November 2, 2007

“You know, that’s a sign of good luck in some countries… (pause) just not this one.”

The quotes and experiences just keep rolling in.  Only last week, my two partners and I were standing outside an office building in northern Virginia putting the final touches on a discussion in preparation for a meeting that would soon begin.  The bird sitting in the tree above us must’ve had me in his sights.  His aim was perfect.  The dropping hit squarely on the top of my head, causing me to immediately bend my head forward and watch as the droppings that didn’t stick fell in a plop on my right dress shoe.

Anxious to be out of the line of fire and as far away from my contaminated head and shoe as possible, Joe and John each took a quick step backward.  With a wry grin, Joe asked, “Was that a bird?”  John, recognizing that I had indeed been hit, quickly commented, “You know, that’s a sign of good luck in some countries.”  Pausing for comedic effect, he added, “just not this one.”  Ah, partners.  It’s great that there are three of us so one can always be the brunt of abuse at the mercy of the other two.

The trip up the elevator prior to the meeting was thankfully a quick one.  I made a beeline for the men’s room and went to work cleaning off the “luck”.  Water.  Paper towels.  More water.  More paper towels.  And so on.  By the time I was finished drying my hair with the final round of paper towels, static electricity had it standing straight up. My suit was covered with a fine white film of paper towel dust.  Glancing at my watch, it was time for the meeting.  My mind raced back to the business at hand.      

We never know when an unexpected drop of “luck” is going to interrupt our best laid plans.  What we do know is that we must have plans; otherwise, we’ll find that regardless of the country we’re in, our luck will consistently be bad.