OK, I know this is a storage blog. But I can’t help it – I was so moved watching Tom Watson walk up the 18^th fairway on his way to leading the pack in the British Open this weekend, that I just have to say a few things. 

First, I really hoped he would win, but whether he won or not, his is a tremendous achievement. Only in golf could we be talking about a guy nearly 60 years old powering his way to the top of the leader board after 54 holes in a major championship. I suppose this is why I like golf – hell I’m 52 years old, and 5’4”. What would you expect, basketball?

I guess the thing is, golf is a sport (let the nitwits argue about that) that rewards intellect, wisdom, and the calmness that comes with experience. Tom walking off the tee 50 yards toward the green to get a better feel for the course and the conditions before walking back to tee off is stunning. Nobody else does that. Watching him watch other player’s putts, studying everything he could take in – that comes from intellect.  I’d say that he was favoring what he had left after 60 years on the planet. We all deteriorate physically with age, but Tom did the same damn thing 22 years ago when he dueled with Jack Nicklaus. He would walk 80 yards to check Jack’s lie before deciding how aggressive to be on his next shot.

What the heck does this have to do with storage? Well, I’ll tell ya! In a society that reveres youth and new everything (especially technology), I have to say that there are advantages to experience that I respect immensely. At Pillar, our execs have over 200 years combined experience in storage. You might say we’re “old” for a new company that was once a “start up”. I’m more than OK with that; I love it. Behind our wrinkles lies some damn great experience that helps build our company for us and our customers.  

We have made some mistakes for sure (I guess it is inevitable) but I have also watched in awe as our team navigated through tough problems with calm, certitude, courage, determination, and even humor that comes from having been there before. 

Perhaps as Nancy Holleran, our President says, this might give us all a bit of pause about the respect we pay to our elders…they may never mention it, but the odds are that they have indeed “been there before”.