Thursday, January 07, 2010
Soutwest Flight 3936
01/07/2010
Row 19, seat 19F, window, flying eastward at 5:55pm, behind me the sky glows of reds and grays and the sun is sinking below the horizon, ahead is nearly black. My interviewing ordeal has ended. I have made a young man a job offer he couldn’t refuse. This chapter in my life has a happy ending for one dude and some short term misery for others.
I truly hate to disappoint anyone about anything, so I feel extremely badly for those who won’t get the call they desired. I do know there is a least one very happy person near Louisville this night, and I am happy, as well.
The weather in Louisville, Kentucky sucked today. It began to snow early this morning and kept snowing until about five o’clock. My interviewing partners included a guy who lives in Louisville and a lady representing my company’s HR department. She was the one making sure we conformed to the letter of the law. We done good work this week. We are all exhausted and longed to be home with our families tonight. Not so for our HR buddy. Her flight got scratched and she has to spend one more night in snowy Kentucky.
I am the guy who would dearly love to cut off the interviews after three minutes. Have you read the book entitled “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell? The premise is basically “First Impressions” are usually correct, so don’t over think them. Some might call this assumptive appraisal, but I call it “correctimondo” because over my twenty-three years of hiring sales reps for my company my “thin slice”- defined as “my first impression” - of the candidates has been on the mark and on the money. Have I had duds? You bet, but my right-on assessments far and away out weigh my wrong ones. Bottom line here is I think I could hire good sales reps with no more than a fifteen minute interview, including greetings and goodbyes. Cocky, maybe, but I will put money on it.
This bird seems to be dropping out of the sky toward terra firma so I am going to button down the hatches and close this contraption down for now. I will be home in a couple of hours, and can sleep well tonight knowing I have done a good thing for my company and a good thing for a very happy young man and his family.
And that is all I have to say about that…
Monday, January 04, 2010
Breakfast with Henry...
01/04/2010
You would have had to have had a breakfast with a three-year old to appreciate how incredibly awesome an experience this is.
I picked up Henry at 9am this past Saturday. Saturday was his third birthday and to say he was a little excited would be like saying Christmas to a three-year old is just another day. He was smiling from ear to ear and nearly jumping up and down. Henry’s mom told me not to expect Henry to talk as much as his sister, but I think she forgot to tell Henry. He didn’t quit talking for the hour or so we were together, keeping me laughing the entire time. Everything is wonderful to a three-year old.
Henry’s sister Vivienne and I have had many breakfasts together, just the two of us. This day was Henry’s first with me, an event I have looked forward to since before he was born. I have been doing this with grandkids for about ten years, asnd it is a joy to behold. Henry and I did the Panera Bread thing – orange scones and chocolate milk. I gave him carte blanche as he scanned the display case full of pastries, muffins and other confections, and that is what he chose. It is what his sister gets when she and I do “Breakfast with Grampa.” As we got to the table he picked for us to sit and eat, he informed me he only liked to eat the “icing.” He also told me I had to cut the scone in “little pieces.” As he began to pick the frosting off the bits of scone, he began to enlighten me as to the musings of a three-year old. Not everything he said quite made sense or was understood, though I nodded in the affirmative as I repeated some of his words, but needless to say, I loved every second of it, and he seemed satisfied I understood completely.
Henry talked of trains and riding on one called the “Durbin Rocket” (Durbin is a small town on route 250 in West Virginia). He rode it on an excursion back in the summer and talks of it as if it were just yesterday. Henry loves all things mechanical and loves anything to do with trains.
The experience for me may be one of the best of my life. As I described it to The Nancy later that morning I found myself getting a little emotional and glassy eyed. Three-year olds do not have an agenda. Everything they say or do is honest and sincere. They are just one hell of a lot of fun.
May I suggest to each of you to find one and go do breakfast?
And that is all I have to say about that…
Friday, January 01, 2010
Dropping the Ball...
01/01/2010
No one will ever mistake me for a “Night Owl,” I am just not a late night person. I suppose being an early bird might have something to do with my inability to stay alert much past 10pm. It just doesn’t work for me, though last night I did make it almost to 11pm before I drug my half asleep, groggy body to the bed. Not so for my wife. I don’t know what time she came to bed, she had to watch The Ball drop, but she did give me a kiss and wish me a Happy New Year, I think. At least I kind of remember her doing so, or maybe I dreamt it as I slept through the birth of the New Year. I did almost make it to six o’clock this morning. The bed and I parted company at 5:43 as The Nancy lightly snored away in a very deep sleep.
I thought of my self as a responsible citizen last night, though some might call me an old fart, because I was at home safe and sound by 9:30. The weather here was sketchy with snow flurries and freeing conditions as the temperature dropped below the freezing mark, so after a nice dinner we took the high road and headed for cover. I did not want to be out too late for a couple of reasons. Firstly, after midnight on New Year’s Eve is when the nuts come out, you know, the irresponsible citizenry, those maybe having had a few too many celebratory liquids. The other reason and more importantly, this morning we are loading up the car with the last of the Christmas presents and going to Richmond to visit with the two youngest grandchildren.
We must get the road so we can be in Richmond no later than 1pm so The Nancy is able to see the Kickoff of the Gator Bowl – West Virginia University versus Florida State University. West Virginia football is her life, next to me, that is, maybe?
It is January 1, 2010. Today we begin a new year and a new decade. We all have the chance to dedicate ourselves to be in service to others and to ourselves. We can resolve to always do our best; to never make assumptions; to not take things personally; and to be impeccable with our word. Those wise words taken from the book the “Four Agreements” and I highly recommend you read it and practice them.
Daylight is beginning to creep into the picture now. I have to quit this and go drag The Nancy out of the bed. It is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Waking her is sort of like walking into a den of lions, and my name is David, not Daniel. Wish me luck?
And that is all I have to say about that…