Your Career and You: Thinking About and Trying New Things Is Fun

I’m writing this on the subway as I head down to Curry College for another day of doing what I classify as “fun.”

My “job” is overseeing the undergraduate Public Relations concentration in our Communication major, teaching most of the PR courses, and advising/counseling students. But it's more than that.

To me, it's having fun while helping others figure out their goals and life’s purpose.

Some folks who haven’t wandered through my world don’t understand what I mean by “fun,” especially when they learn that I’m a public relations professional turned college professor teaching the next generations of what I envision as our future professionals. What baffles them, apparently, is that I'm always smiling as I bounce along the sidewalks all over campus.

Why do I act this way? Because I absolutely love what I'm doing. Period.

As I say time and again, both to these skeptics and to my students, “If you’re not having fun doing what you do for a living, do something else.”

I realize this isn’t the “accepted” way of approaching adult life. But it has been my modus operandi for more than a quarter of a century, and I have no intention of changing…at least not changing the fun part! Maybe where I’m having fun, but not what I’m doing to have fun.

Trying new things…in new places sometimes…should be part and parcel of your career development. Stepping out of your comfort zone and testing your abilities gives you the self confidence that you can succeed in just about anything you try.

I’ve moved from federal government to technology to member services to healthcare in my professional PR career, from the US to the Philippines and back, and to Hawaii from Massachusetts and back to Massachusetts…all in the name of “trying something new.”

I’m not saying that everything will work perfectly every time. Sometimes things just don’t go as planned. I know. Been there; done that…a couple of times.

But I also learned something about myself each time that added to my repertoire of career skills and abilities.

The excitement (disguised as panic??) of starting a new job...or starting a new job in a new location…or starting all over in a new location with the goal of finding a new job…is exhilarating. But it requires a firm belief in your own ability to succeed.

I’ve had conversations with two different friends in the past couple of days, one of whom has hit a point in her professional career where she feels like it’s time for a change…she just isn’t sure what that change will be. But the gleam of excitement in her eyes as we talked about the future said it all..."new things ahead!"

The other friend is on a mega-roll of good luck in her job. She has taken a lackluster PR program and moved it into nationally-recognized prominence. And we spent an hour on the phone brainstorming ideas for the next phase. The excitement in her voice painted a clear picture of a young professional eager to make her mark on the world…and she will.

In both these cases, my friends used the words…without my prodding…“having fun.” They are at that point in their lives/careers where it’s not just about the “job.”

It’s about doing something new that will make a difference in their lives and the lives of others...and having fun doing it.

"We must dare to think 'unthinkable' thoughts. We must learn to explore all the options and possibilities that confront us in a complex and rapidly changing world. We must learn to welcome and not to fear the voices of dissent. We must dare to think about 'unthinkable things' because when things become unthinkable, thinking stops and action becomes mindless." - James William Fulbright, "Speech in the Senate" [March 27, 1964]

Your Career and You: “Three Wise Moves”

Okay…I’m reluctantly allowing myself to get into the holiday spirit and, since “bah…humbug” isn’t part of my vocabulary, I guess I’ll go with three tips on how to jump-start (or refresh) your job or internship search.

One of my recent posts talked about resumes and networking, and that chat still applies…and will continue to apply throughout your professional career.

Ø  Never stop networking. Just like houseplants and goldfish, your networking contacts have to be nurtured and nourished…keep them alive by keeping them fresh.
Ø  Update your resume…regularly. When you do something that you feel reinforces your case for being hired, add it to your resume…if necessary, remove something that’s older and possibly less relevant today.

And here’s more for your “to-do” list.

1.    Read!  I know some…not all…some of you are muttering eggnogedly, “I read enough for my classes including yours, Kirk. Why should I read more??”

I constantly remind my students both at Curry College, where I head the undergraduate Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, and at Regis College, where I teach in the graduate Organizational and Professional Communication area, that I’m always reading…both for pleasure and for work/pleasure.

I read and write reviews of new PR and marketing books for Emerald Publications’ Journal of Consumer Marketing and Journal of Product and Brand Management. This hobby/ habit keeps me up-to-date on current trends in the public relations field as well as connects me with thought leaders in PR, social media, and marketing.

You should do the same. You want to be regarded as an up-and-coming ”superstar,” don’t you? Expanding your knowledge through reading is a way to accomplish that.

