Life lessons I should know by now

Posted 8/21/12

There seems to be something about human nature that no matter how many times you may hear advice or words of wisdom, it doesn’t truly sink in until you’ve experienced it for yourself.

Over the …

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Life lessons I should know by now

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There seems to be something about human nature that no matter how many times you may hear advice or words of wisdom, it doesn’t truly sink in until you’ve experienced it for yourself.

Over the past few months I’ve personally learned a few new ones, and I’m sharing them with you in the hope that you will find them helpful.

Know the plan (even if it’s not your problem)

I recently had the experience of saying the wrong thing on an important phone call with a producer. It was someone with whom I have not worked before, and I answered an honest question too honestly. I suddenly found myself down a road that was difficult to backtrack.

“So how’s the footage getting to the edit room?” She asked innocently.

“I’m not sure,” I answered quickly. There was an earth-shatteringly long pause.

“Sounds like you need to figure it out.”

And here’s where I really stepped into it.

“Um. If you need me to I can, but I’d rather not.”

I was technically in the right. It isn’t really part of the editor’s responsibility. It falls more between the digital tech on set who is downloading the cards, the post supervisor coming up with the plan and the assistant editor who is converting and syncing the dailies (the footage shot each day). Typically when the editor shows up it’s all in the computer.

But it’s certainly more my department than hers, and the conversation should have left her feeling confident in me. Instead, I am sure I came across as a bit of a diva. At the moment when I answered the phone I was tired, overwhelmed and shouldn’t have even picked up the phone without doing a little reconnaissance.

Not surprisingly things started to spiral. Phone calls bounced around involving agents and higher-ups. Getting the movie executives’ confidence back ended up taking hours out of the day, not to mention starting an experience off on the wrong foot.

I cringe just thinking about it.

Construction takes longer than

expected

Emily and I have been out of our apartment for months, the damage caused by the flood and subsequent mold eradication in our apartment is finally over and construction has now begun.

When we first moved out we thought we’d be out for a month. It was still summer and we packed a bag of appropriate clothes: shorts, T-shirts, sandals.

I remember the broker who found us our current sublet saying, “You never know how long you’ll be out. Could be up to six months. Could be longer.”

“No way,” I thought. “Not us. We’ll be back before you know it.”

And then, like sand through an hourglass, each hour of each day just slips away, little by little.

“The electrician can’t come today and we can’t do anything until he is available,” we hear from the contractor.

“The insurance adjuster wants to see the progress before he signs off on the rest of the work.”

“When can he come?”

“Next week.”

I feel as though I’ve aged years in the past six months, turning more and more into the cynical New Yorker I’d always hoped to avoid. Learning about favors and who needs envelopes of cash to speed things up.

And above all, accepting the fact that I have no idea when it’ll all be finished. The only thing I’m confident of is that it’ll be later than I think it’ll be.

Balloons pop

On the unusually warm Sunday afternoon of Emily’s bridal shower; I was tasked with picking up two dozen pink balloons before being urged to make myself scarce.

My mom was in town, and she accompanied me to the party superstore. We wandered around trying on discount Halloween costumes and waiting for the balloons to be filled.

Before leaving the store the guy explained to me, “Just remember to avoid sharp objects—balloons pop.”

“Thanks,” I said doing my best to hide my eye roll.

As we walked back to the apartment, I started in on the guy.

“Careful of scissors, pins and needles. I don’t know if you know this about balloons. It’s something we’ve recently discovered... they pop. Thanks tremendously, Mr. Balloon expert.”

POP!

I had inadvertently walked too close to a pricker bush, popping the balloon. It was the very definition of perfect timing and karma. My mom burst out laughing.

“I deserved that.”

Listen to advice

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