The Roch
11:01 PM
I just got home from a hefty dose of enchilada’s and South Park. An excellent combination. My contacts are wrinkling, but it’s been a day to talk about.
A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by the brother of a girl I went to high school with. He had seen the article in Worthwhile and out 2 and 2 together, realizing we had met back in the day. He is now a guidance counselor at a middle school and wanted to get together and talk about a few things. I agreed and set it up for today.
As I made the drive for the 11 AM appointment I was extremely excited at the prospect of going back to school. I thought back Hoover Drive, my 7th and 8th grade locale. A lot of memories popped into my head. There was my wickedly awful long mullet, my untied high top sneakers, the awkward feeling of trying to get girls to like me, playing paper football at the lunch table, getting in a fist fight with a friend, and trying to get myself to be into heavy metal music because everyone else was. It was a weird time. Your brain is going through so many things and I am not sure what I really figured out from those times. I know I grew up from it, but it was awkward. And now there is more, the gym teacher yelling out, “Welcome to Hoover Drive,” after a goal or someone was knocked down. We always yelled that in gym. Our basketball team had an internal revolt. I am not sure if drama followed me in basketball, but we always seemed to have issues. There were soccer trips and a lot of other things I guess I should move on from now.
So I pulled into the visitor space and stared a very appealing, new looking building. As I walked in, I saw the mark on the base that said 2001. I walked into the main office, signed in, put on a visitor pass, and made my way to guidance. I didn’t see the expected kids making fart noises and giggling all over the place passing coodies. That may have been younger, but I had prepared myself for that. Joe was in a meeting, so I dropped off my stuff and found the men’s room. To my right was what looked like the library. As timing had it, there was the dreaded blue screen and a long line of kids. One after the other they would sit, try and flash a nice smile, the bulb would go off, and next was called. It was picture day. I wish I could find some of my old class pictures. I wish I could get rid of my senior picture with the Kid Rock high top fade (not as tall as his).
Joe was ready for me and we sat in his office. I don’t recall if my school had guidance counselors. I know I did in high school, but I couldn’t recall middle school. We caught up and discussed a lot of things. It was nice to see a face from the past. He caught me up on his sister and a lot of people we mutually knew. He also had some pictures of his new son.
We sat and discussed my trip and some of the people I had met. He also talked about me coming back to the school and talking to the students. I wasn’t sure if they would get the message, but as we talked more about “kids today” it made sense that they might. I learned a lot about today’s youth from him. And as we walked the halls, I didn’t see armpit grabbing and teasing, I saw smiles and laughing. I felt the energy and the joy that they had. I saw innocence. And what a refreshing site it was.
The halls were filled with many different sizes. Some had started puberty and some were still waiting on it. When you are not around kids you get a different sense of what they are about. “Kids today” aren’t punks and jerks. They are kids. And they have to deal with more things than I did. I didn’t know about guns, and sex, and computers, and the internet, and email, and cell phones, and a lot of other things. I think more kids are exposed to that stuff earlier than I was.
I had a great time at the school. Joe and I had lunch and I left there thinking it would be a good fit to meet and talk with some of the kids about life. We also talked about talking with some parents. I found that interesting as well.
When my days aren’t spent writing, I seem to pack a lot into them. From school I headed off to do some marketing work and then to a 2:00 interview with a guy one of my other interview subjects set up. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I just inputted it onto the site, this was my 100th interview. What a wealth of information people have been willing to share. Awesome.
I drove into Pittsford, which was the ritzy place growing up, I think it still is. Greg greeted me outside with 2 dogs, who after a minute, realized I was friendly to them. They accepted me. Greg showed me in and shared an amazing story. He has seen the highs and lows that business and life brings. I didn’t know I was going to be sitting down with a writer and public speaker. We discussed that a lot. His goals were similar to mine, a lifestyle he can be happy with. And from sitting across from him, he was. He had some great quotes and some great advice.
For much of the time we sat outside on the porch. We had a beer and he smoked a cigar and relaxed. He was a guy that has done a lot of things I wanted to do. He passed on a lot of advice that helped me personally. I met his wife and son.
He also helped me prepare for my talk next Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how the business world handles my views on work and life.
I was with Greg from 2 to 5. After that my brain was on overload. I get that way after interviews, but the enchilada’s were waiting. I went and checked where the talk will be and then headed west. The food was awesome. Now it is time for bed and get ready for a new day. Live it up.