Just for laughs, these are some small reflections of mine on my life as a business person (in my case, a marketer), looking back on a career that now spans several decades. I’ve put them in the form of a “top 10” list – for reasons that will soon become clear.
10. You used to look forward to trade shows and, more often than not, you flew with an open seat or two next to you. Now: not so much.
9. Someone schedules a meeting at 4:00 p.m. and you spend half a day developing an excuse for not attending.
8. On your birthday, the greeting card you get from your work team is no longer funny. Instead it shows a picture of an elderly person smiling with a cartoon flower in the background.
7. Although you weren’t hungover, you fell asleep during a meeting. You suspect photos were taken, but you don’t remember flashbulbs going off.
6. In an unguarded moment, you mistakenly refer to “overhead transparencies” during a meeting. There are titters and whispered comments from around the conference room for a few minutes.
5. You became legendary throughout the office as the person who once wrote on a whiteboard with a permanent marker. Now, at the start of every meeting in that room, someone makes a joke about you and the blue squiggle.
4. You remember working until 3:15 a.m. running copies at Kinko’s. You wonder what happened to them all.
3. You remember with stark clarity being the youngest person at a meeting. You scan the names in the company address book, guessing whether you’re now the oldest person in the company.
2. During a four-night business trip, you virtually explode at the thought of just one more bleeping dinner at a trendy restaurant. On the flight back home you nearly gas the occupant of the seat next to you.
1. You’ve recognized the innate superficiality of business life by reducing everything to a top ten list. You count it a form of silent revenge.
10. You used to look forward to trade shows and, more often than not, you flew with an open seat or two next to you. Now: not so much.
9. Someone schedules a meeting at 4:00 p.m. and you spend half a day developing an excuse for not attending.
8. On your birthday, the greeting card you get from your work team is no longer funny. Instead it shows a picture of an elderly person smiling with a cartoon flower in the background.
7. Although you weren’t hungover, you fell asleep during a meeting. You suspect photos were taken, but you don’t remember flashbulbs going off.
6. In an unguarded moment, you mistakenly refer to “overhead transparencies” during a meeting. There are titters and whispered comments from around the conference room for a few minutes.
5. You became legendary throughout the office as the person who once wrote on a whiteboard with a permanent marker. Now, at the start of every meeting in that room, someone makes a joke about you and the blue squiggle.
4. You remember working until 3:15 a.m. running copies at Kinko’s. You wonder what happened to them all.
3. You remember with stark clarity being the youngest person at a meeting. You scan the names in the company address book, guessing whether you’re now the oldest person in the company.
2. During a four-night business trip, you virtually explode at the thought of just one more bleeping dinner at a trendy restaurant. On the flight back home you nearly gas the occupant of the seat next to you.
1. You’ve recognized the innate superficiality of business life by reducing everything to a top ten list. You count it a form of silent revenge.
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