Imagined Memory

Check out the image on the right - it is a coupon from 1965 offering a staggering $.05 off two boxes of Jell-0.1 Now I am sure back in ‘65, the $.05 off promotion would have been pretty enticing, the full price of a couple of boxes of Jell-O couldn’t have been more than 50 cents or so. So the nickel savings was probably a decent deal for the times.  I can see it now, a big Tuesday night on the Barcalounger, mixing up some Tropical Fruit Jell-O and firing up the 13-inch to catch Bewitched 2 and Gomer Pyle.  Good times.

Of course today the Jell-O offer seems kind of quaint, and even antiquated.  I couldn’t even locate the key or combination of keys on my keyboard to make the little ‘cents’ symbol, you know the one with the small ‘c’ and the line through it.  I have to think there is still a way to do that, but it’s late and I am quite honestly tired of trying to sort it out.  Besides, pretty soon we won’t need the ‘cents’ key at all.  Pretty soon we won’t even need coins or cash all that often either, once the iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry method of paying for stuff finally takes hold for good 3.

Have you made it back from the footnotes?  Ok, good.  So, I was saying the nickel off two boxes of Jell-O deal, while sort of amusing, also tends to evoke a kind of ‘man times sure were crappy back then, I mean, people were going for 5 cents off two boxes of Jell-O?  People must have been idiots’, kind of vibe.  No cable TV 4, no internet, not much of anything at all.  Dick Sargent replacing Dick York.

But at the same time, and especially around the holidays, it is common to look back on those days fondly, and with a sort of wistful appreciation of simpler and (not really but it just seemed that way), more wholesome times.  It’s like a reverse nostalgia for times we think we remember.  Our memories want to have it both ways I guess.

But I think we can’t really help but to be torn in that way, the past is usually simultaneously depressing and inspiring, dingy and bright, lost forever but always with us, every day, all the time.  Some part of the past always endures, either because we like to keep close the memories and relics of the journey that has taken us here, or because we don’t have the strength to let go.  Lots of us are hoarding 5 the past, even if others can’t see these collections, we carry them along, often for far too long.  

I want some Jell-O I think, served in a 1965-style formica 6 bowl, and Dick York trying to keep Samantha under control.  I never even watched Bewitched, and was not born yet in 1965, but no matter.

I think I’m nostalgic for a time that never existed.

Notes:

1. Unimportant fact number one - Jell-O was invented in Le Roy, NY in 1897 by Pearle Wait (who was in fact, male).  Le Roy is about 20 miles or so from where I live, and as far as I can tell is still gravy training on the Jell-O angel today.  The Jell-O museum located in Le Roy is a pretty happening place.

2. Unimportant fact two - Bewitched ran from 1964-1972 and starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha (the witch), and two different guys named Dick (York and then Sargent) as her husband Darrin. Over time the first name of ‘Dick’ has fallen in popularity, while ‘Bewitched’ still seems to hold up well.

3. Slightly more important fact three - Mobile payments are quite common and popular in Japan, with an estimated 28 million people using the technology.  Today, three major US wireless carriers announced plans to form a joint venture to allow their customers to pay for goods and services with their mobile devices.  The venture, code named Isis, is expected to launch with debit, credit, and prepaid options.  Of course the major credit card issuers, Visa and MasterCard, are not participating in this venture, as they are expected to offer their own version and technologies for mobile payments soon.  

4. Back to less important fact four - Cable TV was introduced in the United States in 1948 in Arkansas, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. Not on the same carrier however, that would have been a large cable.  But most US-based readers will recall Cable TV as being ‘born’ on August 1, 1981 when MTV played ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by the Buggles.

5. Clearly unimportant fact five - Compulsive Hoarding, defined as the is the excessive acquisition of possessions (and failure to use or discard them), even if the items are worthless, hazardous, or unsanitary, is enjoying a recent run of popularity on American Cable TV.  ‘Hoarders’ on the A&E network, and ‘Hoarding: Buried Alive’ on TLC both take the viewer inside the homes (if they can get through the door), of compulsive hoarders and provide psychological and physical assistance to try and help the hoarders and their families reclaim their homes (and lives) from seemingly living, breathing, piles of clutter.

6. Last fact of the post six - Formica was invented in 1912 by engineers at Westinghouse.  While it gained, and to some extent still has popularity as a floor and counter covering material, I am imagining it being used to make bowls in the 1960’s, bowls out of which I would eat my Tropical Fruit Jell-O, in my imagined memory.

