Dancin' with Joe

“Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane.” H.P. Lovecraft

I was reminiscing with an old friend the other day about the time we both worked for a guy who took the fun out of dysfunctional. Often times working around people who chase every new shiny object can be highly entertaining and as a bonus if you’re not in a particularly motivated mood you can get out of doing anything tangible by doing the “LOOK, OVER THERE” routine which flitters them off in a new direction for days, weeks, hell sometimes forever.

This guy though was clinical. Goofing off has it’s moments but most of us actually do want to be contributors to success. But when you’re stuck with or (worse) under one of these people it becomes the Dance of the Macabre personified.

So, while reminiscing with my friend, who knows me too well, he asked me what my mental image was of that past situation. You see, I’m a highly visual person who relates almost everything to something else. So the first thing that popped in my mind was trying to dance with Joe Cocker. Youngsters are right now asking “Who’s Joe Cocker?”. think Michael Stipe of R.E.M.  Ok, now youngsters are asking "Who's Michael Stipe?", so think of most of the people on American Idol.  Got it?

The point is I love listening to Joe sing, I hated watching him sing. It’s like watching someone with a horrible golf swing just before you tee off, it’ll mess you up for weeks.

This ex-boss was like that in that he could throw you off your game. You could never get a rhythm or a stride due to the fact that he would change course before you could get the sails set.

So, how does one deal when trying to dance with Joe? Well, as difficult as it can be you have to stay on task while doing the shuffle. Think of it as guiding your dance partner across the crowded floor to end up by the punch bowl. It takes practice to do it smoothly but once accomplished you have a happy dance partner a cool drink and a sense of accomplishment.