Godspeed Randy Pausch

By now, you are probably familiar with Randy Pausch.  If not, you should go and familiarize yourself with his story.  Randy was a tenured professor at Carnegie Mellon, a scientist, a husband and a father. He passed from his battle with pancreatic cancer yesterday.  His last gift for all of us, in the form of a video that is making its way around the Internet referring to his famed "Last Lecture" at Carnegie Mellon-- as well as the coveted book "The Last Lecture" There are many stories worth talking about which Randy has put into words, but I wanted to take a moment to highlight one of them.

The $100,000 Salt and Pepper Shaker

The story is simple.  At 12 years old, a young Randy Pausch was exploring Disney World with his family and he and his sister decided they wanted to show their parents their appreciation for the trip.  So they did what any other grateful children would do --- they pooled their allowance money and headed straight for the Disney gift shop.  A few minutes later, they emerged with the perfect gift.  A ceramic salt and pepper shaker to bring back memories of their adventure.  Randy and his sister left the store excited to see their parents face when they opened the gift.

Minutes later, a mini-tragedy struck when Randy accidentally dropped the shaker, breaking it upon impact.  A nearby adult suggested that they take it back to the store and they did so hesitantly, not expecting a positive outcome.  To their surprise and delight, the Disney employee who had sold them  the items apologized for not wrapping them appropriately and gave them a new set.  No questions asked.

So why is the Salt & Pepper Shaker worth $100,000??

As an adult faced with his own morality, Randy looks back to that event with unique perspective.   His whole family including his parents were so taken back by their positive Disney experience, that they appreciated the institution on "a whole other level" to use his own words.  By Randy's calculations, over the years, his family has enthusiastically spent over $100,000 with Disney brand -- they never forgot the significant importance of that one specific interaction.  In recent years as a consultant, Randy would often ask Disney executives this one question:  

      "If I sent a child into one of your stores with a broken salt and pepper shaker today, would your policies allow your workers to be kind enough to replace it?"

Randy says the "executives squirm at the question.  They know the answer.  Probably not." Now that Randy is gone, his family will still have that salt and pepper shaker, and the memorable story that goes with it.

Pausch died today at his home in Virginia.  The 47 year old and his wife, Jai moved there in the fall to be closer to relatives.  He was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006.  His famed lecture has garnered worldwide attention on the Internet.  In it, Pausch celebrated living the life he had always dreamed of instead of concentrating on impending death.

"The lecture was for my kids, but if others are finding value in it, that is wonderful," Pausch wrote on his website.  "But rest assured; I am hardly unique"

Maybe not unique - but rare

"Under the ruse of giving an academic lecture, I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children" -- Randy Pausch

Rest in Peace