Tag: reading between the lines

Efforts and Optimism

A real entrepreneur is somebody who has no safety net underneath them. — Henry Kravis

You never know what people think of you. I walk past the same homeless person near my work at least twice a day. I have an incredible amount of respect for him. I’ve given him money a few times. He assembles massive amounts of rummage he can sell (e.g. cardboard, small electronics, bottles, etc.). He has a cell phone, I’ve seen it. The piles in the carts must stack 7 or 8 feet in the air, and he parks them right on the sidewalk. Then suddenly, he’ll disappear and come back with newer clothes and a cart that’s barely full.

Once he disappeared for two weeks. I was randomly walking alongside a young girl who yelled “You’re back!” when she saw him, smiled and continued walking by. There must be a few hundred people with some opinion of him and he probably has no idea what they are and probably doesn’t care. 

Napoleon once said “Respect the burden,” but I think mine is different. I respect his efforts and optimism. I wonder  what I might do in the same situation. Creativity and determination are like the spoon Andy used in Shawshank Redemption. Figure out what you want to do with what you have and do it.

Glory Stories

A man is already halfway in love with any woman who listens to him. — Brendan Francis

Men like to tell glory stories so that they can relive the good times. They’ll find new people to talk to just so they can repeat the same old favorites. There must be something to storytelling that let’s them live it again.

I think this is also the reason lots of guys never repeat the meat of old war tales. The interesting parts you want to hear. They never tell you how hard their time in prison was, or what they did during their long unemployment, or even talk about serious arguments. But bring up a time they won money in Vegas and you’ll hear every detail.

There’s something about explaining yourself to someone, who doesn’t understand, that is very exhausting. They might need to convince you that it was worse than you could ever imagine. Maybe you still wouldn’t get it. So they skip the questions that require them to relive the past long enough to describe a few scenes. That makes sense to me.

On the other hand, it doesn’t seem very honest. Have they conceded defeat to past experience? There is also glory in describing how and what you survived, but only if you see it that way.

Discovering what you believe

The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe. — Gustave Flaubert

The thing about a blog is when you have nothing to say you can write to yourself. One thing that’s always interesting is secrets. I don’t know what this blog is about yet, but I hope to write enough to find out.

We’ve been interviewing candidates for different positions this week. All of them are nervous. Each of them exaggerate and there are probably dozens who didn’t even get to interview. But now that I’m on the interviewer side of the table I noticed I don’t even care if they’re padding their skills. All I care about is if they’re the type of person who can do what they say they can.

It makes you realize all of the times when you want your words to be perfect (e.g. speeches, interviews, dates) and the other person isn’t looking for perfection. They’re looking past the words you’re putting in front of them. They’re trying you on in their minds, the way you put on a coat in a fitting room. And before you’ve even finished talking they think they have a feeling of what it would be like to have you around.