Perspectives, or It ain't no thang

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People periodically watch me build ads, lay out pages, write stories, etc and express amazement how I do it.

Keep looking. You'll get it.

These same people are the surprised when I have to find a calculator to compute even the smallest sums. I don't do math. Never have.

Got caught cheating on multiplication tests in elementary school. I forget what happened afterward.

As a junior in high school, my math ability tested out somewhere around 6th grade. Dad, a Georgia Tech graduate, was mortified. Mom, from whom I inherited by stellar math abilities, was not surprised in the least.

These people who are surprised at the ease with which I do my job often have a hard time grasping their jobs are complicated and probably difficult to me.

"But it's easy," they say.

Sure is. You know how to do it and you have experience doing it, I reply back.

Sort of. My actual reply is:

"And putting out a newspaper is easy for me. I've been doing it for 28 years."

Then, they get it. Perspective matters.

What is easy for you is a major undertaking for another person. Doesn't matter what it is.

For instance: I quit smoking years ago. Laid 'em down and that was it. Easy. I also quit chewing tobacco, which was a MUCH harder task. If it would not kill me and I could afford it, I'd have a pouch of chew in my pocket right now and a wad in my jaw.

I know plenty of people who've also quit. I know plenty of people who have tried and cannot quit. 

What's easy for you is next to impossible for someone else.

What is a breeze for one person is next to impossible for you.

Remember that next time you're inclined to belittle someone's capabilities.

At the same time, some people simply will not try. I don't have much sympathy for those folks.

Anyway, here's an idea of what we in the paper bidnez do: http://people.howstuffworks.com/newspaper.htm Understand that all the stuff this article talks about is condensed into 4 people for the paper I work for.