I haven't had a lot to write about lately. Work, sleep, repeat. That's about it. So instead, I'm going to make an entry that I would have made a few years ago if I'd had a blog back then.
When I worked at Chrysler, they had all sorts of clubs and organizations. And they weren't just dinky little clubs. To put it into context, the Chrysler headquarters building is the second biggest office building in the country, after the Pentagon. There were about 9,000 people working there. So the clubs were a pretty big deal.
Anyway, there was a women's organization that had events every now and then. I wasn't an official member, but I could still go to the events. For one event, Martha Stewart came to speak to the women of Chrysler. The day of the event, a lot of ladies were all a flutter. They were just so excited to see the actual homemaking diva. Everybody was carrying her book around, planning what they would say to her when it was their turn to get an autograph. About an hour before it started, people started trickling into the auditorium where it was happening. They were savings seats for friends and chatting it up waiting for Martha. I had actual work to do that day, so I didn't end up getting there until about five minutes before it started, and by then, the only obvious seats remaining were in the very back.
But, since most women travel in groups, I had the advantage. They were all looking for five or six seats together, but I just needed one. I ended up on the second row, right behind Martha's personal assistant. When Martha came out and started talking, I think she picked me as one of her focus points in the audience. You know how speakers are supposed to pick a few people out of the audience so they can look around and act like they're talking to everybody? That was me.
For the next hour or so, she kept making eye contact with me. A few times, she held the eye contact for a really long time. I turned it into staring contests. She was pretty persistent with her staring, and I caved a few times, but at least twice, I managed to hold the stare longer than she could. And that's how I bested Martha Stewart. Even if she didn't know it was a contest. It was a good thing.
