Golf Fest 2003
Having had no vacations for so many years, I've become inordinately excited over the vacations I've begun to take. After the fun I had last year in Berlin and Scotland, I began to think about where I would like to go in the future. For this year I selected two places I'd always wanted to visit, Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic and southern Portugal. Casa de Campo is the resort home of the famous golf course "Teeth of the Dog" and southern Portugal is the location of several beautiful golf courses I've seen on television. I named this year's vacations "Golf Fest 2003". I created a perpetual trophy for the 3 participants and have provided logo golf balls for each leg of the competition. I just returned from Casa de Campo and will begin to report what I learned in this column.
Casa de Campo was everything I expected: Beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, beautiful golf courses and beautiful people. The resort had everything a vacationer could want, from beach to restaurants to shops, even a small historical museum. As usual, the people were more important to me than the scenery. No matter whether we are rich or poor, old or young, the people we meet are the key to our experiences. The Dominican people, both men and women, can only be described as handsome in every way. They are physically beautiful, intelligent, friendly and helpful. I enjoyed every one of my encounters with them and wished I could have stayed longer. I particularly enjoyed the interaction with our caddy for the golf. He is more skilled than I, knew the course well and, most important, quickly recognized my limitations and gave me advice consistent with my limitations. He was kind but honest, at one point noting that "you really need to find someone to help you with your putting."
I learned a lot from this wonderful gentleman. His spirit made a tremendous impact on me. He described the economics of caddying in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is not a wealthy country. As a whole, it is heavily dependent upon tourism and the resort is, naturally, even more dependent. In difficult times for tourism, the search for someone to work with on the golf course is intensely competitive, with a lot of waiting time between jobs. My caddy told me that the economics are such that finding a job for a week made his year. Yet he retained his pride, his good cheer, his respect for others. At the end of our stay, he gave me his business card, marked "for good friends only", and asked for mine. He said when he meets nice people he likes to keep in touch.
His spirit is worth emulating. Pride is self-respect. And self-respect brings the respect of others. Respect becomes reciprocal. A man like my caddy can feel good about himself because he makes others feel good about themselves. Because I respect him, I'm happier for having his respect. This circle of respect can help us overcome hardships, help us enjoy good times and bad, keep us going when our energy falters. Respect yourself and others. It will help everyone.
5-19-03
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