Captain Wanzer felt that each deckhand, while being interviewed by Bay Lines management, should be asked what their three favorite movies were. This was important, he said, because it greatly determined what kind of conversationalist this person was going to be and working for Bay Lines, conversation, or lack there of, is damn close to a deal breaker. You gotta be able to shoot the shit. You just have to. If not, well then at least bring in some good food.
Clerks was on Wanzer's list. As was Caddyshack and The Big Lebowski. If someone had watched one of those movies, then odds were that they'd be a good deckhand. Maybe not skill wise, but they could at least hold a conversation during one of those late night runs down bay and sometimes, that's more important.
But I don't think it was just good conversation Wanzer was shooting for though, and if anything, good conversation is really only the beginning of what makes a person good to work with. And even further a good company to work for, an environment to work in, or if anything, a gaggle of dudes good to hit up strip clubs with. It's not just compatibility or bonding. It's more than that. It's the power of like-minded individuals, baby.
You throw a group of people together, ask them to do something batshit insane and in a batshitter insane time frame to do it in, and I guarantee that if that group was a group of like-minded individuals, than no matter what the task- that shit'll get done.
And will be entertaining as all hell in the process. It'll involve stupid nicknames, song paradies, and maybe a love tryst or two.
What makes a group of like-minded individuals? It can start with folks that dig the same movies. But it becomes more when you have open-minded people, people with some intelligence- and not necessarily book smarts, as street smarts work just fine. People who understand the bigger picture, the long-term goal. It dangles damn close to Socialism, striving for the greater good but shit if I don't have only a loose knowledge of what socialism actually is. Damn.
No worries. Moving on.
On a side note- I'd like to think, that as a society, we're about two years away from retiring the phrase "no worries."
It's teamwork, dude! Come on, it's why teams succeed and fail. Why companies find themselves busted and why government looks like two monkeys and a vibrator on a Saturday afternoon. Having people on the same page is key. It makes things easier, smoother. It makes things more enjoyable. More importantly champ, it gets the job done.
On the boats, I was with like-minded folks and in Sidecar, I was with two like-minded dudes for three years and I know that's why the band was as enjoyable as it was. We weren't successful and most of the time, we didn't play awesome shows. But we had fun and that's why, driving back from New Hampshire on a Tuesday, playing another show for the bartender, wait staff, and three people, we were practicing the next night. It wasn't about building crowds, it was about entertainment. Entertaining ourselves while entertaining others. Backstage was sometimes more fun than playing and it wasn't because of free booze. It was because of the dudes in the band. And sailing through a Nor'easter? That sucks. But with the right people, you can still have fun while the line is freezing up and your chuckin' it 20 feet into the wind, gustin' like a bastard at 35 knots. The shittiest of situations can be the absolute f'n funnest situations of your life if you're with the right people.
If you're with like-minded individuals.
So it might start with asking about your favorite movie or seeing which bands you grew up listening to or which mountains you like to ski. It might start with being thrown into a storm together, on a narrow stage together, or in a truck driving cross country together. However it starts, the connecting of like-minded individuals is what is going to get us through until the next day. Not stimulus packages, professional sports, or girl on girl mud wrestling. You find someone that can laugh with you, while deep down in the shit, then it doesn't matter what the news says because listen here homeboy...every thing's awesome.
Good night.
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