Change happens

Claudio, the chemist from Carmex, was in the shuttle with me and three other people. John was in the ‘little people’ seat ... way back. Sad, too, as he actually lived the closest. But, everyone else was going south and west and everyone else was getting to work and ... he was not.

Claudio is sometimes like Santa with his samples. He’s always carrying product and he is most happy to give it away. He says he’s a chemist but all we ever talk about is marketing. We all thanked him and put some on our lips. Well, I did. I didn’t see everyone do it. I’m driving.

Jim was getting off east of Bootz. Carmex was next off Ryan Road. Darla was off S. 51st and Hilltop. What a view. And, finally John and I went north of the airport and headed left at Amelia’s.

John used to be a junior editor at a publishing firm that closed shop after 9/11. He had studied library science. He works primarily at the Humanities desk at the Central Library. He’s also the primary buyer of psychology, religion and philosophy books for the Milwaukee system.

How does he choose books? He reads trades, is up on pop culture and does indeed take requests from citizens on what books to buy. I think he said there’s a link to click on CountyCat. I’ll be looking for that.

“Have you ever been up in the rotunda?” he asked.

“My wife has,” I said. “Not a place for me. On Doors Open Milwaukee weekend we spent nearly three hours in the building. She went up the rickety steps and learned how to change the light bulbs. I stood on the solid ground of the fourth floor. We promised to share our adventures.”

I congratulated him on being the first-ever non-retired librarian aboard the shuttle and, in my wish to make him feel special, I think I ... lied. There had been a two or three week amazing spate of retired librarians, but ... one was still actually working in the Marquette university library.

He’s special anyway. We shook hands. “Welcome aboard,” I said.

Later that day I met Lisa. Given her age and attitude I never would have guessed she is a private investigator for the Unemployment Claims division  for the state. Private investigator? Really? Really.

She’s undercover. She takes video of people lifting more than the doctor told them to lift so that she can report back to the court and cut their benefits. She catches people cheating. As soon as her car is fixed she’s headed to a motel in Wausau so she can tail a guy for a few days or as long as it takes.

Mark is a 45 year old, second shift, suburban police officer. We talked about arrogant attitudes, wrong-way drivers, huge intersections and poor signage. He’s glad he works in the suburbs and he hopes there will be a pension plan still intact when he gets there. (Yes, Governor Walker, your name came up in conversation.)

He was the last of three people out. He moved up front when the second person left. We talked about miles per day and I think I was doing a fine job; driving, I mean. I was glad I didn’t know he was a cop until nearly the end of our ride.

Somewhere in these recent days I met an internal change consultant for a local big-name place. She helps roll it out and make it smooth. She bounces around from campus to campus working in small teams or on larger corporate projects. She has a reasonable budget and a high level of autonomy. Just get the work done.

“Change happens while you sleep. Keep up or risk becoming irrelevant.” she cautioned.

“Change agent?” I asked.
“Long story,” she said, and then told it to me. A firm foundation in finance helped her along.

Her kid is a swimmer of note at UW-Whitewater. They have two cars for three people. Sometimes she rides her bike to work to make that happen. She’s happy to have had some mindfulness training. Her aging father is convinced he won’t make it through the holidays.

“One day at a time, dad.”
Another person I’d love to spend some more time with.

Change agent? Fascinating. Sounds like coaching on the radar to me.