The Daily News
1 Is it Thursday already?
2 Time flies when you're counting your millions.
3 Yesterday was supposed to be one of the worst days ever, according to my morning.
4 I had so much to do that for the first time since getting this new gig I felt a bit of doubt.
5 This colleague of mine who resembles Bobby Weir came in last week. He was smiling, knowing how much work it takes to do something like this. He took one look at me and smiled a bit of a wry smile. "Are you up to your ears in alligators?" he asked.
6 Let's go back for just a moment. It must have been about the fifth day of school this year when in sauntered this fellow, who's name is John. I instantly got intellectual Deadhead vibes off him, and he had that bit of a resemblance to Weir. He introduced himself, and almost immediately asked, "Are you up to your ears in alligators yet?" He broke into a grin.
7 I laughed a knowing laugh. I knew going into a job of this magnitude that I was going to be constantly up to my ears in alligators.
8 Well, yesterday was supposed to be the day that everything caught up with me. Try as I could, I was not hitting my deadlines. I had noticed that people would write e-mails that I would have to answer; they would call on the phones and expect things right now; others would have meetings. And meetings. And meetings.
9 So many meetings that the alligators started snapping because, well, they just do.
10 I was in the office pushing calendars into mailboxes when someone asked what I was doing.
10 "Putting announcements in people's boxes saying that we're going to have to have a meeting to figure out when to schedule our next meeting."
11 Later on, when the guy who threw all the meetings asked why I hadn't gotten any of his stuff done, I said, "Why, I was spending all of my time at your meeting."
12 "That's no excuse!" he snapped, and he slid down and slitered off to whatever swamp he had come from.
13 Alligators.
14 I was certain going in yesterday that I was finally going to get torn apart, ripped to bloody shreds, eaten, and spat straight out to the muddy shore.
15 I had no chance. Knew that going in.
16 Well, it turned into a great day. A deadline I thought I would miss was actually not for ten more hours. Something that was going to get one alligator snapping got him putting on reading glasses, turning on a lamp, and looking over as if to tell me, "Sayyy...this is really good!"
17 An afternoon meeting with the grim alligator ended in being called off. An angel walked in and helped get me through some confusing paperwork. An event ran smoothly. I saw all the alligators get in their cars and go home for the day. Peace rushed in like a spiritual rescue team.
18 The sun broke through the haze, and I actually felt a hint of warmth in the late afternoon Sannozay sky.
19 An old friend called and we chatted like survivors living in a new tomorrow.
20 And it ended with me getting home at a reasonable hour and thinking about the calm that had settled in.
21 I lived through a day that I thought would devour me.
22 So today I'm going to go in and take no prisoners. I'll be right in the middle of kicking some sort of fundament, and feeling really good when I'll get my first call from an alligator. I'll stop and it will all catch up to me again.
23 Whoever, or whatever it is will hang up, licking its chops that it has done just enough to snap me into action. I'll be uptight and begin pacing and talking to myself.
24 There will be a knock on the door.
25 A guy with a nice, kind Grateful Dead face will stick his head inside and smile, "Well...are you up to your ears in alligators?"
26 Sunshine daydream.
27 Are you kind?
28 Peace.
~H~
6 Let's go back for just a moment. It must have been about the fifth day of school this year when in sauntered this fellow, who's name is John. I instantly got intellectual Deadhead vibes off him, and he had that bit of a resemblance to Weir. He introduced himself, and almost immediately asked, "Are you up to your ears in alligators yet?" He broke into a grin.
19 An old friend called and we chatted like survivors living in a new tomorrow.
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