I left my laptop on an airplane last night.
Once I found the right person (which took about seven minutes, as I hadn’t yet left the airport), I was reconnected with my computer in less than 20 minutes.
If you know Ken who works for JetBlue in Portland, Oregon…please thank him (again) for me.
I call NYC the land of a thousand strangers.
So many anonymous faces; everyone in such a rush. The subway is crowded with people from all walks of life, many of whom you will never see again.
Faces painted with burdens and hope, fatigue and fantasy. Some passing through the city for a night, some here for what must feel like an eternity.
After you’re here long enough, however, the faces become more familiar. The archetypes more endearing. The strangers, not so strange.
People smile and hold hands. Art is evident in the little things. Stories etched in alleys and walkways and archways…
* * *
The New York Times published a beautiful project in 2009 that tells the story of 54 New Yorkers:
New York is a city of characters. The Green Thumb, whose community garden in a Brooklyn housing project shows children that eggs don’t come from eggplant. The Dictaphone Doctor, last of a dying breed. The Jury Clerk, who ways ‘Good morning’ 200 times a day and means it. The Teenage Mother. The Tabloid Photographer. The Iraq Veteran. The Walking Miracle. Throughout 2009, The Times introduced 54 such individuals in sound and images, ordinary people telling extraordinary stories — of passions and problems, relationships and routines, vocations and obsessions.
Ancillary: This is a example of Flash being used brilliantly for its intended purpose: adding an immersive richness to the web browsing experience (not for an entire restaurant website).
[Amusingly, Adobe is ending development of Flash in favor of HTML5, and this experience could be recreated today (and work on mobile devices like the iPhone) without Flash.]
I once spoke at a conference where a well-known member of the software community saw fit to interrupt my presentation with a correction (related to some political issues of marginal importance to most people).
It was rude, in poor taste, and created a tense moment for everyone in the room.
It would have been easy to posture and fuss, asking her to interrupt someone else’s talk instead of mine. And I would have been completely justified in putting her in her place (I had the mic, after all) while it was happening.
I patiently waited for the interruption to end (it was brief, thankfully), allowed a silence to hang in the air, and continued with the presentation.
Afterwards, she apologized.
I try to remain cool under pressure at all times, and there seems to be a wellspring of patience to draw from when challenging situations arise.
This isn’t to say that the enthusiastic assertion of one’s will is never appropriate — the key is knowing when each is appropriate.
I mentioned these guys yesterday, but I didn’t link to them.
Ishita is Seth Godin’s Head of Hoopla, the main reason I’m in NYC right now (true story), and a versatile public relations professional. In short, she gets the word out.
Alex is a freelance book designer, who makes art out of evertything he touches. Alex found his niche while working on The Domino Project, and I’m thrilled to promote his work whenever I can.
Hire them.