2.    Write! 

Send handwritten (legibly written) notes to folks that you’ve met recently at the networking events you’ve attended (you have been networking, haven’t you?!?).

As I’ve said time and again, the holiday season is especially suited for note-writing. You find a nice holiday card, write your note, address the envelope, stick on a stamp, mail it...Done.

And start becoming more visible on social media and other opportunities for commenting. If you read and are interested in others’ thoughts online and elsewhere, take some time to comment…to express your own thoughts. Communication is just that…communicating!

3.    Research! 

I’m going out on a long, thin limb here, but I’m going to suggest that, in your reading (see # 1), you probably came across some companies that caught your attention because of the work they do or the people who work there…both legitimate reasons to look at a company for possible employment.

Use your computer for something besides posting snarky comments and suggestive photos on Facebook or tweeting profanities about your favorite sports team’s massive mistakes.

Do some research on the companies or the people that caught your interest. What’s their background? What do they do that you think is exciting or that you know something about?

Not only does this knowledge give you some talking points in an interview (informational or job). It’s a lot more fun working with someone whose products or services are something you’re interested in! I once did public relations for a cemetery…for a very short period of time. Nice people; obviously a needed and important service. It just didn’t work for me.

So do your research.

So there you have it…reading, writing, and research. It truly can be as simple as “one…two... three wise moves.”

Happy Holidays! Mele Kalikimaka! Maligayang Pasko! 聖誕快樂!

Your Career and You: “’Tis the Season…for Action”

I’ve noticed a “trend” these past few years that I’ve been teaching…that of some…not all, mind you…some…of my students putting their brains on cruise-control in mid-November and not re-emerging into reality until mid-January.

Need a spring internship? “I’ll look during the holiday break and hopefully find ‘something.’”

Need a recommendation for an internship or job? “I’m sorry to bother you this (Sunday) evening, but could you write a letter of recommendation for me…oh, and they need it tomorrow morning.”

Sadly, these are all real-life examples not only that I have run into at Curry College, where I teach most of the Communication Department’s Public Relations Concentration courses, but that my colleagues at other schools have experienced as well.

I realize that college is considered by many to be a “transitional period” between high school (youth) and working life (adulthood) and, therefore, deserving of good times.

Fortunately, though, there are enough others (hence the some up above) who recognize the seriousness of this time in life and dive headlong into the “maturing” process…and have fun along the way as well!

These are the ones who I champion and shepherd carefully along the way.

My belief is that these young men and women will go out, heads held proudly high, and get those entry-level positions that will put them solidly on the road to success.

The others? Well….

This time of season (mid-November until mid-January) is a great time to take stock of your assets - resume…work/internship experience…network of contacts - and start fine-tuning each.

Things change. Priorities shift. Does your resume reflect those changes?

Even at this point in my sketchy career, I re-visit my resume regularly to see if what it says about my previous life as a public relations professional and my current life as a public relations professor still “sounds” like me.

The same holds true for work and/or internship experience…does your resume show you at your best?

I always remember the young fellow who asked a human resources colleague and me if his summer job as a waiter in a restaurant back home should be listed on his resume.

We simultaneously asked him, “How long have you been doing this job?”

His response: “Five years.”

Us: “Yes! You’re demonstrating longevity. You’ve been developing customer service skills, relationship skills…all the things that go into the making of a public relations professional!”

Networking…I’m gearing up for the PRSA Boston/Publicity Club of New England “Holiday Party” in a couple of weeks. I always look forward to this event…no agenda…just an evening of camaraderie…and networking, and I’ll walk away with at least a half-dozen new contacts that I can turn to for possible internship opportunities…or jobs…for my students.

Start today…reach out to someone…a professional who you’ve met either as a speaker in one of your classes or at a professional meeting (or on the golf course, as did one of my students a few years back when he was working as a caddy)…and send him or her an email expressing your appreciation for the advice he or she shared.

It’s a small gesture that can pay big dividends by starting a relationship. There’s no guarantee that anything will come of your effort, but you never know until you try!

The main thing is to take positive steps so that you will be prepared for the inevitable event…graduation and…gasp!...”real” life! Take action…today!

"I will not steep my speech in lies; the test of any man lies in action."