PBR, Irony, and Duct Tape

If you are sort of old like me, and not all that cool, you might not know that amongst wide swaths of the young, hipster crowd that Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) beer has become a popular and trendy beverage of choice.

Part of the reason for PBR's popularity with that scene is it's relative value; I think a 12-pack of PBR can be had for a reasonable $7.00 or $8.00 in most parts of the country.  The other explanation for the brand's recent success with the cool kids is less about value and more about image; by drinking PBR, a brew that is more or less bland, nondescript, and 'old',  the hipsters are making a kind of statement. They are sending a message that they simply don't care about what the beer they choose says about them, and going further, if they do choose to drink cheap, mass-produced beer that they choose to consciously and conspicuously shun the mass-market, mass-advertised, and more obvious choices like Budweiser or Coors for a more 'indie' choice in PBR. 

In a way it is the ironic choice.  To try and rebel against the incessant marketing messages from the major brands, the hipsters choose to go even more down market, all the way down to PBR.  When was the last time you can recall seeing a PBR commercial on the Super Bowl, or for that matter, any kind of PBR advertising at all?  And no, the aging 1960s era posters at the local bowling alley don't count. At the end of the day, the folks that make and sell PBR probably don't completely understand this newfound popularity, but they know that for the moment anyway, and for the first time in maybe 40 years, the PBR brand has some relevance, some cachet even.  

My Dad still lives in New Jersey, in the house I grew up in.  His neighbor and friend that lives across the street is named Phil, and for most of my childhood Phil worked in a brewery helping to make PBR beer. As kids, we never thought Phil was all that hip or cool. To us, he was an old guy, he wore a workshirt with the PBR logo that we, in our ignorant and narrow view of the world, thought was low-class.  He used duct tape to hold the muffler assembly on his aging Buick, an improvised repair that we laughed at, with our childish lack of awareness of the realities and problems that mortgages, insurance, and medical bills put on an unskilled worker in a brewery.

Phil came home from work every day and took his son, Phil Jr., out for a walk.  Phil Jr. was just a year or two younger than me, but I never had a relationship with him. Sadly, he was a victim of Cerebral Palsy. He could not walk, could hardly communicate, and could not see. Phil would take Phil Jr. out, stand behind him and hold him up, and proceed to try and walk him up and down the street, the entire time having what to us seemed like a one-sided conversation with his son. To Phil these were probably the most precious few moments of the day.  Phil took these walks with this son every day for years.

As I think back on it, I wonder if Phil secretly hoped that these walks with his son, where he essentially was carrying him along, would somehow, someway be the catalyst that would enable Phil Jr. to walk on his own one day.  Eventually the combination of Phil Jr. growing too tall and heavy, and Phil getting older and weaker put an end to these daily supported walks.  Phil Jr's condition never really improved, and at some point after I had gone off to college and moved away, he was placed in an assisted living facility.

Around that same time the fortunes of PBR beer were clearly on the decline, and the brewery where Phil had worked for 20-odd years was closed. After that Phil bounced around in a series of jobs - maintenance worker, janitor, maybe even night security guard, until he finally was able to retire a few years ago.  

I saw Phil earlier this year when my Dad was hospitalized, and he came to pay a visit.  He looked tired, seemed a little bit confused, but for someone that has endured a long and often emotionally painful life I suppose was holding up as well as can be expected.  It was good to see him.

I wanted to tell him about the resurgence of the PBR brand, about how in the last few years it has suddenly become hip to drink PBR, but after a few minutes I realized that he would not have really understood or appreciated or even cared. 

And come to think of it, I am glad I didn't try and tell the story to Phil.  When most people see the PBR label today, they think of the Brooklyn hipsters looking and acting so much cooler that the rest of us. Shallow, transitory, and meaningless.

When I see the PBR label, I think of Phil, in his workshirt, carrying his son up and down the street.

The ancillary benefit of being true

As the US nears what is shaping up to be a contentious political campaign season, and the rhetoric, vitriol, and semantic arguments multiply, (it depends on what you mean by 'is'), it can get pretty next to impossible to know who is telling the truth, and who is just pushing their agenda.

