San Diego Source > Commentary > Columnists > Inflation or deflation -- What's ahead?.
Those who can carry a message to Garcia The times demand the salesman who can carry a message to Garcia. In 1898, at the outset of the Spanish American War, President McKinley needed to get a message to Garcia, leader of the insurgents. An aide said he knew a man, Rowan, who could deliver the message, if anyone can. The president sent for Rowan, handed him the message saying, "Take this to Garcia." I'm not going to detail how Rowan put the message in a pouch strapped over his back, sailed for Cuba, put in a rowboat off the coast in the dead of night, barely avoided capture, and spent three weeks in Cuba's jungles to deliver the letter to Gen. Garcia. My purpose is to stress that Lt. Rowan took the letter and didn't ask who is Garcia, where is he, how do I find him, why do you want to send him a letter, or why not send Joe? He just delivered it! "Civilization is one long, anxious search for just such individuals," wrote Elbert Hubbard in his famous essay, "A Message to Garcia." "No employer can afford to let such a person go. He or she is wanted in every city, town and village, every office, store and factory. The world cries out for such people and they are needed and needed more than ever today."
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