Pindar, "Olympian Odes," IV, l. 27

Your Career and You: "Don't Be Invisible"

I’ve noticed recently, especially since I launched a “Social Media Communication” course at Curry College, where I oversee the Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the undergrad PR courses, the incredibly low profile that a majority of my students have.

It’s not that they’re not aware of the need to “see and be seen.”

It’s just that they don’t seem to have grasped the true meaning of “social media presence” in today’s ultra-wired world…the need to “see and be seen” on at least the most popular platforms.

If they were studying science (I’m gonna hear from the Biology Department on this!), this might not be so much of an issue. But they’re Communication majors, and the very name implies a knowledge…and utilization…of current avenues for both getting the message out and being “seen” by others.

It’s not confined to my troops at Curry, however. I’ve been invited to present a seminar on social media’s role in career advancement and job search at Regis College, where I teach part-time in the graduate Organizational and Professional Communication area. The objective is to present a clear explanation of why social media, in this case LinkedIn specifically but also other platforms, is a “must be there” reality today.

I “get” that not everyone is or is going to be social media savvy. But I’m not talking about “everyone.” I’m talking about college seniors and grad students who are feverishly combing online job sites and (or at least, I hope) career services job listings at their college or university.

Note the emphasis on “I hope.”

Colleges' career services offices, from what I saw in my peregrinations about the state a few years back as a part-time professor at several colleges in the Boston area, are a woefully underutilized resource. Granted not all are what I would classify as “with it,” but the majority have databases that can at least pry open the employment gates so that you can catch a glimpse of the wonders that await you.

At Curry, I'm happy to say, we offer a robust selection of services and resources for both current students as well as alums...and people find jobs or internships regularly by taking advantage of the advice, assistance, and guidance offered.

But that’s just one piece of the puzzle.

The other is establishing yourself “out there”…creating an online “you” that I, as a potential employer, can access and learn more about you.

An obvious start would be LinkedIn…populated by employees, employers, would-be employees, employment specialists (recruiters), and others. To use my explanation (that those smarter than I absolutely hate), it’s the professional’s Facebook. Yes…before you start spamming me with your protestations…I know it’s much more than that. But let’s K.I.S.S…Keep It Simple, Savant.

And there are other “value-added” options such as Twitter (where you can post frequent and regular comments about events in the news, your own observations on life/business/college, etc.), Pinterest (where you can create boards to post articles, cartoons, and such that show your interest areas)…your blog (created with a clear vision of who you are or want to be and populated with regular posts showing the depth and breadth of your thoughts).

I’m not suggesting you have to be using all these, or even most of these.

What I am suggesting is that you have a presence on at least one so that, if I meet you at a professional event (PRSA, Social Media Club, IABC, or elsewhere) and you give me your card, I can do a quick Google search or visit the website that you indicate on your card to find out a little bit more about you…and…perhaps…pass on your name to someone who I know is looking to fill a vacant position.

But this isn’t going to happen unless I can find you online…so don’t be invisible!!

"As I was going up the stair
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today.
I wish, I wish he'd stay away"
Hughes Mearns, "The Psychoed"

Your Career and You: “Coffee Helps, Too!”

I’m often asked…usually by my bleary-eyed undergrad Communication students at Curry College, where I head the Public Relations Concentration, but also by my grad students at Regis College, where I teach in the Organizational and Professional Communication area…how I manage to seemingly always be chipper and energized.

My response is invariably some rendition of “oceans of coffee.”

And, while I do slurp down about three mugs in the morning with my breakfast, that’s usually it for caffeinated stuff until…if the day allows…I settle back for “teatime”…a tradition born of marvelous days at the Peninsula Hong Kong.

“Coffee,” for me, is rapidly becoming a euphemism for “I love my work!”

And little has changed in my transition from public relations professional to public relations professor.

With only, perhaps, one instance in my professional career where I was genuinely miserable, the bulk of my working life…even when I was a civil engineering intern as a high school senior and college freshman back in the 60s…has been a wonderful mélange of challenges and learning opportunities that helped shape who I am.

Why? Because I was and am allowed and encouraged to try new things, to step outside my comfort zone and do stuff that I thought I didn’t know how to do.

Ø  I taught “English as a Second Language” in Vietnam armed with a major in English/18th-century British Lit (and an M-16 semiautomatic rifle by my side).

