Bijonbo's Generosity

After work the next evening, Sancho Panza took Bijonbo out to see some sites and have some supper. They went to Centro de la Ciudad Toluca to visit the Plaza Los Portales. Merchants were selling their wares, mariachi bands were playing their songs, and dancers were dancing their dances. They came upon a woman who was asking for handouts.

“We must help her,” Bijonbo said to Sancho Panza.

“No, it is not a good idea. I see her here all the time.”

Bijonbo pulled out his wallet. Just then a boy ran out from behind her, grabbed Bijonbo’s wallet, and took off with it. They started after him but he was too quick. Just as he darted out of view he flipped the wallet up in the air behind him. Bijonbo ran to the wallet, picked it up, and found everything intact -- but all the cash was gone.

“Oh well, it’s only a few dollars lost. They must really need the money,” Bijonbo said.

Sancho Panza was furious. “I told you so!”
Then quoting Don Quixote verbatim, Bijonbo said: “Imbecile! It is not the responsibility of knights to discover whether the afflicted, the enchained, and the oppressed whom they encounter on the road are reduced to these circumstances and suffer this distress for their vices, or for their virtues: the knight's sole responsibility is to succor them as people in need, having eyes only for their sufferings, not for their misdeeds. I say whoever thinks this is wrong knows little of the matter of chivalry and lies like a lowborn whoreson and will be taught this by my sword at greater length.”

Sancho Panza

When Bijonbo's flight arrived in Mexico City he was greeted by a friend and coworker who had volunteered to give him a ride.

"Hey, Sancho Panza!" That wasn't his real name, but that is what Bijonbo called him for fun. Sancho Panza had a big smile, a round face, a round body, and stood a foot shorter than Bijonbo.

"Hey Mr. Bijonbo! How was your flight?" They did the chest bump hug thing.

"Good, good! Thank you so much for picking me up."

"No problem, my friend, let's go."

As he pulled the car out into the busy streets of Mexico City for the hour-long drive to Toluca, Sancho said, "I know you call me 'Sancho Panza' from the Don Quixote book, but I don't know the story."

"We're on our way to Toluca so I'll have plenty of time to tell you," Bijonbo said. "Long, long ago in Spain there lived a gentleman about my age named Don Quixote. He read lots of adventure books about Knights in shining armor. 'Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.' Don Quixote imagined himself a Knight going on adventures, fighting evildoers, and saving damsels in distress. All Knights have a Squire, which is like a personal assistant nowadays, and Don Quixote's squire was Sancho Panza. That's where you come in!"

"Go on," urged Sancho Panza.

"In one of the first adventures, we find out just how crazy Don Quixote was. But wait! I was reading Don Quixote on the plane." Bijonbo pulled his iPad out of his computer bag, found the right spot, and  began to read:

“Destiny guides our fortunes more favorably than we could have expected. Look there, Sancho Panza, my friend, and see those thirty or so wild giants, with whom I intend to do battle and kill each and all of them, so with their stolen booty we can begin to enrich ourselves. This is noble, righteous warfare, for it is wonderfully useful to God to have such an evil race wiped from the face of the earth."

"What giants?" asked Sancho Panza.

"The ones you can see over there," answered his master, "with the huge arms, some of which are very nearly two leagues long."

"Now look, your grace," said Sancho, "what you see over there aren't giants, but windmills, and what seems to be arms are just their sails, that go around in the wind and turn the millstone."

"Obviously," replied Don Quixote, "you don't know much about adventures.” 

"Ha Ha Ha!," the friends both laughed out loud. Our Sancho Panza howled, "Don Quixote is even crazier than you, Bijonbo! Ha, Ha!" 

"Yes, I can only aspire to be as crazy as Don Quixote! Ha, Ha!" Bijonbo replied. From then on, Bijonbo and Sancho Panza pretended to be a Knight and his Squire going on adventures and about to become famous.

The Couple and Their Adoption

Bijonbo was sitting in the aisle seat on the flight to Mexico City next to a modest looking couple.

"Where are you folks going?" Bijonbo asked.

"To Mexico City and then on to Guadalajara," the man said.

"Well I'm going to Mexico City and then on to Toluca for work. Why are you going to Mexico?"

The man said, "We're looking into an adoption down there."

"Oh really! Do you have any kids of your own?"

"Yes, two. And we've already adopted two others."

"Oh my, I admire people who do that. It's more than I could sign up for!"

"Well you know we are so blessed it only seems right to share God's grace."

"Of course," Bijonbo said as he pulled out the in-light magazine to gather his thoughts.

When the Fasten Seat Belts light went off, the man said, "Excuse me, I need to use the restroom."

"Of course," as Bijonbo let him by.

Right away the woman leaned over and whispered, "I'm so worried."

"Why?" Bijonbo whispered back.

"Because, we have just enough to get by with the four kids we already have. Not sure we can support another."

"I see, so why are you considering another?"

"We prayed about it and my husband says God is calling us to help the less fortunate."

"Is that what you think too?"

"I'm not sure. I think we can save enough to send our own kids to college, but how do we send all five?"

"Should you jeopardize your own children's education for the sake of all five?"

"Exactly!  But my husband said we can just pray and leave it in God's hands and everything will work out."

