[Note from the Proprietor: This is one of an ongoing series of posts called Scenes From a Sidewalk. Want to know what it's all about? Follow that link to read the series introduction.]

OK; I admit it. I’m an (sound of terrified scream) optimist.

Admittedly, that may come as a shock to those of you who are aware of my current job situation. Alas; by the time you read this, I may have been ‘downsized’. (Psst. Anyone know of a need for a first-class Mechanical Project Manager with lots of worldwide experience?)And it definitely flies in the face of the current (sound of heartfelt sobbing) Big Picture. You know the one I mean, right: the on you hear about on the daily news?

But I just can’t help it; I tend to see the sunny side of things. At least, eventually.

Anyway, if you’ve spent any time at all in the Middle Zone, you’ve probably come to that conclusion too. (Or, you just assumed I was, y’know, insane.) It’s not my fault – really! Hey, I can’t help it if there’s so much zany stuff goin’ on all around me. I sometimes think it follows me around, y’know?

It’s what I call the S.H.I.N.E. Syndrome: Seeing Humor In Nearly Everything.

Take, for instance, this one particular mosey down the sidewalk…

Meet… Frank

So, I’m strollin’ along, enjoying the beautiful fall weather, when I just happen to look up and see the scene pictured here. Look closely at the middle of the photo. Now, what do you see?

If you’re anything like me (and sincere condolences if you are), then you may have noticed the smilin’ face up there on that utility pole. (See the smile and the weird square glasses?) Yep; there he is, just smilin’ away, as if at some private joke. (Hmm… now that I think about it, I wonder… is he laughing with me or at me?)

Anyhoo – since I see this guy pretty much every day, and because we’ve kinda gotten to know each other (if you get my meanin’) – I’ve decided to call him… Frank. (Don’t ask why.)

I guess my point is (and yes, I do have a point – and it ain’t the one on top of my head), when you’re in the midst of your busy – and often high-stress – days, stop, take a moment, and look around you. You might just find something that’ll lift your spirits, no matter what’s goin’ on in your life.

Trust me; if you can manage it, you’ll be glad you did. It’s better for your health, your frame of mind, and (perhaps most importantly), your fellow workers will appreciate it, too.

Really!

Oh, and by the way, Frank says “Howdy!”

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Photo: Don’t Worry; Be Happy, by Robert Hruzek

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Hey, today is the last Monday of the month, and it’s when I usually announce the topic for the next month’s What I Learned From… groupwrite project. But I need to give you a quick recap first.

OK, by now you have probably noticed the ongoing series (Scenes From a Sidewalk) I’ve been perpetrating here at the Zone, right? Good for you; on the ball as always!

Here’s the posts in the series so far:

• Introducing a New Post Series: Scenes From a Sidewalk
• Outstanding in Your Field
• From There to Here
• Reflections
• The Shadow

Trust me when I say, there’s plenty more to come! But I asked myself the other day, Self, why should I have all the fun with this topic? Thus a topic was born!

So next Monday, the topic for our next What I Learned From… groupwrite project will be:

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What I Learned From… a Sidewalk!

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Hey, if you’re not sure exactly how you’d write about that, just check out those posts above, starting with the introduction. Then take it from there!

The fun starts next Monday, March 2, so be sure to tune in then! And… just to spice things up a bit, I have an extra-special surprise for you this time! BUT – you’ll have to tune in Monday to find out what it is!

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[Note from the Proprietor: This is one of an ongoing series of posts called Scenes From a Sidewalk. Want to know what it's all about? Follow that link to read the series introduction.]

“Who knows what evil lurks in the minds and hearts of men? The Shadow knows!”

- Byline from the classic radio series, “The Shadow”

The Shadow

It was a balmy summer’s eve, and the big cottonwood tree sighed quietly in the wind, causing an almost subliminal shiver in the sultry air. Small, numerous clouds like a flock of geese scudded silently across the sky, eclipsing the bright three-quarter moon’s light in a rhythm reminiscent of a roadside hotel sign: on, off, on, off…

I was about eight, and my dad had set up the tent in our backyard for my sister and me to camp out in. After an evening of pretending we were out in the wilderness (instead of our mundane suburban back yard), our parents had gone to bed, leaving us on our own for the night. As the sleeping bags were quite comfy – and I was almost positive there were no bears about – we lay ourselves down and drifted off to dreamland.

