Back in high school, a good friend of mine worked at the local Carvel in our town. Every time my family visited not only did he give us great friendly service, but he also purposely threw in something a lil’ extra because we were pals– extra hot fudge on the side, a half-gallon instead of the quart that we ordered, even a bonus container of chocolate sprinkles. We always got special treatment because of the relationship. It paid to have friends in high (school) places.
My significant other Michael is quite tall. Standing a statuesque 6’7″ in bare feet, Michael is a huge help to me at home. He can reach way up to the highest shelves in the kitchen to neatly stack my extra rolls of paper towel or drag my luggage down from the tippy top of the hall closet without breaking a sweat. He is able to change the battery in the smoke detector without having to balance on the rickety step ladder that I’ve been meaning to replace. It’s great to have a boyfriend who can reach high places and who is happy to help.
My Dad lives in South Florida and he frequents a number of local restaurants on specific nights of the week. He’s such good friends with the management at these particular hot spots that if he calls in advance to let them know he’s coming, they will reserve his seat at the bar and even shoo away other patrons so that he can assume his designated place once inside. It pays to have friends who can reserve high-top chairs.
Most of my career has been spent in a sales role. And almost all of the deals that I have brought in over the years have been based on relationships. That old saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” is only half true. You have to know your business in order to know who to call on to be successful. You have to know what you’re selling and the benefit you bring to your clients in order to achieve the sale. But it certainly does pay to build relationships to ensure that when the time is right, you have friends in influential places.
The opposite of this concept is also true. Never make an enemy of the super in your building unless you enjoy a good flood or don’t mind an occasional broken pipe! Do not piss off the mail carrier when she is at your row in the mailroom if you ever want to see early deliveries. Be patient with your pharmacist if your prescription isn’t ready when you arrive to collect it… especially if you’re in a rush and need a favor. Be respectful of property lines, garbage, and fences– bad neighbors can wreak havoc on your life. It’s bad to create tension in critical places.
Before marijuana was legal, it used to be important to some folks to have a “connection.” If you didn’t have your own guy, it was helpful to know a guy who had a guy. To even get high, you needed high friends in high places. (And what fun it was to get high with a little help from your friends.) Nowadays, we are all able to buy what we like right out in the open since it’s legal. And of course it’s good to have friends to get high with… if that’s your thing. (No judgement.)
As the great Stephen Wright once said, “I’m not afraid of heights. I’m afraid of widths.” I’m not afraid of heights either but I agree with Stephen on the widths thing. I don’t think that I have much pull in the world in any significant way. I happily do favors for friends but I’m not really connected to anyone that can institute global change. However… I have been known to get high marks on my creativity and if that creates a smile or two, then I’m well placed and doing my job. I hope today is one of those days for all of you. And honestly, even I laughed at some of the content in this post!
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