And even the agenda pushers are not always easy to read.  They could be promoting themselves, some faceless political party, some corporate interests, or even a labor union.  In the current American political arena, the 'truth' is an elusive concept.  Last night I heard a pundit observe that his particular viewpoint on a hotly debated topic had 'the ancillary benefit of being true'. Cool, some ancillary truth to go along with the normal pile of drivel he will be shoving in your direction.

The larger point is every communication in politics, at work, and even at home has some kind of an agenda behind it.  We try to inform, persuade, educate, direct, etc. all the time.  Sure, most of us (I hope) are not trying to constantly outmaneuver our rivals at work, or are trying to promote some kind of worldview that may or may not be based in truth or what's 'right'. 

Aside - not everyone who disagrees with you is 'dangerous', 'radical', or some kind of threat to order and security.  Smart people can disagree.  Get over it.

But still, I think it a good reminder, and kind of refreshing of this pundit to so blatantly call out the fact that sorting out how much of what he spouts is actually 'true' is certainly a challenging proposition.  In the political arena, where side-taking dominates and colors perceptions of the truth more than anything else, it perhaps is not so difficult to come to a conclusion. At work, and when managing and trying to lead teams and individuals, it is maybe not so simple.

As an employee it may not be easy to know if what's being fed to you is a lie, the truth, or just something something in between that has 'the ancillary benefit of being true'.

As a manager or leader how much 'ancillary truth' are you sharing today?

Negative Space

A recent guest on the HR Happy Hour show sent me a note after the show expressing concern that they had perhaps dominated the conversation and was worried that I may have been somehow offended or disappointed.  

I was neither offended nor disappointed.Tourist photo , NYC, 1950's

The show is all about providing a forum or platform for interesting and smart people to share their opinions, insights, and expertise.  I don't need to say much of anything to have a good show. In fact, I think at times, the less I have to say the better.

That advice I think holds true for many other relationships as well, be they 'real' or virtual or with software programs and their users.  Hurry up and finish talking so I can say what I really think. Let me tell you what I have been up to. Sure, we have that feature.  We have every feature.

It holds true for the design of the systems that we use in our workplaces and in our spare time. Software companies often feel compelled to include every feature that customers request, or that they have seen a competitor tout as 'new and improved'. 

We don't always have to fill up all the space with words, content, opinions, comments, buttons, and features.

Sometimes it is perfectly acceptable to not have all that much to say, and let some negative, or empty space in.

Is it obvious that I spent the holiday weekend goofing off, and did not come up with anything interesting to write today?

Right now

1. READING: The Why of Work - Prepping for the next HR Happy Hour show, this is the latest from Dave Ulrich and Wendy Ulrich.  Really interesting ideas on how leaders and organizations can strive to make more meaningful workplaces and create what the authors call 'abundant' organizations.

2. BEING: I should be here a little more often.  Maybe I can guilt myself into hitting it up a little more frequently.

3. WATCHING: Way too much basketball with a healthy dose of the unhealthy folks on Hoarders. Basketball, especially NBA at the highest level is a great petri dish of competition, team work, management, and leadership all wrapped up in a neat package. Hoarders is just plain scary, but oddly compelling.  Maybe we all carry around too much of the past, either in the form of 'stuff' or just in our minds.

4. BROWSING: HR and workplace related - Women of HR, a new multi-contributor site launched this week.   Fun stuff - Junkculture, Significant Objects, and Patrick's Investigations, where Patrick is running a contest that involves making fun of me, be sure to check it out.

5. SNACKING: BBQ season is in full effect.  Smoked brisket is on the docket for this weekend I believe.  If I get too lazy to cook, I will have to hit up the Dinosaur.

6. LISTENING: I am not a huge music guy, but I did check out this live concert that was streamed on YouTube last month and thought it was pretty cool.

7. SAYING: 'Don't bunch up' - said repeatedly lately to a group of 8 and 9 year olds that have yet to fully grasp that not actually standing on each other's toes may help the overall soccer team's effectiveness.

8. DRINKING: Hawaiian Punch.  Don't judge.

Punchy

9. DREAMING: Vegas baby - and the Tremendous Upside Unconference in July.

Editor's Notes: 

So what do you do when you are a bit stuck for ideas for a blog post?

You find an excellent post written by someone else and steal blatantly. Well, not really, make sure you quote accurately and ask for permission if need be.

The title and idea for this post is completely lifted from Col at Col's Blog - her piece is way more interesting, so I highly recommend you head over there and check it out.  

Thanks Col for the permission to hijack your idea!