In the middle of the night, though, something woke me up. Naturally, I did what any kid my age would do: let my imagination take off like a Formula 1 racing car (sound of tires squealing). The clouds had gone by now, allowing the big summer moon to shine down on the scene like the floodlight from a police chopper. I cautiously eased my eyes up level with the bottom of the tent’s bug screened windows and peered intently out, half expecting to see burglars – or at least a werewolf or two – shuffling around outside.

Alas, all I could see were bright, moonlit patches mixed with deep shadows. Although the soft breeze caused the shadows to dance a bit, that was to be expected. As I intently scanned our perimeter, though, I suddenly noticed an odd-shaped shadow off to one side of the house, next to a large logustrum bush.

At first, I wasn’t sure what it was that caught my attention. But gradually the shape began to resolve itself into an astonishingly familiar – and incredibly terrifying shape: it was an actual bear, standing very still and looking right at me!

Needless to say, by now my little heart was beating a mile a minute. I found myself completely unable to breathe, and was suddenly drenched in a sticky cold sweat. My eyes were the size of saucers as I shakily grabbed my trusty flash light (all the while thanking my parents for making us keep one handy!) In a remarkable demonstration of bravado, I switched it on, brightly illuminating the (sound of terrified scream) bear rose bush next to the house!

That’s when it happened!

In the twinkling of an eye, that frightening shadow instantly transformed itself from a drooling, man-eating bear – into a plain old garden plant. And what’s more; when I turned the light off and looked again (just to check, y’understand), I not only couldn’t see the bear any more, but I couldn’t understand how I’d ever thought the shadow even looked like a bear!

Shadows and Substance

And now, back to the present…

On my daily mosey down the sidewalk one particularly sunny day, I encountered this shadow across my path. Through some odd quirk of the ol’ little gray cells, I was reminded of the above story from my childhood.

Funny how something as innocuous as a shadow can play tricks on you, isn’t it? I mean, that shadow practically had me on the ropes, if you get my meanin’. Until, that is, I turned the flashlight on. That’s when the clear light of reality set things right and put everything in its proper context.

And that’s the root of today’s lesson, y’all. I reckon that shadow is a good illustration of how we can allow fear to affect us.

See, when our situation is poorly-lit, if you get my meanin’, or when we can’t quite make out the nature of what’s comin’ our way; when the uncertainty reaches epic proportions – well, that’s when the ol’ imagination starts to fill in the blanks with whatever it likes, whether it makes sense or not.

Thinkin’ about that night in the backyard, I just have to laugh. I mean, c’mon; what were the odds that an actual, y’know, bear was out there in our back yard? Practically… astronomical, right? And yet, that bear was as real to me at that moment as this keyboard is under my flying fingers… until I faced it. Then it disappeared as softly as a snowflake, never to return.

Your Turn

Hey, all I can do is offer you a word of advice. Before you decide on a course of action, take some time to shine the light of reason on the situation. Get some feedback from a trusted advisor. Get some sleep! (And yes, you can!) The fact is, rarely are things as bad as they seem, especially in the heat of the moment.

What, out there in the world today, are your bears? Are you facing, like me, a potential layoff situation? Is the uncertainty starting to get to you, and you wonder how you’re ever goin’ to cope?

What do you do when you’re facing uncertainty? What do you do when you’re afraid?

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Photo: The Shadow, by Robert Hruzek

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[Note from the Proprietor: This is one of an ongoing series of posts called Scenes From a Sidewalk. Want to know what it's all about? Follow that link to read the series introduction.]

The time was late afternoon and the work day was over. As I waited by the curb for my carpool to show up, I noticed these odd-looking reflections on the drive right in front of me. (The fact that I actually noticed something is nothing less than amazing, considering the fact that my brain has a tendency to sorta shut down once, y’know, Elvis leaves the building.)

It’s kinda hard to tell from this photo (click on the images for larger views), but those reflections are actually X-shaped, where each X is formed by two curved lines, as if written in cursive script. Kinda interesting, actually.

What made the ol’ gray cells take notice, though, was an idle thought about where these curved reflections came from. I mean, all I could see behind me were flat window panes everywhere. Check it out for yourself in that next photo a little lower down.

