A Bad Attitude

Posted on March 25, 2003 in Writing Groups

Every now and then, we get a visitor in the group who has a gleam in her eye for the potential revenue we represent. Last night, a career transition consultant showed and sat next to me. She had a yellow pad on which she made a diagram of the table and listed the names of everyone sitting around it. Another member whose attendance is erratic asked that we each talk a little bit about ourselves, so Nannette had us go around the table.

The consultant made little notes about each person, indicating which were the most promising prospects. She marked the technical writers and editors as especially important. When the circle got to me, I said “I hate this kind of thing. My past is this….” and I rattled off the various things that I had done or published over the years. “….but that’s not important. I’m in this to do the writing, to make good stories.”

I noticed after I had finished that there were no notes or even my name in the space she made. I guess, in her eyes, I had a bad attitude.