Bill Turner was just that kind of man

I remember meeting Mr. Turner back in 1986. I had been at TSYS for two years and I worked on the first floor of the South Center office. When I walked out the front door there was a black Mercedes parked in front of the building, in a no-parking zone. We had a problem with folks parking there, and the company had created these bright orange warning stickers.

While I was placing one in the front of this Mercedes I noticed a telephone mounted inside the car. This was 1986 and everyone did not have a phone in their car.

When I came back to the South Center, I saw a bunch of upper management pointing as I walked through. I had about 20 people telling me at once how ashamed I should be for putting that sticker on that car. I remember hearing from one of them "Do you know whose car that is?" I thought Jimmy Carter, but of course it was worse -- it was none other than the chairman of the board, Mr. William Bradley Turner. I saw a silver-haired man making his way through the crowd and I thought, "Well, it's been a good two years." He shook my hand and said, "Richard, You did right. I was parked illegally.”

From that day on I became one of his biggest fans. Even though he was the chairman of the board he knew he had made a mistake and owned up to it. I've been with TSYS for 33 years now and every time I think about the South Center I think of Mr. Turner and what he meant to this community.

Some get it …

Another giant has fallen. From the life this man lived, it was obvious that he exemplified that there is no I in the word team. However, there is one in the word community and, appropriately, its location is toward the end of the word, mixed among its fellow members.

He obviously understood that the value of a community lies in shared successes. One does well if all do well. We are all interrelated and as we are successful, those with whom we do business can be successful as well. The torch continues to be passed to succeeding generations.

Unfortunately, all some seem to be interested in is the bottom line, outsourcing jobs, goods, and services from those who have made them what they have become. They don't seem to grasp that the jobs being outsourced have furnished the livelihood for their own customers, the very ones wearing the company's logo on the T-shirts passed out at the morale-building team parties.

The goods and services which are sent away from local vendors don't provide job-producing, revenue enhancing, or maintain or expand the tax base. The raise given to the executive management team while others are laid off shows no conscience.

He got it. While communities crumble and lawlessness becomes more and more rampant, it is obvious that they don't. It's a pity and our community suffers because of it.

From his own lips

The White House says Trump condemns hate groups. Digest that. When has Trump needed words wedged into that mouth? Or has his Twitter finger ignited?

Here’s how Trump communicates. In 1989 Trisha Meili was raped and battered as she jogged through Central Park. Five teens were arrested and imprisoned. Trump bought full-page ads in four newspapers. He wanted the death penalty reinstated, and warned about roving bands of wild criminals. Trump wrote, “…I want to hate these muggers and murderers.” No reticence or reluctance there. The teens were exonerated. Trump offered no apology

After Charlottesville, Trump said, “We must love each other, respect each other…”

Hear campaigning Trump: “If you see someone getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of him, knock the hell out of him. I’ll pay your legal fees.”

Who do we believe, the conciliator or the provocateur?

Still a hoax

I am sure the author of the response to my last letter on the hoax of climate change thoroughly enjoyed himself in trying to continue the charade. However, the evidence just continues to pour in.

In recent days, former VP Al Gore released his "Inconvenient Truth" sequel. Mr. Gore, whose home compound uses more energy than many small cities, continues to try and dupe the public with his nonsense. I find it funny that he encouraged all the believers of his nonsense to "fill the theaters" and show us deniers. The movie is bombing, as one would expect, as people are tired of lining his pockets.

Note what highly respected meteorologist Joe Bastardi said: "Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize based on warnings of future events — the same future events that have not happened.” The fact is that global temperatures from 2006-2007 while Gore was basking in the glory of his apocalypse-driven fame were warmer than they are now, and we are still falling off the Super El Niño peak. Additionally, much of the time in-between was lower than what it was in the run-up to “An Inconvenient Truth.”

This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Bill Turner was just that kind of man."