It did spark a thought, though…

No Wait! What I Meant, Was…

A while back a friend of mine and I had something of a blowup in our relationship. Oh, don’t worry; in the vast scheme of things, it wasn’t all that serious. But you’ll be understandin’ if I don’t get, y’know, too specific?

Anyway, let’s just say the problem stemmed from the fact that he got one impression of a particular situation, while all along I had actually meant an entirely different thing. And the problem, it seems, is that he got a somewhat, well, distorted picture of me – via someone else.

I’ll tell ya; there’s practically nothing more flabbergasting (and yes, it can be disappointing and traumatic, too) than finding out someone you personally know has developed a, shall we say, “less than optimum” opinion of you – based on someone else’s opinion, is there?

Now, I know you’ve never had that happen to you, right?

Reputation Management

Here’s the thing, though. As a writer, I’m very interested in folks gettin’ the right impression of me (and just so we all understand; by “right opinion”, I mean, y’know, “my opinion”). After all, one of the main reasons I started Middle Zone Musings was for “reputation management”, if you get my meanin’.

So what’s the best way for that to happen, you ask? Hey, I’m so glad you asked!

Well, in a perfect world, folks will drop by the Zone, read the articles, leave a comment or two, and basically get to know me as a person, right? That way you’ll recognize my many *ahem* wonderful qualities and, should the opportunity arise, you’ll be well-equipped to tell folks what a fine fellow I truly am!

[Note from the Proprietor: OK; I realize the previous paragraph sounds an awful lot like your humble writer is sorta, um, blowing his own horn here. But what the hey, don't we, as writers, all really want that for ourselves? I'd say we're probably in reasonably safe territory as long as we don't, y'know, break an arm pattin' ourselves on the back. I'm just sayin'.]

But in this case, what happened was, my reflection (from that other person) was, well, not what I thought it would be. Like those reflections on the driveway, instead of a straight picture, they got a somewhat, er, twisted view.

Bring It Back Home

OK; time to bring this baby home. Here’s a series of questions you might want to ponder:

Has anything like that ever happened to you? What did you do about it? Have you ever been in a situation when there was nothing you could do about it? Suppose someone you don’t know just wrote something bad – and wrong – about you? What would you advise someone who is facing such a thing?

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Photos:

Reflections 1, by Robert Hruzek

Sunlight and Shadows, by Robert Hruzek

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[Note from the Proprietor: This is one of an ongoing series of posts called Scenes From a Sidewalk. Want to know what it's all about? Follow that link to read the series introduction.]

Call it a quirk (heck; call it insanity if you like – I don’t mind), but whenever I see a crosswalk, it always brings to mind that Question of the Ages: Why did the chicken cross the road, anyway?

But I digress.

See, as I leave the building on my daily mosey to the deli over in our main building (it’s a ways down the street), one of the first things I see is that crosswalk in the photo.

While it ain’t exactly the Mona Lisa, as crosswalks go it’s a rather nicely-painted one, wouldn’t ya say? Clear, white lines; smooth, unbroken concrete; hey, it’s pretty much everything you’d want in a pedestrian safety guide, right?

And that word guide is what triggered this lesson.

A Convoluted Trail

I may have mentioned once or twice about how I ended up becoming an engineer. Believe me, it’s a somewhat convoluted trail, to say the least.

You could say that engineering was in my blood. (Well, you could say it; that didn’t necessarily make it so.) After all, my dad was an engineer, and my mom had always worked for engineering firms, too. In fact, when I was little, some days my mom used to take me with her and let me explore the company library where she worked (she was the company’s librarian and travel agent). So I spent my days there perusing such esoteric publications as The Mechanical Engineer’s Handbook, assorted engineering and construction equipment manuals, and fun stuff like that.

All the way through school, including junior high and high school, everyone in my family just sorta assumed I’d be an engineer. As a matter of fact, so did I! Hey, it was only natural, right? Thus, when it came time pick one, I chose a local college – Texas A&M University – well-known for its engineering school. By then, I was more than ready to follow in my parents’ footsteps.

Unfortunately (sound of buzzer), when the time came to start my engineering courses, I ran into a high, smooth wall called Calculus (sound of terrified scream). It was a rude awakening, to be sure. (I wrote a little about this in “The Pain and the Prize“. Feel free to go read it. No worries; I’ll wait.)

