One of the most surreal parts of my move to Washington D.C. a few months ago was listening to an audiobook of John Grisham’s Gray Mountain while driving through the Appalachians, where the story takes place.
It felt strange to inhabit the same space as fictional characters – particularly because I was traveling through an unfamiliar place in the middle of the night.
As the temperature climbs, our morning Katy Trail walks have become increasingly early.
The earlier mornings mean that I now have time to read and breakfast on the balcony before starting my work day. (Rather than starting emails before I have even showered.)
This morning’s book is The Shape of Design by Frank Chimero.
The Shape of Design by Frank Chimero.
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli is one of my favorite books. I re-read it constantly.
This Italian political treatise is about 500 years old, but contains a lot of insights into human behavior that translate well into modern life, particularly politics and marketing.
I recently thought of my favorite passage from The Prince during an awful client meltdown.
This situation will be familiar to many of my digital marketing friends:
When dealing with a client who refuses to accept digital marketing changes, I think about Machiavelli’s warning to leaders who face resistance to change:
Today was a marathon, and not my housemate’s day.
A housemate and I wanted to get four things done today: buy books, get a locker, activate our student IDs for the law library, and a buy student bus pass.
Simple right?
Well, the library cards are only activated at orientation, so that taken off the agenda.
I was able to get books, a locker, and my bus pass. No problem.
My housemate wasn’t so lucky – she tried to charge the books ($780!) to her student account, and her student ID was declined.
Bookstore clerk: “The computer says you’re not registered.”
Hm. Orientation is Wednesday. All of the other 1L’s are registered… That’s a problem.
So we go to the law admissions office and they send us to the law school registrar. The registrar tells my housemate she is registered, but that she must have a hold on her record.
Apparently international students have a hold on their records until they attend a special orientation.
So we are sent to the international admissions office. We wait and are eventually told, “Hm. That shouldn’t be a problem, but we put a temporary release on your stop. Go to the student card office to see if it worked.”
On the way to student card office we stop at the bank because my housemate’s name is spelled wrong on her debit card. The nice cashier orders a new debit card and tells my housemate that she can use her misprinted card until the new one arrives. Great. Peace out.
We walk across the river to the student card office, wait in a 15 person line, and are told by a woman who shouts everything TO GO TO THE STUDENT SERVICES OFFICE.
Thanks. We get to the STUDENT SERVICES OFFICE, take a number, wait. The student assisting us smirks and tells my housemate that she, in fact, isn’t registered.
My housemate calls the law school like “wtf mate?” and the law school registrar tells her that she was supposed to call them and inform them that the stop was removed.
My housemate: “But doesn’t your computer system tell you that my stop was removed?”
The registrar: “Yes, but you’re supposed to call us to tell us it was removed. Call us back in 15 minutes.”
Fine.
So my housemate decides to use her debit card to pay for the books. Who needs a student account anyway!? So we cross the river again, go to the law school bookstore, grab all of the books again, and she pays with her card.
Which doesn’t work.
Crap.
My housemate: “OH! I forgot to activate it.”
She goes outside and calls the activation number.
Electronic voice on phone: “Your card is invalid. You suck at life. Goodbye.”
So we leave the books at the bookstore again and go back to the bank.
“Nice” teller: “Oh, I accidentally deactivated your card. Oops.”
The Nice-yet-newly-annoying teller hands back to the now-useless card, and we go to the student services office next door to see if my housemate is finally registered. Yes. She is. Yay.
Student Services lady: But your registration isn’t going to show up for the bookstore for 24-hours. So you can’t get your books today. Hah. Sucks.
Crap.
So housemate decides she’s going to pay cash. You can’t mess up cash. She goes back to the nice-yet-incompetent bank teller and asks for $800.
Teller: “Trying to buy books?”
Housemate: “Yep.”
Teller: “You know you can charge it to your student account right?”
Housemate: “Well, actually, I can’t. I just registered today.”
Teller: “Oh, and your card doesn’t work. Sucks. Well, here’s the cash, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, and 800! Have a great day!”
So we return to the bookstore, get the books for a THIRD time, and my housemate pays drug dealer style, in crisp $100 bills. Cash money!
She then goes upstairs, gets a locker, and we go downstairs to shove the heavy books into said locker.
But course the combo doesn’t work. Housemate is two seconds from wigging out. We both try 10 times and then housemate storms upstairs and gets a new locker, which works.
Our entire adventure took about three hours.
We were both hungry so we walked downtown to Taco Bell. At Taco Bell my housemate checked her receipt from the bank and said, “Crap!”
Me: “What happened now?”
Housemate: “The teller gave me $800 but the receipt said she debited $900.”
Me: “Hah. How are you going to prove that she didn’t give you the extra $100?”
Housemate: “My word is going to have to do because this is some bullshit.”
We finish the Bell, bus back to campus, and my housemate goes back to the now-thoroughy-annoying teller, who thankfully remembered her. The teller was nice and apologetic because this was her second fuckup with one customer in a single day. They ended up giving my housemate the extra $100 instead of crediting it to her account.
We then went to the undergrad bookstore, (across the Mississippi river again) and raided it. We both bought speakers, U of M clothes, and I bought a lot of art supplies. A room opened up in the house so I no longer have a roommate. I’m using the extra space as art studio space. Har.
My housemate’s bad luck didn’t end at school. We went to dinner with two other housemates at the local pan-Asian restaurant and they forgot to enter her order.
So the three of us (dudes) politely waited for her food to come.
Housemate: “Cmon guys, EAT! Your food is getting cold.”
We smiled politely and ignored the request. Pfft. We aren’t going to be rude and chow when the only girl at the table is foodless.
After 10 minutes she started eating rice so we would eat our food.
Her meal came about 5 minutes later.
Heh. Today just wasn’t her day but at least she went through the circus today, and not during orientation.
So I waited for about eight hours… and convinced all of my housemates that I have absolutely no life, BUT my packages finally arrived.
Erm, well MOST of my packages came. UPS did lose one. But 5/6 arrived.
Package #6 is in limbo, probably right next to those misfortunate babies and my Target bookshelf.
