Neckties

Recently, I spoke at a local foundation’s annual awards banquet. The banquet and program were well planned and executed, and it was a great evening for Cheryl and me. I was assigned the topic of “Giving Back,” and that was an excellent topic for me as that falls into my wheelhouse at this point in my life.

It was the first time I have worn a necktie in months. I think the last time I wore a tie was at my dad’s memorial service in September 2019. I mean, who wears ties anymore? Funeral directors and lawyers. No offense to those professions, but I think that about sums it up.

In our recent move, we were in a clean out, give away, and throw away mode since we were downsizing our home. In cleaning out our “stuff,” I had to decide what to do with my collection of about 50 neckties. I know that is a lot of ties, but not long ago the culture of Chick-fil-A required a long sleeve shirt and a necktie. Chick-fil-A had its own branded ties, and they were very fashionable, and I enjoyed wearing them.

I gave our local charity thrift store half of my ties, but I could not get rid of the other half. It was a good thing because the awards banquet was a semi-formal event, so I needed to wear a suit and tie.

As I was going through my tie collection, I noticed the different widths of ties. It was proof that styles in apparel are cyclic. The width of ties has varied from 6” in width to 2” over the past 40 years. Wonder if bolo ties will ever come back?  

For 10 years I participated in the President’s National Prayer Breakfast held at the Washington DC Hilton. Five thousand people gathered to eat a cold pastry and spongy fruit and drink lukewarm coffee and tea and hear a lineup of celebrities. But it was THE place to be in the world on the first Thursday in February.

Of course, there were ancillary meetings before and after the breakfast where dignitaries from countries all over the world gathered. I was privileged to meet heads of state, ambassadors, emissaries, and even royalty from many countries. At a Wednesday evening dinner, I asked to sit at the table with an older man and younger woman. I learned that the gentleman and his daughter owned the largest oil supplier in the Caribbean Sea. We were joined by the Prime Minister of Jamaica, his chief of staff, and the Governor of Sint Maarten, a tiny island in the Caribbean Sea and a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Governor’s chief of staff also sat at our table.

During dinner the chief of staff of the Prime Minister of Jamaica asked me what my profession was. After sharing with them that I worked for Chick-fil-A’s nonprofits, both the Prime Minister and the Governor told me that Chick-fil-A was their favorite restaurant. The Governor said that when they came to the USA, they would fly first into Atlanta and their first stop was at a Chick-fil-A restaurant.

As we talked the Governor leaned over the table and spotted my Chick-fil-A necktie. He was enamored with my tie, so I removed the tie, stood up and walked over to him and presented the tie to him as a gift. He was overwhelmed. You would have thought that I was giving that man an expensive gift. He thanked me. He hugged me. He was grinning from ear to ear. As I walked away, he said, “Wait just a moment.” He looked down at his tie and he looked again at me. Then as he took the tie from his neck, he said, “My wife is going to kill me because she bought this tie for me in London, but I must return the favor and present you with my tie.”

That tie is not one of those that I gave to our local thrift store.

The greatest joy is not in getting more, but in giving more.