To tell you the truth, this was just the first turn in a long, convoluted path that would probably take a book-length post to relate. After everything was said and done, though, within a couple of years I somehow ended up in the engineering business anyway! Ironic, huh?

What I discovered, after a few false starts, was that I somehow seemed, I dunno, predisposed towards engineering as a career choice. Once I realized – and accepted that fact (believe me, it was a real struggle!) – I got a job as a designer (which is sorta like one step below the engineers) and ended up filling that role for a great many years.

Although I truly enjoyed the work, a wintertime field assignment to a tiny town in Illinois finally brought me face to face with the realization that something wasn’t quite right (You can read about this particular epiphany in “What I Learned From a Manlift“). You know that feeling, don’t you? It’s that innate sense that – although there’s nothing wrong with your current situation – you just know there’s something “out there” for you to do.

Anyhoo – after hemmin’ and hawin’ around a while, by an amazing series of circumstances I managed to find myself with a degree in Engineering (plus a couple of other degrees too while I was at it), and nowadays I work as an Engineering Project Manager for a global-sized Engineering firm here in Houston.

I’ll tell ya; it was quite a trip!

What I Learned From a Crosswalk

I guess the thing I learned was that there was something, I don’t know, guiding me along in my path from without-a-clue child, through my mathematically-challenged years, to where I finally made it to Project Manager.

Almost, strangely enough, like that crosswalk. I mean, sure, it was perhaps a bit more twisted than you’d usually find these days (as if painted by a drunken road worker on the day after a three-day bender), but still, somehow I ended up crossing that street and ending up where, apparently, I was headed all along!

Anyhoo -

Take a moment, if you would, to consider where you are right now in life: your chosen profession (if you have one), your goals, and how you got there. My question is this: now that you’re, y’know, here – what was the one single influence that made the biggest difference in how you got from there to here?

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Photo: Crosswalk, by Robert Hruzek

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[Note from the Proprietor: This is one of an ongoing series of posts called Scenes From a Sidewalk. Want to know what it's all about? Follow that link to read the series introduction.]

OK; pop test time! Hey, don’t worry; this one’s easy.

A little lower down in this post there’s a photo I want you to look at (click on it for a larger view if you like). Which car would you say is the most obvious one in this parking lot? (Note: if your answer was NOT “the red one”, then thanks for playing, and here’s some lovely imaginary parting gifts.)

So what does a car have to do with anything? Well…

Uh-Oh

So here’s the scene:

It’s a recent Monday morning. My boss called three of us into his office. We sat down, and he immediately gave us the unexpected news: We were to be cycled off our project at the end of the month to meet our client’s new cost reduction goals. (Once again, our troubled economy rears up its ugly head and bites us in the, er, nether regions.)

Needless to say, this was a mite unexpected, since my part of our project isn’t due to be finished until May at the earliest. I mean, sure the biz was not as robust as it used to be, but up until this moment, I had been concerned – but not really worried.

Now, all engineering firms essentially operate the same way: folks are assigned to a specific project (or projects) for a finite length of time. When the project is complete, we cycle off and are reassigned to the next project that needs our particular skill set. (It’s called a matrix organization, in case you’re wondering. And no, we don’t all wear long leather coats, dark glasses, and live in a virtual world.)

Anyway, my first thought was, OK, fine; so what’s my next assignment? And that’s when the other shoe dropped (sound of other shoe, dropping). When I called my department manager, I was unpleasantly surprised to discover there are no available openings!

That’s right folks; at the end of this month, I may be out of a job!

On Being Outstanding

Well now! To quote that great American Philosopher, Jimmy Stewart (or maybe it was Elmer Fudd), “Now THAT’S a fine how do ya do!”

Having been on the receiving end of the, er, Golden Boot more than a few times in my career (I used to do a lot of contract work – which usually concludes with the phrase, “Thank you very much; goodbye!”), the situation is not an unfamiliar one. So I know what to do: polish up the resume, fire up the networking skills, and hit the pavement!

But there’s a problem. Instead of a job market filled with opportunity, I’ve suddenly become one of many who are in the same lifeboat. And that boat’s only so big, y’know?

