Go Ask The Old Man

Holy cats. There have been a few things lately that have made me feel really old. And tonight was definitely one of them.

They had me scheduled to work 2-10 at 2 house with Miz Chatterbox and Peachfuzz. I was planning on spending alot of time in the wings and outside. There's only so much information I want to absorb in one night And Miz C tends to fill me up quickly. But she called in so they sent us Beach Boy.

I think Peachfuzz and Beach Boy together are as old as I was when I first started with the department. Young as heck.

At one point I leaned over by Peachfuzz and sniffed and said "Yup! He's still got that new smell to him!" I'm surprised they didn't both smell like baby powder. Sheesh.

None of us really knew the house. Sure, we'd all worked there a few times. But all three of us were utility officers and didn't know the routines of how the house runs.

So every time something came up, they would both look at me. I'd stop and raise an eyebrow and look back at them, waiting for one of them to make a suggestion. Then I'd say "Okay, do it this way." Neither one of them wanted to make a decision.

That's fine. I can remember being new and running into things outside of my purview. And I can remember years ago hearing someone say "Go ask the old man. He'll know what to do!"

Now tonight I was the "Old Man" in a house I didn't know very well. It felt good that I made the seemingly correct decisions. After all, they weren't very hard to begin with. Nothing went bad and nobody got hurt, so it went well.

I suppose I should have tried to turn it into more of a learning experience for them. I could have asked "Well, what would you do?" and see if they came up with the same decision I had. I need to start trying to think more in the mode of a supervisor instead of being the guy who says "I know how to do this, I'll go do it."

If I put my mind to it, I can probably teach somebody something now and then.

It feels kind of funny. Part of the time I am up in the control center where I am new as can be. There's still a bazillion things I need to learn up there. I'm a control center newbie.

But in other places I'm the old man. Like I was one of the original settlers or something. Jeez.

Maybe next time I'll just try whacking them with my cane and see if that works.

Young whipper-snappers, anyway.

So here's the weekend lineup:
Saturday is going to be American Tag Day, Alvin C. York Day, National Depression Screening Day, Universal Music Day and National Pierogy Day.
Sunday will be Moldy Cheese Day, Lief Erikson Day, National Chess Day and Clergy Appreciation Day. Support your local Rev!
Monday is going to be National Angel Food Cake Day, International Newspaper Carrier Day, Native American Day, Naval Academy Day and World Mental Health Day.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it!