But, this post is not about my new apartment, mainly because I want to do an “OMG IM IN A NEW APARTMENT” post once I am actually in there and have photographic evidence and wireless internet and nothing to do on a Tuesday night because I will get home at 6:30 instead of 8:30.
No, instead this post is about an important life lesson I was reminded of this weekend and have been waiting to impart onto my legions of (seven) loyal readers.
When I was looking for a job this summer, one of my mentors set up a meeting with the VP of Corp Comm at a pretty big agency here in the city which was super intimidating. When I went in and told him what I felt were my main barriers to getting hired (no New York city experience, no New York city network and the economy). And he affirmed my fears and basically said “yeah, that’s going to make it a lot harder” which sent me into a frenzied panic attack I have only recently recovered from. But, he also said to apply everywhere and to see where I ended up, even if it wasn’t the exact right position. That as long as you got in, worked hard, did good well that the rest would fall into place. You can prove yourself and excel in any position, as long as you remain true to your work ethics and make your position your own.
It was excellent advice and was really a huge factor in my decision to take the job I currently have. I sort of lost sight of the wisdom for a while until this weekend, when inspiration hit me on 7th avenue.
It was Saturday and I came into the city to sign my lease. It was beautiful outside- a little chilly but still so sunny and pleasant. As I walked to Chelsea to meet my future roommate at work (she’s awesome, btw- but that’s for later) I walked by this hard working young (old?) man:
Yes, this man is dressed in a cheese costume. Handing out flyers for a pizza place, trying to get people to come in. What struck me odd about this was two things:
A. The cheese costume was so half-assedly put together and so ridiculous looking that it added absolutely no value to what he was peddling- to adults by the way, not kids. It wasn’t comical, it wasn’t over the top, it was almost as if I it was just a regular guy and I had imagined the cheese costume in some sort of weird endorphin induced hallucination.
B. He did NOT look pissed off about this. In fact, disgruntled flyer givers everywhere could take a lesson from this man and his blasé attitude to his Swiss costume. And, based on the fact that he’s wearing the costume to begin with, you have to assume that his managers are dicks and mildly oppressive, but he did not seem bothered at all.
When I went to sign the lease and walked back a few hours later, he was STILL there. Not-pissed-off-about-being-in-a-cheese-costume man, handing out flyers on 7th Avenue. And I couldn’t help but wonder where he was going in life and admire how hard he was working to get there.
*Okay, one I sort of forced into asking by merely suggesting that he may want to see a write up of the story instead of listening to me laboriously discuss all the details. And the other said it sort of sarcastically, like “oh, are you going to blog about it?” Whatever…still counts.
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