Make My Day
In the 1983 movie, Sudden Impact, Clint
Eastwood, as Inspector Harry Callahan, on two different occasions uttered a
phrase that very quickly became part of our language: “Go ahead, make my day.”
Everyone knows what the phrase
means. In Alabama, we’d define it this
way – Do it and die.
Apparently the phrase evolved for Clint
Eastwood as evidenced when he pressed his palms into wet cement in front of
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
There, above his signature, he wrote, “You make my day.”
In Alabama, we define, “You make my
day,” this way – You make my day. That version of the phrase defines
itself.
When someone makes your day, they light
it up, usually with some simple, although conscious act: a smile, a word, a
gesture, or some combination of the three.
Here are a couple of examples.
I now have an editor, (that will probably
make the day of more than one of my readers).
She is Erin Potter of Vancouver, B.C. Recently I found a hard-copy of a novella, Maddog
& Miss Kitty that I thought was long gone. I’m combining it with four short stories, and
Erin has agreed to edit everything. Last
week, I sent her the short stories, and I’ve been holding my breath waiting for
her first reaction. Wednesday she emailed. Her message began with these two
sentences: “I have reviewed all four stories, and I've really enjoyed them. Such a
pleasure to read your writing!”
She could have simply said, “I’ve
started working on the short stories and should have them back to you by next
Monday,” and if she had said that, I would have been happy. Instead, she took me way beyond happy. She made my day, by adding twelve more words.
And then, there’s Jo VonBargen,
originally a twitter friend who has become a true friend to both me and my
wife, Christina. With no expectation or
prompting, Jo wrote a 5 star review of Southern
Investigation that blew me
out of the water. But, that wasn’t
enough for her; she’s from Texas, where nothing is ever enough. On her web site, Two-Bit Bard, She wrote
a blog called A Big Bow to Bert Carson. Among other, you-make-my-day things, she
said, “Bert Carson is obviously one of the most soulful, selfless, incredible
intellects you could ever come across, and he has truly given the world a great
gift with his works.” Obviously that
made my day.
**********
Every day, we have countless
interactions with each other. With each
one comes a choice – will this be a “you make my day,” or a “do it and die,” encounter. Our world is transformed when we choose the
first option.
