Random Events Change Lives - a Personal Story

 

Do you have a random event in your life that totally altered your trajectory? I do.

It happened in early 1976. I was a senior at the University of California at Berkeley. I was born & raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, my parents lived there as did all of my friends. I played the trombone in local funk bands in my spare time. I loved the ocean. Northern California was my home sweet home.

I faced a dilemma, however. I was graduating from UC Berkeley with my econ major and music minor. I needed to transition into something new, either work or graduate school.  I was a broke-ass college student from a lower middle-class family, so work was my first choice. There was a problem, however - the unemployment rate in 1976 was 7.8%. The current unemployment rate in the U.S., in the middle of this Covid-19 pandemic, is 6.2%.  I couldn't find a decent job, one with reasonable pay that I could imagine doing every day. I didn't have any money to pay for graduate school, although I did apply to several econ PhD programs and was admitted to a couple of places (They told me to bring my checkbook to pay enormous amounts of tuition). I was nervous about borrowing shit-pots of money to pay for school (and loans weren't easy to get back then), so I was in an uncomfortable spot. No decent job prospects, no affordable grad school option, future at risk.

It was a Wednesday, I think.  I had a couple of hours between classes.  I had just gotten another rejection letter from a prospective employer the previous day, so I was wandering around the Student Union Building in a funk. I stopped in front of the bulletin board that had sign-up sheets for job interviews and was trying to get excited about an opportunity to become a life insurance salesman (the only employer with open interview slots). I wasn't feeling very happy at that moment.

Someone behind me said "Excuse me" and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and saw a tall woman in a 1970's "dress for success" female executive outfit. She definitely wasn't from Berkeley. "Hi - I'm Mary from Northwestern University's Graduate School of Management. I'm recruiting candidates for our MBA program, and no one has signed up for interviews. Are you graduating soon?" I told her yes, I would be graduating in June. "Great - do you have 30 minutes? I would like to interview you for our program."  I had the time, so I went with Mary into her conference room for an interview.

So she told me about Northwestern University. I thought it was up in Oregon, but was surprised to learn that it was just north of Chicago IL. Very confusing - Chicago is not in the northwestern part of the country. She asked me about my GPA and my Graduate Management Admissions Test scores (I took every grad school admissions test - LCAT, MCAT, GREs. etc. etc.). Once she got that info, she told me that if I applied to Northwestern's MBA program, I would be admitted and the university would figure out a way to finance it for me via grants, work-study and a little debt. Northwestern was trying to get more students from big western universities to enhance its credibility as a high-quality MBA program with a geographically diverse student body. Most students as of 1976 were from the Midwest.

I filled out the application that day. I arrived in Evanston Illinois on September 5, 1976 and received my Kellogg MBA a couple of years later.  I am still in Evanston Illinois after a 42 year career, two failed marriages, 4 children (all adults now), 4 grandchildren, etc. etc. etc. 

If Mary hadn't tapped me on the shoulder back in 1976, my life would have ended up much differently.  This is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but demonstrates how a chance encounter can totally alter the direction of a life. 

That is my random event story. What's yours?

Weird Bicycling Hazard

I am a recreational bicyclist.  It is great exercise, and the bicyclist is fully exposed to  the environment, enjoying speed, wind, and the scenery.  Riding a bicycle is also risky in our car-centric culture.  Automobile drivers sometimes kill bicyclists and don't even get a ticket!  Here is an article on this reality.  When I get on my bike, I avoid automobiles - I try to stick to bike paths so I won't become a speed bump for an SUV.

On a recent gorgeous autumn Saturday afternoon, I hit the bike path that runs through Evanston's Lake Michigan parks and beaches. It is safe - no cars allowed!  The path continues when it hits Northwestern University, and there is a particularly satisfying stretch along the peninsula that juts out into the lake.  I crossed the bridge to that stretch of path and saw a woman with her back to me; I was biking into the sun.  She was in the middle of the path, so I veered to the right to avoid her.  She suddenly started screaming  at me, and I belatedly realized that she was walking a dog.  The dog was on a retractable leash, and she had allowed the little pooch to wander 30 feet away.  The very thin, impossible to see, retractable leash was stretched across the bike path, and I slammed on my brakes.  I was a bit late, and the leash clotheslined me.  I am glad to report that I was not decapitated or seriously injured - I ended up with a painful thin rope burn where the crazed woman yanked the leash across my neck.  And the little dog was fine.  But the dog's owner was quite interested in loudly displaying her mastery of every profanity in the English language.  Being a competitive sort, I responded in kind.  Since I was bleeding a bit and quite furious, the woman turned and bolted.  I felt like an idiot for cussing at her; that certainly didn't solve anything.  This woman was creating a danger to her dog, herself and others with that damned retractable leash and she should have been educated about it, not yelled at.  I had experienced a weird bicycling hazard I had never thought about before.

I am a long-time dog owner, and I refuse to use the nefarious retractable leash.  They are evil.  They have led to amputations, major cuts, even death for pets and humans.  Here is a link to the  Consumer Reports article on retractable leashes. If you are using a retractable leash, you are not being a responsible pet owner.  It is the lazy person's solution - "I can walk my way, the dog can walk his way and I don't have to wait for him to finish sniffing the tree or try to get him to obey me."  If you don't want to keep your dog under control, and safe, get a goldfish. 

I am now sporting a hairline scar across my throat - it looks like I had thyroid cancer surgery in my past.  I am sure it will fade, but my hatred of the evil retractable leash will not.