Paying it Forward: Ham and Eggs #135
Ham and eggs breakfast — pig is committed, chicken is involved. It takes committment to make lasting contributions. Paying it forward: do you persevere or cluck and leave the hard parts to others?
Jack Browne, Wichita Falls Times Record News edition, Sunday October 5, 2025
There’s an old breakfast metaphor about the chicken and the pig who decide to open a restaurant.
The chicken suggests calling it “Ham and Eggs.”
The pig hesitates. “You’d be involved,” he says. “I’d be committed.”
Consider how we show up in our work, our communities, and our lives. It’s easy to be involved. It’s harder to be committed.
Too often, we see people clock in and coast. They’re present for the celebration but absent during the grind. They want credit when the project succeeds, but they weren’t there for the late nights, the early mornings, or the messy middle. They’re chickens — offering eggs but never risking the bacon.
The pigs? They’re the ones doing the unseen work. They’re the ones who stay late to fix the slide deck, do all the preparation before painting the wooden structure, who mentor the intern without being asked and who show up even when it’s inconvenient. They’re not chasing applause — they’re building something that lasts. And more often than not, they’re also the ones paying it forward.
Whether work or play — some offer ideas, then move on. Others roll up their sleeves and turn ideas into working solutions that attract, develop and serve others.
That’s the twist in this metaphor. Commitment isn’t just about effort—it’s about legacy.
The truly committed create cultures of generosity. They mentor, they teach and they invest in others.
They don’t just do the work—they elevate those around them. That’s the heart of today’s “Ham and Eggs” column: identifying where we’re committed and using that commitment to lift others.
So, here’s your challenge: Take inventory. Where are you the pig? Where are you the chicken? And where could you shift from involvement to commitment — not for recognition but to pay it forward?
I saw this play out close to home. My granddaughter, Kaylie, raised a pig named Winston over five months from piglet to hog for her first project for her local chapter of the National FFA organization. She fed him, trained him, groomed him and showed him at competition. Through cold mornings and wet weather, she stayed focused, visiting twice a day to nurture her pig. Winston sold at auction for $2,500 — money she’ll use for college.
That’s commitment. That’s the kind of effort that doesn’t just show up — it pays forward.
By the way, Kaylie is raising her third pig this fall. Do you persevere with projects and initiatives or cluck and leave the hard parts to others?
Jack Browne is a community activist and former technology engineer, sales and marketing executive at Motorola and other top tech companies.