Anyway, what with the economy in such flux lately, and the job pipelines suddenly bein’ flooded with resumes, well, a thought suddenly hit me (sound of dull thud). Question: Amid the zillions of folks out there clamoring for attention, what’s the best way to, y’know, get noticed?

Answer: Figure out how to be outstanding! And I don’t mean out standing in your field (unless, of course, you’re a professional scarecrow).

Now the phrase “get noticed” has both negative and positive connotations. And it certainly pays to make sure you know the difference. After all, I’m not advocating you dress up in a clown suit and parade around on the corner of Main and 5^th with a poster proclaiming “I need work!” (Unless you’re a professional clown, of course.) But I think you get my meanin’, right?

Anyhoo – I certainly have a challenge in front of me. But my question for you is this: So what are you doin’ to get noticed?

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Photo: Parking Lot, by Robert Hruzek

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The Houston division of the engineering firm I work for is located in two main buildings, plus several floors situated in two other buildings located near the main campus. Alas, the project I’m working on is located in that smaller building ‘waaaay down there in the middle distance, about a half-mile or so down the street from our main buildings.

(And no, Smarty Pants, it doesn’t mean we’re, like, radioactive or anything. It’s where the client chose to locate the project team.)

Now, as a consequence of bein’ a cube-dweller, I naturally fancy a stroll now and then to help get the ol’ blood corpuscles movin’, y’know? So whenever the weather is nice (and just as a reminder for you folks living up there in the Frozen North, lemme just say that here in Houston, it’s pretty much ALWAYS nice), at lunchtime I usually take the opportunity to mosey on down to the deli, located in our main building.

Question: What do you do when you’re just moseying along? (Note – here in Texas, we don’t just walk, we mosey – but maybe that’s just us.)

Y’know, I gotta admit; before I started writing here at the Zone, I wasn’t the most, um, observant fellow. I mean, back then, I probably woulda gone back and forth – and likely wouldn’t have even been able to tell you if the sun was shining or not. Seriously.

BUT (and notice; that’s a BIG ‘but’), nowadays I find myself observing literally everything. It’s an interesting shift, I’ll tell ya. And therein lies a tale. Or to be more accurate, several tales.

Scenes from a Sidewalk

See, there’s this sidewalk…

OK; as sidewalks go, this one is admittedly fairly mundane. Like most, it essentially parallels the curve of the road. And for the last few months, this is the sidewalk I mosey along on most work days during my lunch break.

So here’s the thing. I was moseyin’ along down (or is it up? I can never figure that out) that sidewalk one day when it suddenly hits me (sound of dull thud) – I thought about the very first post I wrote back in July ’08 for Joyful Jubilant Learning: How to Learn Something From Anything. (Feel free to stop here and go read it. I’ll still be here when you get back, I promise.)

Anyways; I said to myself, “Self, why not put some feets to them fancy words of yours?” (Sometimes my Self can get pretty uppity. I’ve learned to live with it.) “Why not take note of various objects along the sidewalk, and then see if you can truly turn each one into a lesson from life?”

Now this, er, conversation kinda got me to thinkin’ (which is probably that noise you’ve been hearing lately). My Self was actually startin’ to make a lick o’ sense, y’know? (I must admit to some surprise here, as that is not usually the case.) So I says to myself, “Hey, why not?”

Thus was born a new series I’m callin’ (as you have no doubt discerned by now since you can read the title up there as well as the next person) Scenes from a Sidewalk. I’ll be lookin’ at essentially mundane and oft-overlooked items I’ve passed by along that sidewalk up there in the photo. (Hence the use of the word ‘scene’. It’s a play on words, see? Get it? Seen? Scene? Oh, never mind.)

Anyhoo -

So what kinda things will I be writing about, you ask? Well, all I can say is… even I was surprised at the range and depth of the lessons one can learn from life – at least, as seen from a sidewalk. Some lessons may be lengthy, some may be quite short; hey, even I don’t necessarily know how they’ll all turn out.

All I can say is… expect the unexpected!

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UPDATE: Here’s the posts in the Sidewalk Series to date:

Outstanding in Your Field
From There to Here
Reflections
The Shadow
The S.H.I.N.E. Syndrome
Cut!
Squished!
The Path Not Taken
Sometimes You Need a Little Help (Guest post over at What Would Dad Say)

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Photo: The Long Winding Path, by Robert Hruzek

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