A little more than a week ago I was recognized with the Highlander of the Year award. Strangely enough, life has gone on in a normal fashion. You become yesterday’s news faster than a political promise. And there is no walking on a “red carpet”, just plain ole indoor-outdoor. I’m thinkin’ that unless there’s a cash award attached to the honour, akin to the Nobel prizes, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll see much of a difference in your day to day existence. I was holding on to hope that the Highlands Chamber of Commerce could arrange for a reduction in my County mil rate, or some other life-altering cash incentive. But alas, not to be.
Some very nice people have sent notes of congratulations and still others have stopped to give me their best regards in person. All very kind. Most people, totally unaware of my new elevated position, have gone about their lives as if nothing happened. How amazing is that? A handful of people with whom I am familiar avoided mention of this auspicious recognition. Wassup with that?
Over the decades I’ve won my share of awards. As I recall it all started with a “weatherman” badge in Scouts. Such a heady moment that was. I paraded that badge around for all to see, and then the allure of badges got the better of me and I went for many more . I’ve been thinking back on those occasions and I wanted to see if I couldn’t better understand the dynamics at play. I know, you’re thinking that this guy has too much time on his hands. Not true. I just have a lot of sleepless nights (see previous blog). All this rumination led me to analyze the dispersal factor for the different groupings of people. I can only blame this insane analysis on my years in advertising and marketing communiications. My good freind, Rick Morgan, is a fine researcher and student of human nature, and he was always encouraging us to understand the business framework within which each of our cients were operating. Taking a page from his book I have done a insightful rag-tag analysis of how life works.
Mike Jaycock 