by Mike O’Mary

Next week, I’m going to help host a lunch for new employees. These things are always a little awkward for everybody involved, and for some reason, my mind keeps going back to 1961 when I was the new guy…

When I was five years old, my family moved to a new neighborhood. One of the first things I did was to explore by taking a walk around the block with my little brother.

When we were half way around the block, two kids called to us from down the street. I sent my little brother back to the house, and if I had had any brains, I would have gone home, too. But males acquire two traits at a very early age: the ability to sense danger from approaching strangers, and the macho impulse that keeps us from running away. So I sent my brother home and waited with my five-year-old arms folded in defiance as the two kids approached.

The first thing they wanted to know was my name. I told them, but apparently they didn’t like the sound of it because the next thing I knew, one of them had me in a headlock. He was also making further inquiries about my background. Things like, “Where you from?” and “What’re you doing here?” I didn’t answer because I had already seen enough John Wayne movies to know that a straight answer to a straight question is a sign of weakness.

I forget how the fight wound down, but I eventually got home for dinner. And the two guys who attacked me eventually became two of my closest friends. Now, years later, I can’t help but note the similarity between greeting a new kid in the neighborhood at age five and greeting a new person at the office today. The only difference seems to be that somewhere along the way, we lose the need to hold the new person in a headlock while inquiring about his or her past. But I’m thinking a headlock might be just the thing to break the ice with new employees next week. I’ll let you know how things go.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, a book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 14 topics, including Cubicle Stories: Life in the Modern Workplace.

by Mike O’Mary

I received a letter this week from someone very special to me who told me that she liked the way I write and that she thought it must be nice to have some talent. She went on to say that she had yet to find her talent, and that she sometimes feels like she is a boring person. 

I have a couple of things I want to say to this person. First of all, I think it’s important to realize that almost everybody feels this way at some point in their lives. We look at our all-too-familiar surroundings and compare that to the lives of people we know or have heard about and end up thinking our lives are pretty mundane. But sometimes a little closer scrutiny will reveal hidden talents. You hold down a job, help maintain a home, love and look after your children, and serve as confidant and advisor to your friends. Every day, you fill a unique combination of roles that, when taken as a whole, reveal you to be more multifaceted than a marquis-cut diamond. I would hardly call that boring.

Also, in order to be boring, you have to be uninterested and unenthusiastic. If you are interested in the lives of those around you and in the world in which we live, you will be an interesting person. And if you are the least bit enthusiastic in the pursuit of your interests, you will attract the interest of others.

By the way, the person who told me she thinks she is boring…she spent her evening helping her kids with their homework and baking cookies. I guess boring is in the eye of the beholder. How can you be boring when your every action reveals the love that lives in your heart? When you are giving of yourself, you are loving. And loving is not boring.

Mike O’Mary is founding dreamer of Dream of Things, a book publisher currently accepting creative nonfiction stories for anthologies on 15 topics, including an anthology titled “Cubicle Stories: Life in the Modern Workplace.”