Today is the day I needed to do the interview that is to air tomorrow. George, the president of the computer club told me he would meet me there at the Club House at 11:30 a.m. to open the door for and find a place for me to set up so I can record the interview. At 11:45 I was still waiting for George to show up and I was getting nervous. I decided to boot in the lobby and found that I could easily connect to their hot spot.
As soon as I made up my mind that I could conduct the interview from the lobby, George shows up. I followed him to the club’s rooms and he showed me where to set up for my recording. He told me that no one would bother me there and it would be quiet. That’s when the fun started.
As I’m setting up a woman comes in and steps behind me. Turns out that’s where the sink is where they fill the coffee pots with water. I explained to her that I was going to be conducting an interview and recording my call. She said it would be okay, no one else would bother me.
Well, to make a long story short, people kept walking in and out of the room and even tried to talk to me in the midst of this interview. I finally made a sign that said, “Sorry, I’m recording a show and can’t talk right now.”
I thought that would stop people from trying to talk to me, but, no it didn’t. At some point I realized that there was no way to have control over the environment and what was happening, so I let it go, conducted the interview as if nothing was going on around me, and just had a good time with my guest.
There are two important life lessons to be gleaned from this experience for young people –
1. It’s important to be resourceful and
2. when you don’t have control over a situation, just do what needs to be done to the best of your ability and you can feel good that you didn’t let it throw you off.
The guest and I had a great conversation and it turned out well.
What would you have done in this situation? Would you have stuck with it until your solved your dilemma or given up and cancelled the interview?
