Wayne, The Nerd from Arizona

Wayne is a good kid but has always had a hard time making friends. His dad is an air force master sergeant. He travels a lot, even overseas. Now, Wayne is in a new school and feels unsure of himself. Join Wayne on his adventure from Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Arizona, to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.

Welcome to this edition of Newsgram.

Today’s program is dedicated to all the military families out there and anyone who has ever raised a family with a job that requires a lot of travel and frequent relocation. It can be hard on the kids, especially the ones that have trouble making new friends.

Wayne Rankin – I had bad skin. I had pimples, buck teeth. I needed braces but you can’t do anything about that. It’s just the way it is. You might see that as a flaw but people look past those flaws and real friends, true friends will look past that and continue to communicate with you.

That’s Wayne Rankin, retired Master Sergeant from the US Airforce and the real life inspiration for his new children’s book Wayne, the Nerd from Arizona.

Here’s the premise. Wayne was living on Luke Air Force Base on the west side of Phoenix, Arizona. A real place. He was born and raised there, and despite his family’s many moves, it was the only place he could truly call home. When his father was transferred to Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany he found himself once again not only alone in a new city but in a new country and for Wayne making friends was not that easy. In fact, Wayne’s first day of school was a disaster. All he could think about was how little he had in common with the other kids.

Wayne Rankin – It was tough. you’re in a foreign country, not to mention not having any friends but making new friends. You don’t know anybody. You’re making new friends and trying to sort out with those friends for the next four or five years is pretty tough.

One of things that worked for Wayne was not focusing on the negative but finding the positives which is great advice for any situation.

Wayne Rankin – You’re parents or your dad is in the military and that’s life in the military, a nomad, a gypsy as they say. It’s a good experience. You got to go to a country you never dreamed about and you gotta make some friends because you’re on your own, an island and that’s that.

And the book is great for five to eight year olds who find themselves in this situation because it demonstrates how that’s done…or at least what worked for Wayne.

Wayne Rankin – It goes to that period where kids are trying to check you out and see what you’re made of and if you’re gonna make it or not. You feel very alone but that’s only a temporary situation. Eventually somebody is gonna gravitate towards you and you gotta make a friend.

We’ve all been there. Can you remember your first day of school, moving to a new neighborhood or even starting a new job. Human nature takes over and some people thrive in that environment but if you’re an introvert it may be more challenging so Wayne’s book is a tool for helping kids to understand that. Meet Anita…

Wayne Rankin – She tells him that, you can be anybody. Be yourself. Be true to yourself. You don’t have to change to be this or that, appealing to different groups. She looks past his flaws or what he perceives as flaws, his crooked teeth and his bad skin and says Look, I’m just here to be your friend because of who you are. You gotta realize that everything is temporary and you might have crooked teeth but they’re got braces. You might have bad skin but now they’ve got soap that clears up that stuff. It’s just temporary. You change. Your body changes. You’re just going through those awkward moments in your life where kids try to pick on you but that doesn’t last long.

We tell our kids this stuff all the time but what do we know, right? They may listen but do they hear us? This way they get good advice from someone like Anita that they can relate to.

Wayne Rankin – You know what? There’s another kid just like you feeling the same way and another kid and another kid and these kids all gather together and group together and they form their own group. The Nerd Herd.

Not to give too much away here but the story does have a happy ending. Wayne and his friends evolve from caterpillars to beautiful butterflies…in a manner of speaking. They become well adjusted young people with promising futures just like Wayne — we’ll get to that in a minute — it all starts by knowing you are not flawed no matter what you think and you are not alone.

Wayne Rankin – You know I enjoyed writing this book. I think it’s a book you can read to your kids again, again, again, again, again. You can’t say enough that whatever you’re going through, whatever flaw you think you may have, that flaw doesn’t mean anything to some folks and you are going to transform into somebody wonderful.

He knows what he’s talking about. Wayne Rankin is a retired Master Sergeant from the US Airforce where he served for twenty years. When he left the Air Force he went on to earn a Master’s degree in Human Resources and Procurement as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Management from Colorado Christian University. In 2005 he started his own business and today LOGMET LLC has 400 employees and a gross annual turnover of $20 million. Oh there’s more but that’s enough for now.

Wayne, the Nerd from Arizona taking time out from a busy life to send a message to kids like him. It’s gonna be o.k. It may not feel like it right now but your future is bright. You just gotta have faith.

Wayne Rankin – No matter what you are or who you are if you perceive yourself as having a flaw and that nobody likes you that’s not true. There is always somebody out there you can talk to or lean on and you’ll carry that with you for the rest of your life.

Wayne, the Nerd from Arizona available now wherever you like to shop for books but since this program is all about fascinating people living their lives in fascinating ways, I would suggest checking out his website. There you can learn all about Wayne Rankin and grab a copy of his book at www.waynethenerdfromarizona.com. That will do it for another edition of Newsgram from Webtalkradio.com

Wayne rankin was recently interviews by JT Crowley on the Talking Books podcast. Listen to show on Apple Podcasts, iHeart or Spotify or watch it on YouTube.

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