Hi Everyone,
The title of this blog is a saying meaning, who do you listen to? The title could also be, Who is Your Centre of Influence? Or, “Who put that in your head?” or even, “Get that out of your head!” There is a reason that the last two titles are in quotation marks. But that is for the second part of this blog which will be posted next. This is what I mean.
The best way for me to start this blog is to say that I don’t listen to a lot of people. One of the reasons for this is that a lot of people aren’t worth listening to. If that sounds harsh, then so be it. But it is true. The reason for this is that a lot of what people say, do or think doesn’t make sense to me. And then there are times when they do.
Someone I wouldn’t normally listen to knew I was going somewhere important the next day. They suggested that I take all of my paperwork with me. I had assured them that everything was going to be okay and thanked them for their concern. (Just for the record, I was sincere when I thanked them.) Someone I trusted told me what to take with me. That night, I thought, I’ll grab all of my paperwork, just in case. The saying, better safe than sorry, probably came to mind. The following day, the female (sic) I handed all of my paperwork to wanted a piece of me. I guess she didn’t like the fact that I was born in Canada, when she wasn’t. Like I had any control over that decision. As it turns out, her boss, the person I trusted with more than my paperwork, wasn’t there that day. So she was going to exert her power in hopes of leaving me powerless, I guess. And I would have been. She made me give her every piece of paperwork. She also asked me for paperwork that didn’t exist! My listening to that one comment saved me a lot of time and trouble. The person made sense, and I am glad I had enough sense to listen to them.
Years ago, a man said I should meet his best friend of over 35 years. They met when they were five. I thought, why not? So I did. I liked the friend. We had a lot in common and we would talk for hours. He was more than a business man who formerly owned at least one medium-sized business in a foreign country. He was a man of the world. Anytime I was stuck on something, I would call him when I couldn’t see him. Every call was like crossing a mine field on broken crutches with two broken legs. What he was going to say wasn’t a mystery. He always said a variation of the same thing. How he would say it was. There were a few times I would literally hold my landline a foot or more from my ear, cringing as he yelled, screamed at me. My daughter could hear him from the other side of our apartment. After I hung up, she would ask, “Why do you call him?” My response was always the same, “Because he makes sense.” And he did. Then I would tell her, “Besides, sometimes people need to be yelled at to get them going. It’s like a good kick in the ass.” He has given me the best advice ever, and for that I will always be grateful. Thank you. Anytime I am stuck, I think of you. I have passed all of his advice on to my daughter. I know it has helped her help herself.
It must have been late 2007 or early 2008 when I was walking out of the library and a man approached me for a cigarette. When I handed him one, on a whim, I showed him the latest book I was reading. It was a memoir and I told him they were going to make a movie about the author’s life. As he handed me back my lighter, he said something that was so profound, all I could do was stare at him. I knew he was right, I have been seeing “it” everywhere in society for years. Until he shared that one sentence, I didn’t know what “it” was though. It would take me two years to understand how his one sentence related to the film industry. The first production my daughter and I were Extras on was, Happy Town, when it was being filmed in Port Hope, Ontario in March of 2009. (We also worked on, Happy Town, when it was filmed in St. Catherine’s, Ontario on April 1st and 2nd, but we could not work the rain date of Saturday April 4th, 2009 because my daughter had to work at both her jobs that day.) Ever since that man told me that one sentence, it has stuck in my mind. Film on any medium has never been the same since. The man was holding a large plastic bag half filled with empties that still had snow on them.
That’s it for today. The second part of this blog will be posted next.
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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