Griffin Speaks

THE TALENTED MR. GRIMES

A few months ago while I was walking in the lobby of the RSA Tower a young man,  Clemente J. Grimes called out my name. He said, “Hello Mr. Griffin.” “I enjoy reading your articles.” He was a handsome and very articulate African-American man. He was shining shoes in the lobby to help support him while studying at Alabama State University. I later learned the Birmingham, Alabama native will graduate in 2005 with a degree in history. I could tell from the shined shoes sitting on the floor next to his stand that he was very talented. Mr. Grimes opens his business  Tuesday through Thursday from 8:30am until 4pm. 

I shared with Mr. Grimes my shoeshine story. I told him about my experience of shining shoes at Grimes Barbershop in Rocky Mount, North Carolina when I was seven years old. It seems like it was just yesterday when the old men would look at me shining shoes and say “that boy is going to be somebody one day.”  The more they said that, the harder I shined the shoe. I discovered at the age of seven my first talent. I could really shine a shoe. Fortunately I discovered many other talents as time passed on. 

My phone is always ringing with people calling for help in finding employment. As the old lady would say, the word got out that I could find folks a job. One day a young lady moving from Montgomery, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia called and asked for help with finding a job in Atlanta. I asked her my trademark question, “What is your talent?” She without hesitating said that her talent was “having sex”.  I almost fell out of my chair. I could not believe that she said that. I asked her if she was joking and she said that she was not joking. I told her that I had a lot of contacts in Atlanta and I would help her find a job, but I didn’t think any of my contacts would be looking for someone with just that talent. She told me to give her a list of my contacts and she would take it from there. I reluctantly gave her a list of names and told her that she could tell them to call me. She got an interview with everyone that I referred her to. I also later learned that she had excellent secretarial skills and everyone that she has worked for in Atlanta, Georgia over the last twelve years has given her excellent reviews. 

Everyone has at least one talent. Be honest with yourself and you will find that talent!

 Greg Griffin is a freelance writer. You can read his previous articles by visiting his webpage at www.greggriffin.com