Have you ever heard the phrase, “Negotiation is an art form”? For most people, negotiation is a necessary evil, something you have to do if you want find a fair price for a needed product. But for some, the thrill of negotiation is the most exciting part of the process. Thursday, February 06, 2014
Have you ever heard the phrase, "There are no small roles, only small actors?"
It’s a reminder that we all have an important "part" to play in one another’s lives this Christmas season, even if our "part" isn’t exactly the one we were hoping for!
A church was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, a boy he didn’t like was given that role, and he was assigned to be the inn-keeper instead.
He was pretty upset about this, but he didn’t say anything to the director. During all the rehearsals, he thought about what he might do the night of performance to get even with this rival who got to be Joseph.
With summer's arrival comes a journalistic convention that seems more and more dated. It is the "summer reading list" of books, often beside a graphic showing a bathing suit and sunglasses.
Sure, I'd like to check out Douglas Brinkley's biography of Walter Cronkite and Hilary Mantel's sequel to "Wolf Hall." Heck, I'd love to read Joan Rivers' funny and shorter book, "I Hate Everyone ... Starting With Me."
Problem is, few of us worker bees will be packing a steamer trunk of volumes to while away the lazy afternoons. Average working Joes now put in a month more of labor a year than they did 25 years earlier, and much of that time comes out of summer vacation's hide.
Whenever an overly generous soul praises me for my alleged "success," I thank them and gently remind her (and myself) of the unearned luck of my life.
Consider the following: I was born during the Great Depression, after the nation's birthrate had reached a new low, and I was one of approximately 11 people born that same year. This meant that when I graduated from high school, college admissions offices - desperate to fill empty dorms and classrooms - were eagerly recruiting almost anyone who wasn't under indictment or detox, and maybe some who were.
This also meant that when I got out of college and the Marine Corps, and sought to enter the revered "private sector," it was the decade of the 1960s, during which the gross national product of the United States was actually doubling - and because there were so few people in my generational cohort, for us lucky ones there were almost more jobs than there were young people to fill them.
Last week, I wrote about our expanded news staff and the freelance writers who continue to contribute to the quality of our newspaper.
Much to my chagrin, I failed to mention one of the most important people on the staff. She's not a reporter or photographer, but she certainly keeps the wheels of business and commerce going for EastWord News. Her name is Kristina Boehlke and she's our operations director.
