Fritschie, the mentor

Not to completely invalidate my last post, but after I last posted, I went out for a drive. I went down to Borders for a coffee and a comedy CD (Mitch Hedberg). While I was in the neighborhood, I cruised over to Colleen and Britt's house and wound up watching Eurotrip with them.

The past couple days at work have been more of the same. Is it sad that now my only real solace is the thought that one day, in a future life, my boss will be just like me working for a guy just like him.

I braved the icy conditions Thursday night and went down to Arnie's. I was one of five people there, and there was this one guy there who I wound up talking to for an hour. He's going to my old alma mater-and by that I mena trade school-and he's going for the same degree I got. This guy was full of the frustration and idealism I had when I went there. He kept complaining about how tough the instructors were towards him...like a BOSS is gonna be any different when he gets out.

It felt good to be in the role of de facto advisor, at least for one night. This guy kept going on and on about how he was unsure if this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. I told him that 90% of people in graphic design won't be working in that field ten years down the road. He said he wanted to work in film production. I told him to get the degree, get a decent job and teach himself how to run Maya and Final Cut Pro in his spare time. After a couple years, the degree is just a wall hanging, and what'll get you anywhere is your skills.

Perfect example of what I'm talking about: My buddy Doug got a job once simply because the job objective on his resume was "to use my design skills for good and not evil."

My final advice to this guy went as follows.

1) Inerviewing in Tulsa can be tough; wear a cup.

2) The ability to wear jeans to work, a decent insurance package, the freedom to smart off to your boss and flex time are all worth their weight in gold.

3) Always show the client at least three ideas: one just as they describe how they want it, one that is similar, but actually looks good, and one that is a complete about-face from the previous two.

4) You're never truly burned out until you find yourself screaming at your computer "NO! NEVER AGAIN!". It is advisable to keep yourself away from sledgehammers, axes and other implements of destruction at times like this.

In closing this post, I wish good luck and God speed to my friend Stephen, aka Digital Rebel Without a Cause in his latest deadline fiasco. Hey, man, I'm only a phone call away if you get in a pinch...weekdays after five and weekends.