The man returned and Bijonbo went back to his magazine and his thoughts. Channeling Don Quixote, he imagined the women as a damsel in distress and the most beauteous and elegant to be found in all the land. It was his noble duty as a knight to come to her rescue immediately. But how?

"Ahem, so excuse me sir," Bijonbo started not knowing where if might lead. "Adoption is quite an undertaking. How much does it cost to raise a child?"

"I have no idea, but not near as much as the rewards," said the man.

"I see, yet you have two of your own and about to sign up for your third adopted child. What ages are they?"

"Well lets see, ours are 5 and 3. Our adopted kids are 4-year-old twins. And the little one in Mexico is only 2."

"Do you plan to send them all to college?"

"I suppose, yea," he said starting to see where Bijonbo was going with this.

"None of my business, but what's your plan for the possibility of paying for 5 kids in college at the same time?"

"Honestly? I don't have any idea how we will do it. I'm just leaving it in God's hands. He will provide I'm sure of it."

The woman was listening intently. Bijonbo leaned over and asked her, "What are your thoughts?"

She started timidly "Well, I've been afraid to bring this up, but I'm worried."

"Really honey?" and they started talking.

Bijonbo listened in and things seemed to be going well so he went back to his magazine feeling good about his gallantry. In his mind he knew the couple and their children would live happily ever after.

[Blogger Note: this post was loosely based on a true story]

Meeting Hayden Hayden

Bijonbo boarded the Monday morning flight to Dallas on his way to a week of work in Mexico. He spotted Hayden Hayden several rows back, who he recognized from training videos and they emailed a few times, but never met. (Yes, Hayden’s first name is the same as his last). He noticed the seat next to Hayden was open so Bijonbo approached him and introduced himself.

“Hi Hayden, …Bijonbo!” and extended his hand.

“Excuse me?” Hayden replied.

“Oh right sorry,” Bijonbo said. “Brian Fleming, but I go by Bijonbo now. We’ve never met but if you remember me at all, we exchanged a few emails a while back about your training videos.”

“Brian Fleming? -- hhmm.”

“Would you mind if I join you?”

“Sure have a seat!” Hayden moved his bag.

“So right, I’ve seen your videos and read your book. Great to meet you!” Bijonbo said.

“Likewise! What did you think of them?” Hayden replied.

“I really like how you pull together ideas from different sources: Rosenberg’s Non-Violent Communication, Csikszentmihalyi's Flow, even Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.”

“Right thanks! I guess I am a fan of good ideas. Was there something that hit home?”

“What were those 4 questions about change that you like to ask?”

“Well, let’s see, these?

1. What negative things in your life do you want to Eliminate?
2. What negative things must you Accept?
3. What positive aspects do you want to Preserve?
4. And what new aspects do you want to Create?”

“Yeah those, I’ve been thinking about them ever since!”

“So what did you come up with?”

“OK, well I want to Eliminate discord between members of my family. Accept the fact that I have shaky hands, ha ha. I want to Preserve some new endeavors I’ve been working on, specifically helping people who are recovering from addiction and irrational beliefs. And I want to Create a following and become a wise elder that people seek out for advice.”

“Wow!” Hayden said. “Sorry to put you through all that! So what could you do to create that following?”

“Not sure,” Bijonbo said, thinking. “Any ideas?”

“Well, you could start a blog,” Hayden said.

“A blog. Hhmm. An advice blog! Yeah that’s the ticket!”

“Dear Bijonbo!” Hayden chuckled.

“So why were you in Nashville?” Bijonbo asked.

“I had a consulting gig last week and I stayed over the weekend just for fun.”

“OK so I’ll leave you be. Don't want to wear out my welcome.”

“No worries.”

“Great to meet you! Thanks! Have a nice day, Hayden!”

“You too, Bijonbo!”

The Return of Bijonbo

Brian was born in 1960 in Minnetonka, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. Actually the hospital was in nearby Saint Louis Park, so that is what his birth certificate says. But his early years were spent on Royal Court, near Glen Lake, in Minnetonka. His mother and older sisters loved him so and gave Brian several terms of endearment, including “angel-love-lamb-sugar blossom,” “Bri-Bri,” and his favorite: “Bijonbo.” You’ve heard of Dijon mustard? Well, Bijonbo is nearly the same except it has a long “i.” So it’s Bye-Jshun-Bo.

Bijonbo!

This story begins some 50 years later when Brian started considering different names to go by. Having just read The Count of Monte Cristo (aka Edmond Dantes) and now reading Don Quixote de La Mancha (aka Don Quexana), having tried the alias Morgan Baer for online anonymity, and having also tried Sir Brian of Franklin, and “Lafayette” Brian, which he uses when making gumbo, Brian finally hit on Bijonbo. And so it will be Bijonbo and His Adventures.

Since this blog starts, basically, now, that means all of Bijonbo’s adventures take place in the future. Yes that also means they are all fictional. If this blog is read years from now, it will be counter-factual history. But what are the chances a blog will be read years from now?

As we go on these adventure’s with Bijonbo, we will marvel at his gallantry as he coaches and counsels, deploys reason and humor, rights wrongs, and seeks that which is good, beautiful, and true. Lessons not yet learned, advice rarely solicited. He is a knight in shining armor coming to your emotional rescue! C’mon everybody! Let’s go!