So, do you keep your options open?

Holy Crap! I haven't posted since August 17? I must have been a busy bee :)

Let me tell you about a few interesting yet similar experiences I've had in the past six months or so. The first one happened while I was filling up my car at the nearby Shell station. The guy on the opposite pump from me comes over and starts off with the "Hey, how ya doin'" greeting. We exchange pleasantries (I'm nice) and the conversation is going along nicely. "You live around here?" "Yeah, Liberty Township." "Oh yeah? Me too." "Did you go to school around here?" "Yeah, Badin for high school and then Miami." "Really? My wife..." blah blah blah. This goes on for a few minutes until he drops "What kind of work do you do?" I told him. "Do you keep your options open?" So this guy is some kind of recruiter? Yeah, I keep my options open, I tell him. He's says "Great, let me get your name and number and I'll call you about some opportunities I have. " Apparently I'm a pretty trusting guy and I just hand this information right over. ("You want my social security number too?") "So are you some kind of recruiter or something?" I ask him. "No, I'm a " insert who-cares job here. My gas is done pumping at this point so I say goodbye and go home. Didn't think much of it.

So this guys calls a few days later. He tells me he and his business partners have agreed to let me join their little "operation" they have going. "What kind of business is it?" I ask. "Oh, I can't tell you over the phone. You'll have to meet me somewhere and I can tell you all about." My next response should have been CLICK (that's me hanging the phone up for those not "in the know"), but it wasn't. I politely explained that I wasn't interested and we left it at that.

Ok, weird experience, but I guess it could happen to anybody.

So, a couple months later, I'm at the same gas station filling up. The guy filling up next to me comes over and tells me I look like Andre Agassi. Ha ha, he shaves his head, I shave my head. This guy's funny. Partly from the fact that I really couldn't understand him and partly because I'm nice, I laugh and go back to watching the pounding my wallet is taking from Shell. He holds out his hand and tells his name. I shake back, tell him my name, say nice to meet you. "What kind of work do you do?" Here we go. I tell him. "Does your wife work too?" Yes. "Do you guys ever keep your options open?" CLICK. I kindly explain that with a baby, we don't really have time to get into anything right now. He understands (I think), we say goodbye, and he goes back to his car.

Twice in one year? Really? Ok, maybe.

So, a few weeks ago my wife, daughter, and I are walking into Babies 'R Us. A couple with twins walk by and the husband asks how old my daughter is. Now, this happens frequently when we are out, especially at kid-centered stores/events, generally because people are nice. So I tell him and we walk towards the store entrance. We exchange niceties and once we get inside, my wife gives them the "Well, have fun shopping" as she walks off. (How smooth is that?) So we walk off, as do they. I decide that while my wife is shopping for baby clothes (BORING), the baby and I are going exploring. Can you see what happens next? I run into this guy again. He's pushing his stroller, I'm pushing mine. He went to such-and-such college and does this-and-that for a living. He starts telling me how he invented some sort of whiteboard or something that schools are starting to use and that it's doing so well that his wife doesn't have to work anymore. That's great, I tell him. "So, do you guys ever keep your options open?"

That's right, sports fans, three times in six months. Do I have some sort of sign on my forehead welcoming these people? Is it flashing neon saying "I need to join a home-based scam...er...business". I try to be nice to whomever (whoever?) I meet, spreading joy to the world (quit laughing), but I'm starting to think I should just play 5-year-old and stay away from strangers. If there's a t-shirt out there saying "My options are closed", I'm buying two.

Ramble On...