Nice men can’t jump

………so, what happens to the nice guy at the end?

Yes, yes, it depends on how one defines nice and what the context is etc etc, agreed.

However, let’s plumb the depths here – does the feeling exist, in that plumbed depth somewhere, that nice guys normally end up lookin a wee bit silly specifically due to this ‘niceness’? That this is a quality for the loser, the non-achiever, the wannabe, the synonyms go on……..

Does No. 1 come with a job description that says ‘ruthlessly efficient’ with the ‘ruthlessly’ in Arial Black Bold? Does  this ruthlessness also have to be umblically connected  to the volume at which you are, ostensibly, efficient?

Old jungle saying – ‘its not what you know, its who you know that gets you places’. While not denying the existence of  a truth within, its also not what you know but how you show what you know that gets you places. Yessiree, marketing is everything……

Reminds me of my favourite case study, the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) or  whatever avatar – sorry, James, in the begining was the word – this mockery has taken now.

I recall a line from a Woody Allen movie from aeons ago called ‘Bananas’ where Woody defends himself in court with an opening line that went ‘Your honour, this trial is a travesty. Its a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of sham’. Loved it.

Anyways, back to multimillion mockeries. The WWE (it was formerly called WW Federation and it wisely changed its name to Entertainment coz they define what they do as Sports Entertainment, not wrestling per se) fits the Woody Allen definition, we all know that it fits the definition and some of us still watch it in the knowledge that it fits the definition. The entertainers grunt, kick, scream and bad mouth each other all the way to the bank !!!

Guess we could draw a parallel with the First of the 3 Idiots in that we know he’s not an idiot, we watch his antics and he laughs all the way to the box office.

One could, quite logically, argue that the above are artists and they are plying their trade.

What about the corporate climber type? ‘Has to be seen at the right place at the right time for maximum effect’ surely cannot be part of a job description !!

The point I make is that marketing  – which could mean different things in different environs –  is not only key, it is the key ring that holds the key to longevity in certain circles. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ has moved from the realm of failing romances into everyday life, as we know it.

There is no such thing as ‘quiet efficiency’ anymore. That is passe. Like Lee Jeans that never die but just fade away (had a T-shirt that said that once). You are as important / efficient as your decibel level…….

No, I didn’t get fired, in case you were wondering.

It just another rant at the machine……….

C.

notes on a year end…..

Got a question from an interested party as to why I stopped writing. Didn’t have the guts to answer it but there was a reason. Have decided to forego that reasoning and put hand to the keyboard again. Angelic intervention

It does feel rather good, must admit, to be creating after so long.

Am on my travels. ‘Wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home’, as Paul Young crooned a couple of decades ago. Trained a truckload of folk. All was well.

Sitting in the foyer of the firm waiting for my ride to the hotel. Need to do a rushed packing job and hotfoot it to the airport.

There is a rather huge Christmas tree here. Well decorated, kinda. Two pleasant receptionist cum secretary types sit chatting about life and its inconsistencies. The aged security guard, who one would think was well past his securing prime, sits waiting for the odd visitor to come in and sign his visitors book, giving him a chance to spring up and get his five minute place in the tubelight while advising of fire alarms, evacuation methods etc.

Across from me are two men in deep discussion. One is a colleague and the other seems to be a salesman of some sort as he is talking offers, discounts and charges. Insurance maybe? Interesting to see the interaction, the salesman guy looking quite eager in making his pitch and the recipient of his eagerness looking rather interested. Snake charmer n cobra, in an nice, harmless way, of course.

All is well with my world.

Nice, swanky office this. Am a mite jealous of this environ as the one I work in is nothing this funky. Met a couple of nice chaps who seemed pleased to be in my sessions and I didn’t even bribe them, imagine that !

So, another year draws to a rather rapid close. Again.

If nothing else, 2009 is the year I began blogging so that is quite monumental a happenin for me. Onward and upward !

Have a good one, you….

C.