Me, that is. I guess… Harold had me absolutely guffawing this morning when he told me that when he first met me, he had me pegged as a music or art history professor!!! Apparently, business systems analyst (aka computer nerd) didn’t immediately enter his mind. Was it my shaggy unruly hair? (It is *not* shaggy, not after the fancy cut I got from the goddess Vonda. But… Without Vonda around to style it for me every morning… Well, you know…) Or was it my REI / Chico’s wardrobe, accessorized with wild polartech socks and Chaco sandals? And who knows what he might’ve made of my backpack and the big case I sling over my shoulder as I schlep my work laptop from wifi to wifi.

The funny part about all of this is that I actually am a real live classically trained flute player, a pretty good one, or at least I used to be when I actually took the dern thing out of its case once in a while. So Harold was really not all that far off with the music prof thing because I probably could have ended up being just that. When I got out of college I did not have the *foggiest* idea of how to begin a music career. The two things I could think of to do were to audition for orchestral jobs or hang out my shingle to teach flute students. Problem. I didn’t really want to be a career orchestral player (not to mention that it is exceedingly difficult to get one of those jobs no matter how “good” you are). And believe me, you and your children are much better off without me as a teacher.

So I ended up with a computer-type job. My first job was at the rock-bottom rung of the ladder. In the early months when I (admittedly) had no idea what the heck I was doing, I endured all manner of gender discrimination, a fair amount of sexual harassment, and more than a bit of garden variety catty-ness from other women who needed to find better things to do with their time. It was hard at first but I got totally hooked on computer work and I have a good work ethic and so I slowly but surely managed to worm my way into becoming a respected member of the team.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this. It’s late and we took The Commander out to dinner at Ang-Gio’s tonight and I’m taaarrrrred. Just that I kind of enjoy being one of those people that are a little hard to figger on first impression. The Comm is a bit like that too, come to think of it. And I also think that if you are a creative, both-brained, out of the box thinker with so many interests that you can’t just choose one (!!!) it almost doesn’t matter what college degree you get. If you have what some people might refer to as an artsy-fartsy degree, you may struggle a bit to make a living when you first graduate. Unfortunately, there are many people who won’t take you seriously. Especially if you are young, thin, and blonde. Trust me. I know. But don’t give up. Your skills are just as important to the world as those who have known exactly what they wanted to do with their lives since they were three. In the long run, you will be successful. Please don’t give up!

And so, another incomprehensible download from the overstuffed brain of KW ends. Good night. It’s the Kentucky Derby tomorrow! What horse are you going to choose? Do you have your mint slurry ready for your julep? Do you know where your fancy hat is?

This entry was posted on Friday, May 6th, 2011 at 8:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.