Fame and Phone Calls
*A second re-release; Questions 2 and 3 from this article are answered below. As always, if you’d prefer to discuss these scintillating answers over dinner, you know what to do…
2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?
Yes. But hear me out. Or, rather, hear David Perrel out.
The idea of fame as a platform for connection and community is immensely attractive. As is a life less ordinary, I suppose, which should come as a surprise to nobody given my proclivity for prostitution. I view this fame as just another unique experience and my modus operandi is to try to seize unique experiences at every possible moment. I want to “live deep and suck out all the marrow of life” (a Henry David Thoreau quote which I love, though it’s original context is much richer than this discussion.)
On the other hand, the Faustian price of fame is generally acknowledged to be freedom and/or privacy. Indiscriminate fame may open some doors, but maybe those doors would be opened too wide and lead to the closure of some fifteen others. In other words, I’m not willing to sacrifice my freedom for fame in the traditional sense. So maybe I have to accept that not every experience is for me and settle for being well-known and important among my community of choice. IYKYK…
3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why?
No, not any more. The last time I remember being nervous to pick up the phone was probably as a teenager, when I demonstrated an above-average level of awkwardness (both physically and socially.) However, if there’s one thing you have to lose fast when you start working in sales it is phone fear. I tend to live life with a ‘what’s the worst that can happen’ mentality, and so I was never so much worried about what the other person would say* or think of me, or not communicating effectively.
I think the reticence I had about phoning someone stemmed from my deep discomfort asking for things/help. I’ve done a lot of personal work to figure out why this is and understand how to be better at asking for the things I need and want, but it’s not a natural feeling for me. My siblings and I were raised to be independent to a fault, derive self-worth from total stoicism and avoid being a burden to others at all cost. Very cool, I know.
This is, frankly, a bunch of bullshit. Leaning on people when balanced with being leaned on is lovely and necessary and healthy and rewarding. Vulnerability is power and so I will phone anyone and continue to ask for things as I continue to offer them in turn.
*I will, if asked, recount the worst possible phone scenarios I encountered during my time in sales if asked nicely. Sheer unadulterated schadenfreude.