We had the pleasure of spending the weekend (or parts of it anyway) with our youngest daughter last week. It’s a strange turn of events when your kids become more like adult friends, instead of your children. At some unpredictable time there’s a tipping point, where the carefree, irresponsible teen you’re raising turns into a somewhat-rational adult you could learn to like. The same thing happened with our oldest daughter, so I’m looking forward to nurturing this new relationship. 

As we sat and discussed our views on different things, she made a poignant observation. She said, “If you want to determine a person’s character, see if they return their shopping cart or if they just walk away from it in the parking lot. A person who won’t return their shopping cart to the store or the cart rack has a lot of issues in their life. It says a lot about them.”  

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how astute that observation really is. 

     ·      If you can’t spare the additional sixty seconds to return your shopping cart, you have a serious lack of time-management skills.

     ·      Leaving your cart in the parking lot for someone else to pick up is just like throwing your fast-food trash out your driver side window. It’s nothing short of littering.

     ·      Allowing your empty cart to free-wheel around the parking lot demonstrates your lack of respect for other’s property, both the owner of the cart and the other car owners who park in the lot.

     ·      If you borrowed your neighbor’s lawnmower to cut your grass, would you just push it out in the road when you finished? Part of borrowing is being responsible with the item. That store loaned you that cart…to save you time and trouble.

     ·      Stores stock shopping carts like any other product. If they’re stolen, broken, abused and     unreturned, it’s an expense for the store. If they hire additional people to gather carts from the lot, it’s an expense for the store. Where do you think they make up those expenses? 

That’s just five things and you can probably come up with dozens more, but the point is that character is how you act when no one is looking. Sometimes little things speak volumes.  

One thing is for sure…you can bet I’ll return my cart at Wal-Mart next time, just in case someone’s looking. That is, of course, AFTER I get a running start and ride it as far as I can!  

So much for adult behavior.

It’s peanut time in South Georgia and farmers are busy gathering their crops. It’s hard to imagine just how big this business is, but last Tuesday I ate lunch with a fellow who runs 66 semis hauling peanuts. My other lunch partners consisted of 3 generations of cattle traders who have impacted the Southeastern feeder calf market like few others.  

My host was John Moseley, Jr., who I’ve always known as “Little John”, but many of the locals called him “Mos” today. John operates Moseley Cattle Auctions with sons, Trip, Joey and Will, nephew Denver and wife Cheryl, who amazingly tolerates this rowdy group. The matriarch is John Moseley, Sr., who has spent a lifetime perfecting livestock transactions. His credits are too many to mention and his respect in this community is well established. As we ate lunch, he was visited by numerous local dignitaries, including the sheriff and local judge.  

From the roots of the Moseley Auction Barn in Blakely, Georgia, Moseley Cattle Auctions has operated as a livestock marketer since 2006. Little John has established a rapport with his customers based on honesty, fairness and hard work. If you thought these traits were a thing of the past, you need to visit this family. 

Every Tuesday at 11:00 AM, Moseley Cattle Auctions sells load-lots of 700 lb. plus calves to feed yards and commercial breeders over the phone. It’s no private auction; it’s a full-fledged bidding war. As I watched, Little John manned a conference line with auctioneer Carroll Cannon and some anxious cattle buyers. His sons were on separate lines with additional bidders. The cattle are screened and terms established, all is listed on their website or disseminated through fax and mail. Moseley and his sons don’t accept small groups or piece-loads; instead they market for larger producers with whom they have established relationships. Many of the buyers have long relationships with the Moseley’s as well and when Trip tells a phone bidder the cattle are right, the buyer believes him.  

Although the auction isn’t as loud or fast-paced as a typical auction barn, it’s no less exciting. They pace from room to room, wave bids at each other, and pull the plug on sluggish bidders. I found myself anticipating the next bid. For almost an hour, this family is totally focused on the task at hand and reacts like a well-oiled machine that’s done this very thing for years. Although the feeder calf market is a bit bearish, this week fourteen load-lots average nearly $88.00/cwt.    

After the last bid and the phones hang up, the Moseley men discuss the auction activity, but the work continues as each son schedules appearances to screen cattle for next week or load cattle from this and previous auctions. After a quick lunch, the Moseley’s scatter in various directions to finalize details, sort and photograph cattle for next week and the process continues.  

What strikes me is that these smart, educated fathers and sons have a mutual respect and commitment to each other and the success of the family’s interest. It’s not always perfect, but it’s not from lack of try. How many of us can say that about ourselves? 

Visit them at www.moseleycattleauction.com.  

-Steve