It's 9AM
I wasn’t supposed to overhear them.
We were in a busy bar on Saturday night, just grabbing a frozen margarita and something cold on draft after a quick trip for tax free weekend.
We ran into a couple of strangers who said they were down in town to visit their daughter.
She is on the news.
A fresh cub reporter on a channel we watch and I called her out by name.
Which impressed them.
And gave some pointers on how she could make more better faster, which impressed them more.
Partly because it’s some things the Dad said to her before.
And
Because the pointers were about social media growth, and how she can use it based on my experience running cameras for the news a few years ago.
More than a few now, but it was really just taking what worked in the past and repurposing it for today.
Something the local news forgot.
Because a lot of their stories are packaged on the national level, and local reporters are just sent to one town, Little Rock, to cover “local” events.
There are very few feature reports now.
But
I got my start in the local market running camera for festivals.
Sometimes with just video, sometimes with a cub reporter.
Usually a pretty hot blonde, which made heading to the hinterlands of LA more worthwhile.
Lower Arkansas.
The Tiller Festival.
The Pink Tomato Festival.
The Forest Fest.
The Pickle Fest.
Which is where I learned there were pickle races and got to play hide the pickle when the van broke down and a two hour trip turned into an overnight.
Good times.
I did not recommend this new reporter play pickle games.
Not to her parents.
I did suggest she start making her own reports on stuff she liked.
The mom, a thriftier, wondered if she could do the same.
Make tik toks or youtubes about the treasures she finds and sells.
Yep.
There are audiences for anything.
I spend too much time watching a guy mow overgrown yards and way too much watching/listening to Rogan interview weirdos.
After a thirty minute conversation turned into two, the parents left with some ideas to share with their daughter, and maybe themselves.
I did not share these like a lecture.
I made sure of that.
Just a couple of couples drinking at a bar, and wondering what if.
I was very careful about that because I have been told that I come across as an authority figure.
Words like, “Everybody thinks you know…” and fill in the blank.
I said I only talk about what I know about.
Plus, I know just enough about a lot of stuff that I ask good questions.
And good questions spark great conversations.
The Mom leaned over and whispered “I think your husband is a genius” to Les.
Her normal answer is, “He’s not my husband.”
But this time, she kept her mouth closed and I caught her looking at me.
Staring.
And I realized, because we spend a lot of time together, AND because I am a thinker/talker she has probably heard me say things a thousand times.
I tend to ponder and reflect when we are in the car, and ask her questions too.
But she is more pragmatist than dreamers, so when I see an empty eight story building with hundreds of empty rooms sitting vacant and almost broken for two decades and ask, Why don’t they turn that into a homeless shelter, with treatment center in the lobby, and training and addiction steps all in one location, she wonders why I suggest something I will never do.
I am not “practically” interested in solving the homeless problem.
It’s abstract.
Because it takes time I don’t have, and effort I can’t afford to expend with so many other items on the agenda.
But I caught her looking at me in what looked like a new light.
As if she was seeing me how others see me.
Sometimes.
Which inspired her.
And her kind words and kind deeds inspired me.
It created this cycle of smiles and actions and thoughts, which made her feel happy.
Which made me happy.
We sort of got high on our own supply of happiness, and it started a reciprocal effect that’s reverberated throughout the household.
All from a question to strangers at a bar.
The world is packed with bad news and bad things and bad moods.
What if you were the reason it wasn’t?
And what if everyone in your life knew it?
The Car We Wanted Versus The Car We Got
Watch these 10 second videos and click SUBSCRIBE! We’re so close to our goal.
Grab these today
Lodgement - a sci fi action adventure
Battlefield Z - The Complete adventures giant boxset
AND
A note about the cover above. This is from a brand new military sci fi series. Aliens. Militia. Lost boys. A Sci Fi Red Dawn! What would you do? Coming soon.
PLUS
Have you upgraded your subscription to get a ton of free stuff.
Be real cool if you did. (totally did that in my Matthew McConaughey accent.)