People People Deux

First, great to see everyone last week! There’s never enough time to connect and re-connect, is there? Thus, People People Deux. Here’s my tale. I was to join three colleagues for dinner on Friday. My flight back to SSAT was delayed to the point that I had to miss dinner.

So I returned to the Intercontinental Hotel (a hotel with an uncommon blend of excellence and mediocrity) and sent them all an email of apology and explanation. Well, their night was equally long and they didn’t return to the hotel until about midnight, after walking 15 minutes in the rain due to the absence of taxis. And it was at that time that independently each of them responded to my email. What were they doing? Why were they reading emails at midnight? I say this with as much self-curiosity as anything else, as I would have done the same thing.

Other than admissions, nothing bound them. 1 day; 2 boarding. 1 man; 2 women. 1 married; 1 divorced; 1 single. Their ages and tenures in admissions span decades. Why are so many of us like this and do such things? I say this with the hopes that my headmaster never stumbles upon my blog and reads this but I don’t think it’s a work ethic thing. I think it’s a People People thing. We want to know while we were away from email if anyone “reached out and touched us” (thank you AT&T). And we want to acknowledge (if not secretly reward and encourage) that communication by responding, and by responding on purpose at midnight.

Does anyone else in our school keep such hours and do such things? It’s not the job because certainly the head, dean of students, business manager, etc. all have demanding jobs and responsibilities. If it was the job or the position, our entire admin teams would be online at midnight doing this. It’s something that is inherently admissions-y or at least inherent in those drawn to our profession.

While I don’t think it’s a point of pride that we are all like this, I certainly do give thanks for my friends on the other end of the Blackberry. Travel safe everyone.