scaloppini? You got it! You want chicken parmagiana? You got it!” On and on he went, rhyming off Italian classics that miraculously appeared on customers’ tables.

Shortly after the commercial went to air, a musical artist came to Edmonton. His name was Roy Orbison. About six months later, a song of his hit the charts. The title? Anything You Want (You Got It). I often wonder if that commercial was a stimulus for his composition.

Whether it was or not, the point I am trying to make is that it is often the little things you do in life that can lead to great things, not just for yourself, but for others too.

One small word or one small positive gesture can be a stimulus for great things. The reverse is also true. Something negative applied to your life can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

As a substitute teacher, I used to take my guitar into every class. I would encourage the kids to learn how to play it. I remember going into Mrs. Jetchick’s class at Jeanne Sauvé School in Stratford. A young boy sat in the back corner of her classroom – Justin Beiber, discovered on YouTube playing his guitar outside the Avon Theatre. Hmm, I wonder? Probably not, but you never know.

Most of us have been touched by the recent words of Jack Layton. “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” That change can start with one small action or word. It’s like planting seeds. You can sow beautiful flowers or weeds. The choice is yours.