Ø  I catalogued (typed information cards for) roughly 1,000 films for a job with absolutely no clue as to what they were about...OR how to type…taught myself…which explains (if you could see me doing this) why I type the way I do!

Ø  I’ve now been teaching undergraduate and graduate college courses for going on 10 years with no “formal” training in how to actually do this…just relying on my love for my profession and pleasure that I get from passing on my knowledge.

The point of this rambling is to emphasize, as I do time and again, that I was doing and am still doing something that I genuinely love.

The challenges were…and are…invigorating. I have to get and hold attention, focus on detail, and present information that will be of use to students at some point in the (hopefully) near future.

What this means is that I have to be on top of my game…to be current and proficient in the technologies and techniques that comprise 21st-century public relations practice.

Which means that I can’t just load my camel at the end of a day of classes and head for the oasis of my wonderfully comfortable chair for a snooze.

I have to be combing the news, reading the professional publications, scanning the Internet in search of new and exciting things that have bubbled up to impact the public relations profession or public relations practice in some way.

What this means for you as a future public relations practitioner (or whatever your chosen field of endeavor will be) is that learning never stops.

Yeah, you won’t have to take exams (at least not those administered by evil professors on a beautifully crisp fall Monday morning) to test your absorption of knowledge.

Instead, you will be tested “real-time” by work requirements and work-related incidents that will try your professional knowledge and skills.

And your success or failure will affect your employer’s success or failure.

The lesson here, grasshopper, is to find your “coffee”…that shot of energy disguised as a profession that invigorates you…that gets you bouncing out of bed in the morning eager to get on with the day.

Find what you love doing and want to become what I refer to as "the world's walking expert" in doing. Make it yours. Own your successes and learn from your mistakes.

And…a well-brewed mug of fresh-ground espresso doesn’t hurt!!

"Cato said the best way to keep good acts in memory was to refresh them with new."
- Francis Bacon, "Apothegms" [1624], no. 247

Your Career and You: "Life's Little Surprises...Talk to People!"

I was in Chestnut Hill (MA) Bloomingdale's the other day looking at things I couldn't afford, didn't need, and, of course, desperately wanted, when a sales assistant caught my eye.

If you don't know, I'm a transplanted Southerner and am absolutely genetically incapable of not speaking to folks I see in stores, on the street, and just about everywhere else (except the subway, where weirder people than I seem to congregate).

Well, I said "hello" to Geneva, the sales assistant, and we struck up a conversation.

Turns out she is from Americus, Georgia, a hop-skip-and-a-jump from my own hometown of Dublin. Instant connection there!

What a coincidence!

Also found out her son was born in 1978...the year Margaret and I moved from Hampton, Virginia to a state where, watching the weather reports earlier that year, we declared "only crazy people live." (Note: Except for a three-year sojourn in wonderfully laid-back Honolulu, Hawaii, we've been here ever since.)

Also turns out Geneva used to work for Boston Edison (now part of NStar) and knows my friend Walter Salvi, who now heads the community relations activities for NStar.

What all this means both for you and for my Communication students at Curry College, where I head the Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, as well as for my graduate students at Regis College, where I teach in the Organizational and Professional Communication area, is that the world is really, really small.

You never know where you might run into someone who has some sort of connection with an organization you're interested in working for. The "trick" is to connect with that person.

It's called "networking," and I preach the sermon almost daily in every class.

• Go to professional meetings for associations in the area you're interested. Here's my list of regulars: Boston Chapter, Public Relations Society of America; Publicity Club of New England; Social Media Club of Boston.
• Take advantage of special programs offered by organizations in your desired career field. I'm on the mailing list for several PR firms and other organizations, and I go to as many of their programs as possible...to learn and to network.
• Go out with your friends and your friends' friends...some of the best leads come from casual conversations over a beer/soda/chocolate milk.

And, talk to folks in the stores where you shop and the restaurants where you eat. Once again, just like my chance meeting with Geneva, you don't know who knows who.

This is what makes up what I think of as "life's little surprises." Learning how to look at people and speak to people can open up Forrest Gump's "box of chocolates." And, in the midst of all those yummy goodies just might be a connection that you can use.

