March, 2009
I've been on the new job 6 weeks. I hit the ground running....or should I say, FLYING.
In what felt like a 'nano-second'...I went from punching a clock and working 40 hours a week... to flying out on a Monday and returning home LATE on a Thursday (when I'm lucky) or Friday.
The new job is fantastic. Surreal actually. I typically pinch myself as I drive to the airport. I'm still in awe that someone is paying me for my knowledge and 'expertise' in the dementia care industry. I'm a Regional Director and am responsible for travelling to the various 24 special Dementia Care Units that our company has in the Central Division.
Or, as we call them - the Life Guidance Neighborhoods. I support the caregivers, directors and executive staff at the property to ensure that they are in compliance and providing quality care. I support them in a myriad of ways.
It is my responsibility to make sure those employees honor the commitment we've made to the families of the lovely folks who inhabit the Life Guidance neighborhood. All of those folks have Dementia - most have Alzheimer's disease. And, I have become their greatest Advocate.
I am in PROFESSIONAL NIRVANA.
The job is a super fit. I'm finally able to infuse all the components of what I love about the industry. I'm reaching a larger audience as I strive to educate, train and support caregivers throughout eight states. And, the best part is that when I'm in those neighborhoods.... I get amazing 'face' time with the actual residents themselves. I'm still able to hug, touch and speak to the folks who will benefit.
I'm still amongst MY PEOPLE. Now it's on a broader scale.
The downside of the job is that I'm gone 80% of the time.
Gone from the SOUTHERN GENT. Gone from the townhouse we share and gone from the supreme comfort of our brand new bed. Gone from home cooked meals and gone from the daily routine of a new marriage that I was just starting to get used to.
We just celebrated ten months of wedded bliss this week. It certainly has been a whirlwind of a year for both of us and this new transition just seems appropriate as we are getting quite adept at....ROLLING WITH THE PUNCHES.
For those who know me best - you know I'm rarely at a loss for a comment. Especially when the comments are regarding the foibles and idiosyncrasies of fellow members of the human race that I encounter. (I welcome you to ready virtually EVERY other BLOG entry from the past couple of years)
This new job puts me right in the heart of the daily 'doings' of the human race. Well, at least the Travelling members of the human race.
UGH - Every week I careen through airport terminals, TSA Check-points, airport bathrooms and AIRPLANES themselves. Each stop-point along the journey...gives me enough 'material' to host a month-long behavioral tirade, for sure.
As a lifelong voyeur of the human condition I have spent my entire career (both of them) observing, reporting about or supporting and educating PEOPLE. So, with my new weekly travel schedule - I'm like a Societal Scientist who is living amongst their test-subjects!!
Its' Un-FREAKING believable.
Each airport and travel experience brings a new set of societal circumstances into my world. I'm beginning to embrace my FLYING FAMILY.
And, like traditional family units - you can't pick them. You can't pick your actual family members - you are BORN into the relationship. The FLYING FAMILY structure is similar....you can't pick them - you are simply FORCED to deal with them.
In my case;
The General Motors employee who sat next to me from Detroit to Charlotte and regaled the Genius of President Obama while detailing his General Motors salary structure and his Pro-Union viewpoint. (i neglected to tell him i'm an anti-union staunch conservative who drives a Honda)
The 30-something parents who held up the TSA check-point line in Dallas while they 'negotiated' with their screaming toddler trying to convince him to get out of his stroller on his own so they could put it on the conveyor belt. (i didn't tell them that i'm a supporter of the age-old parental system of NOT being a FRIEND to your kid)
The small business owner in the Cleveland airport who overheard something I said in a cell phone conversation and then spent the rest of our time together trying to get me to join her computer based pyramid/ponzy- scheme type business. (note to self: no more talking on the cell phone, while sitting directly next to someone who appeared NOT to be listening)
The tall blond 20-something that was squished between me and the other business traveller from Detroit to Charlotte who refused to take her 'Run-DMC-style' headsets off while feverishly sending text messages from her space-age communication device. She and the flight attendant nearly went to 'blows' over the 'Turn-off -all-electronic-devices' rule before take-off. (secretly I prayed for the scuffle to ensue which would've surely resulted in Blondie being kicked off the plane therefore leaving an empty seat for more elbow room)
The TWO adult females who didn't wash their hands after using the toilet in the Cleveland airport bathroom. (you KNOW who you are.....)
Yep, my FLYING FAMILY is everywhere. And, much like my own blood related relatives...I gladly will put up with them while simultaneously formulating super stories to share at cocktail parties!
That's my oath, as a Social Scientist - specializing in the Human Condition.
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