[Boomer]

Jessica, Jessica, Jessica,

Stop sassin' Mr. Mucci.

Stop slappin' that old "I'm gonna sueya" card down on the table. You think not staking a tree can cost you business. Once you start throwing around that old "Seeya in court" :edit:, not wanting to spring for tree stakes becomes the least of your business worries.

Go stake the tree and whatever else, if you have not already done so. (I have kind of lost track of where this is right now.)

Now, resist saying, "Boomer is a :edit:." What does she know?"

Well, Boomer knows a thing or two. And now, I am going to tell you a little story. It's what I do.

In the very early days of my career, I could be a mouthy little snot sometimes. (Not saying you are. Just saying I was.) Not always. But sometimes. I thought it was all about me. I thought I knew everything about how to do my job. And I thought I could just say stuff. . .

Well, one day, an "old woman" kicked my young, cute little Boomer butt. She took me aside and told me quietly, but in no uncertain terms, exactly what I needed to be doing and what I needed to not be saying.

Well, even though I could be a mouthy little snot in those days, (Not saying you are. Just saying I was.) I also had a major clue once in awhile. And so I listened to what that "old woman" said. I apologized, sincerely. (In those days we did not consider "Sorry 'bout that" to be an apology. --That statement heard so often now drives me nuts. I don't even know if those saying it realize how it sounds. -- but I digress.)

Anyway, Jessica, I went on for 34 more years in one career. I needed specific education for that career. But I gotta tellya, Jessica, the education that "old woman" gave me, in about five minutes, turned out to have been the most valuable part of all that education.

I know your job is not easy. Any job done well is not easy. And I know you must be feeling, "What in the heck did I get myself into?"

But Jessica, if you stop and breathe and think about all this, you may realize that what you just got here in this thread from all these "old people" could just be worth more to you than an MBA. There is more business acumen riding around in those golf carts in TV than you could probably find anywhere in one spot.

And you did not even have to pay tuition to learn what you just learned. If you decide to learn it that is.

Well, Jessica, when I sit down at my computer, in my kitchen, almost every morning, I never know what I am going to write. And believe it or not, I really try to resist writing anything. But I cannot seem to stop. And this morning, I somehow landed in this thread. And here I am, a mouthy "old woman" trying to tell you what to do.

Jessica, I sincerely hope that you will learn from all this. And I hope you will tap even further into that potential you have. And I hope you will realize how big the business picture is. And how subtle the ins and outs of business can be. There is more at stake here than just a stake or two.

Boomer, the "Old Woman" with a Long Memory