"The man seeking his first job or trying to change the job he has should remember that third parties can approach employers as friendly middlemen. First of all, people he knows, experienced friends with knowledge and contacts, can broach the matter for him and can presumably be depended on to do a friendly service. Professional and trade associations know what goes on in their fields." - Edward L. Bernays, "Your Future in Public Relations" (Richards Rosen Press, 1961)

Your Career and You: "Enthusiastic" or "Obsessive"?

I started thinking this morning…after a flurry of email conversations with someone about a request he had made (and which he had been assured multiple times had been taken care of)…about the fine line between being perceived as “enthusiastic about an opportunity” and being regarded as “borderline obsessive.”

While this is something I think about from time to time, I haven’t really gone much deeper than that. But I’m thinking I need to.

Why?

Because I’m always telling my undergrad Communication students at Curry College, where I oversee the Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, as well as my graduate Organizational and Professional Communication students at Regis College (a very cool part-time gig!) how important follow-up is and how they should be diligent in their follow-up on job or internship applications as well as PR outreach to media and others.

I forget sometimes, though, that “follow-up” can be interpreted in several ways, most of which are good…some of which are just two whiskers short of “creepy.”

“Good”?

Once a week…NOT on a Monday or Friday. I suggest this because of my own work schedules both present and past.

> On Monday, I’m preparing for the week ahead and/or dealing with some issue that bubbled up over the weekend.

> On Friday, I’m reflecting on the week that was and (mentally, at least) promising myself some downtime over the coming weekend.

“Bad”?

More than once a week…unless you actually have spoken with someone who suggested you “call back [fill in the blank].”

Why?

Because if you’ve left me a message…phone, email, note tied to a brick and thrown through my office window…I will get back to you…when I have time.

I hate to break this to you, but you are not my first priority, no matter how nice you are and how wonderfully formatted your resume (or news release) is.

On the job/internship side of this diatribe…I might be desperate to fill a position or eager to support the internship concept, but I have a “real” job to do as well, and I’ll get to the other stuff as quickly as I can.

On the news release side…if you’ve sent news, I will get back to you…I need your information and you are important to me.

However…if you’ve sent me a “my boss just got an award and he/she wants to let our customers know” release…well…….

I appreciate enthusiasm. My professional colleagues do as well.

I don’t appreciate stalkers or people who disrupt my train of thought or workflow.

Learning the difference between enthusiasm and obsessiveness is part of the “growing up” process for us. You will, as have I, get your hand slapped once in a while.

Take that act as “guidance” and not as “punishment.”

Be enthusiastic, and that enthusiasm will show…in the quality of your work…in the realization of your successes.

Be obsessive and…

Wait! Hear that sound??

Silence.

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson - “Essays: First Series. Circles.” [1841]

Your Career and You: "It's about 'Time'"

The Rolling Stones had a great hit in the ‘60s called “Time is on my side.” It was all about “the world is my oyster and sooner or later things will go my way.”

Good concept. Bad for the working world…especially for those who are (or should be) looking for jobs/internships.

I’m constantly on my undergraduate Communication students at Curry College, where I head the Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, as well as my graduate students at Regis College, where I teach in the graduate Organizational and Professional Communication area, to act now.

Take the ol' bull by the horns. Don’t wait for someone else to make the first move.

What brought this to mind was, in the course of one week, receiving four different messages from four different students in which timing has been or will be a factor in the outcome of their efforts.

1.    One student asked for help drafting an internship application letter.

2.    One student wanted to meet to discuss some internship opportunities.

3.    One student wanted to meet to schedule a “catch-up-on-life” meeting.

4.    One student was following up on internship application progress.

“Exhibit A” took exactly one week to respond to my suggestions on the letter.

“Exhibit B” hasn’t responded…four days after asking to meet…to my response.

“Exhibit C” “forgot” to check Facebook (on which the request was sent).

“Exhibit D” acted on my recommendations, applied for the internship, and has an interview scheduled.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or ditch digger…or school teacher) to figure out which of the above stands a snowball’s chance in Hades of realizing success.

The point to all this is that time…that elusive, fleeting, amorphous thing that is always looking over our shoulder and is never around when needed…is a major player in life’s successes.

The annoying thing about time is that it doesn’t sit around waiting for you to act. It moves on.

And, if you don’t make your own move, you will be a fading memory in time’s rearview mirror.

Thomas Jefferson…one of history’s master time-users…came up with this take on time: “Never put off tomorrow what you can do today.”

