Nothin’

I took my son to the airport this afternoon so that he could catch a flight to San Francisco. There is a copywriter’s conference  (?) and somehow he convinced his company that it will be beneficial for him to attend. Not only did he convince his boss, but since his wife is a copywriter as well, she managed to convince her boss that their company would reap the rewards as well. Lucky shits get a week in San Francisco on the company dime.

I have often wondered how many people would attend conferences if they were held in places like Harlem, Fort McMurray, Death Valley, Winnipeg or downtown Tehran instead of Las Vegas, Honolulu, New York or San Francisco. Is it possible that this is a real positive learning situation or is it just smoozing? I mean, if it is a learning tool, then wouldn’t it be better to video conference or make a DVD so that everyone in the office would benefit? How much will my son and daughter in law pass on to the other employees in their respective firms? I am thinking not too much.

I can remember asking Brendan thousands of times while he was attending school, what he did in class. I pretty much got the same response every time, “Nothin’!”

“You didn’t do anything in school today?”

“Nope!”

“Nothing at all? You just sat there and the teacher just sat there and you all looked at each other for six hours, saying nothing, and then you went home?” He would just roll his eyes and say he had homework to do as he left. “How did you get homework if you didn’t do anything or talk to anybody?” I would yell at his back.

I can picture the meeting next week, a bunch of suits sitting around a large rectangular table and the CEO of the company deals with some business for a while and then asks Brendan what he learned at the conference.

“Nothin’!”

Stunned silence and then, “You didn’t learn anything at the conference?”

“Nope!”

“Nothing at all? You and a thousand other copywriters from around North America just sat and looked at each other for a week and no one said anything?” an exasperated CEO would ask.

Just about here, Brendan will roll his eyes, get up and as he is walking out of the room, say “I’ve got work to do.” By work, I guess he means checking his email and facebook as well as talking on the phone.

It just occurred to me, Brendan’s schooling actually did prepare him for life in the corporate workplace. I didn’t waste those education tax dollars after all.

Sweet!