The Uncool

A few years ago I worked for UPS. There were thousands of people that worked in the facility. I could walk from one end of the building to the other and only exchange nods with people. I was just one of the crowd. I was a regular person. People knew I was a supervisor but no one except my employees knew my name. That was AMERICA. This is AFRICA.

Some days working here makes you seem like a rock star. Everywhere you go, people know your name, they greet you, they want to talk to you. They know your name even though you've never even spoken to them before. They know you were in town yesterday. They heard you bought mangoes. They wonder if you still want to buy a bicycle, their cousin sells bicycles. They might even know what you had for dinner last night. They invite you to have lunch with them or to stay in their house etc... It is kind of nice to be in such a friendly place. But after a while it can be ego inflating too.

There's a great scene in the movie Almost Famous about The Uncool. William has just spent the last month touring with a rock and roll band and having a mostly great time. The scene involves the teenage William making a late night phone call to his mentor. The story he is set to publish is going to make one group of people upset with him either his employer for wasting their time and money on him or his new friends in the band.  He is faced with a reality that he didn't want to return to. The truth comes from his mentor in an honest and brutal statement. It goes like this:

Lester Bangs: Aw, man. You made friends with them. See, friendship is the booze they feed you. They want you to get drunk on feeling like you belong.

William Miller: Well, it was fun.

Lester Bangs: They make you feel cool. And hey. I met you. You are not cool.

William Miller: I know. Even when I thought I was, I knew I wasn't.

Lester Bangs: That's because we're uncool. 

I think it is interesting that after several months of being a mini-celebrity you change. You can go places expecting people to be nice and to know who you are. But then, there is the other side of fame and fortune. When you are just going for a walk to get away from people and think, often you encounter someone that knows who you are, and wants to know if you need someone to wash your bicycle, or buy you mayonnaise, or wants to ask you a million questions. It is hard to have a good attitude either way. I find I struggle to have a good attitude in both situations.

It will be interesting to be back in America where I am just an ordinary person again. Will I miss the days of being a VIP? Will I have a good attitude about it?