“Today,” of course, has morphed into a nearly unrecognizable concept with the advent of intercontinental, interactive communication. When I write to my niece in Taipei today, it’s already tomorrow for her…which makes wishing a “Happy Birthday” a bit of a trick!

But we’re talking about here and now…your response or reaction to a situation.

I’m absolutely not suggesting kneejerk responses. But I am suggesting…when the situation arises…that you start thinking about what you'll do…and start planning your response.

Then…act…immediately if possible (and feasible) but at least within 24 hours…unless there are some really complicating factors.

The point (again) is that someone on the other end of the communication loop is waiting to hear/see what you think/are going to do.

In some cases, they can’t act until they know what you are going to do.

In other cases, they’re not going to act until they hear from you.

Think about this if you’re applying for a job or an internship.

“Often do the spirits

Of great events stride on before the events.

And in today already walks tomorrow.”

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller

“Wallenstein,” [1799-1800] pt. II, act V, sc. i

Your Career and You: “On Pigeons and Statues”

I had an epiphany a few days ago as I sat patiently (although you wouldn’t know it from the multiple snarky tweets I sent while waiting) as the folks at a local newly-opened restaurant tried to cope with a hungry lunch crowd.

“Chaos” is the only way I could describe the scene.

The front end of the restaurant boasted easily a half-dozen empty tables while the hostess “looked busy” but wasn’t accomplishing a whole heck of a lot.

The frazzled waitstaff had gotten their mantra down to a sincerely-mouthed “I’m sooo sorry for the delay” as patron after patron asked about an order.

The two guys at the table next to me gave up. Forty-five minute lunchbreak wait for a sandwich.

I decided to stick it out…slow day on the farm, so I had some time to kill…and Twitter was keeping me company!

Hamburger…35 minutes. Drink (“sweet tea”…hey, I’m a Southerner; I’m allowed to slip once in a while!) undrinkable. Who in heaven’s name puts nectar in tea?!?

So that’s the backdrop.

The young lady taking my order was the epitome’ of “cool-under-pressure.” Patient, empathetic...and exhausted…it was 1:30 p.m., and she'd been on duty since a little after 5 a.m.

Having done time myself after college working in my Dad’s soda shop back home, I understood how she felt…and appreciated her efforts to soothe ruffled feathers.

Through quick mini-chats each time she came by my table, I learned that this was an unusual day…apparently other days (the restaurant had been open just four days) had been less frantic.

And that’s what inspired this week’s thoughts…sometimes you’re totally in control of the situation and life is good.

Sometimes, as I often say in my classes at both Curry College, where I head up the Communication Department’s undergraduate Public Relations Concentration and teach most PR courses, and Regis College, where I teach in the graduate Organizational and Professional Communication area, you have no choice but to sit back and watch the train wreck happen.

Or…to use one of my absolute favorite sayings: “Sometimes you’re the pigeon; sometimes you’re the statue.”

Job-hunting is a good example.

Career searches, while they should be somewhat controlled, occasionally jump off the track and you find yourself scrambling to straighten the mess out.

A friend texted me at the end of last week to say she had hurt her back moving into a new apartment and had had to call and re-schedule a job interview. She was in a bit of a tizzy because this is her first real job hunt, and she was afraid things were going to spiral out of control.

I assured her that her excuse was entirely legitimate and…more important…if the organization with which she had scheduled the interview was unsympathetic…she didn’t want to work there anyway.

We like to feel like we're in charge of our lives. And, for the most part, we are.

But occasionally things happen. And there's not a blasted thing we can do about it except soldier on and do our best.

Back to my young, anonymous friend at the new restaurant. She’s heading off to UMass-Amherst in September to study English, and I hope her professors recognize early on that this young lady is a budding young professional.

Cool under pressure. Poised under fire. Pleasant and upbeat while Rome burns. I would hire her in a microsecond.

And, to close this conversation…statues stand all regal and self-important…and immobile, oblivious to all that is going on around them. Pigeons (forgive me pigeon-lovers) are annoying birds that poop on people, places and things…including the regal, self-important statues.

Professionals understand that not everything is going to go the way they want, and they learn over time how to respond to unexpected glitches.

It's called "experience."

“There comes a time in every man’s life and I’ve had many of them.”

– Charles Dillon (”Casey”) Stengel