The "About Me" That LinkedIn Doesn't Tell You

How difficult is it to get to know someone that, well, you don't know? Very. Many of my readers know me. I'm not sure this is a good thing. Colleagues used to tell me that when meeting someone I should use "Jeff Lite". Just so you know... I'm not sure there is a Jeff Lite.

Most of my readers, however, don't know me. And the benefits of having a blog is that I can write what I want. I have written About Me posts in the past (see links), telling you my sports teams and some other personal information. So this post would be a complement to those.

Random Stuff About Me, June 2012

More Random Stuff About Me, May 2013

Not in My LinkedIn Bio

I think people that care too much what other people think are crazy. I think people that care nothing about what other people think are crazy too. We are all mostly in between the two crazies. I lean towards the latter. My wife thinks I lean a little too much. This leads to spirited discussions on what I choose to wear. I dress for comfort. And economy. If it were up to me, my blue jeans would come from the Dollar Store. What are they eight bucks? C'mon.

Modern day trappings are too expensive! If we had to, my family could cut our living expenses by a third. Over $200 a month for cable? Ridiculous. Two thousand dollars for a couch? You haven't been to Big Lots. Three hundred dollars for a pair of shoes? My most comfortable shoes are Tom McCann's I bought at Kmart years ago in a traveling pinch. I am convinced if I were living alone my flatware, furniture, clothes, etc. would all be bought at discount stores. I would have Tupperware-like containers that were once the olive or lunch-meat containers, and all my drink containers would be used milk jugs. I would live in an RV, like Trapper John MD. But electronics and other gizmos, that's another story.

I don't understand why a three person family would have a 4,000 square foot house. I also don't get status cars. If someone came up to you and said: "Buy this thing, it costs you 100% more than the other thing and will cost much more to operate, but people will think better of you." I don't think any of us would do it. But somehow we do. Marketing. It's all about Marketing!

I believe in personal responsibility. I was on jury duty a couple of months ago and didn't get selected. If I was on a jury and someone said "I did it, but here is why"... It probably wouldn't matter to me, with limited exceptions. They did it. A Navy lieutenant once said be careful pointing fingers, because the rest are pointing back at you. If you did something, don't say it was because of him, her, or that person over there. You did it! Own up to it. In my view, society would be a better place if I can convince everyone to think the same.

Victimhood and personal offense. There are many current events swirling around us that offend people. Most aren't even impacted by the event! I know there are bad breaks in life. But they supposed to contribute to the person we are trying to become. And if you are suffering bad break after bad break, perhaps it is because of your choices. Or you're Job from the Bible. That guy couldn't catch a break. But for others not named Job, see my personal responsibility diatribe above. We are quick to align with the victim industry. After all, protectors of "victims" are here to help, right? How is that working out? Most of those protectors have bigger than 4,000 square foot houses.

I see things in black and white. If you are a victim, this was not a racist statement. I once ordered a black-and-white milkshake and my friend worried that people would think I was a racist. That is where we are in society. A racist milkshake. But I digress. Many people think everything is a gray area. I see most things as black and white. Don't know if that's good or bad, but it's me.

American capitalism should evolve so we all strive to maximize our God-given talents, earn the fruits of our successes, and give what we don't need to the charity of our choosing, that is NOT the federal government. The challenge is to determine what we need since pensions have gone the way of the dodo bird and with 401k's we need to estimate when we'll die. I currently estimate 92. So if you see me on the street at 93, run me over because I will be broke. I will carry a note in my pocket forgiving you. As penance, though, could you run a GoFundMe campaign for my funeral? As I said, I will be broke.

I think intelligence is being aware of how much you don't know. And the ability to predict consequences further into the future. Maybe that's because I don't know so much. Like specific lines from Goodfellas.

Which reminds me, I can't channel surf past certain movies, like Shawshank Redemption and Field of Dreams. I am compelled to stop and watch. At least until the wife walks by and says something like, "oh my God this again?!". Oddly, I can surf past other fantastic movies, like The Godfather and Hot Tub Time Machine.

As in my Scranton days, I still drink beer. But my tastes have definitely evolved. Sorry Genny 12-Horse.

I would go to jail for my daughters. That is for the benefit of anyone that might contemplate harming them. I write this because I'm a bank consultant, and probably couldn't sell the polishing the rifle in the back yard bit. Because I don't own a rifle. But there are many ways to skin a cat :) 

My now-wife was my high school prom date. She saw the potential. She's wondering when I'm going to realize the potential. But hey, I'm working on it.

There you have it. Hopefully you have a better idea of the person behind the words. Why don't you tell me something about you that is surprising?

I hope you are enjoying your summer! Thank you for reading!

~ Jeff

Random Stuff About Me

A tweep of mine, Ken Mueller (@kmueller62), posted an interesting bio-post titled "Random Stuff You Should Know About Me" on his Inkling Media blog. I saw his reference to it on Twitter, I read it, I enjoyed it, so I decided to copy it... with Ken's blessing of course.

A key benefit of blog writing versus newspaper journalism is the ability to let readers know more about you than is reflected in a typical journalist's bio page. Actually, journalists like to hide many things about themselves for fear of exposing their bias, as if we can't discern their bias by reading their articles. In blogging, we have no need for the facade.

So here are some random things about me you might (or might not) find interesting and give you some greater insights into the person behind the words.

I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Veep Joe Biden once quipped that it was a "hard scrabble life" growing up in Scranton. It must have been hard for him since he moved out when he was a child. I went the distance. Scranton is lampooned in the popular sitcom The Office. Although I would characterize Scrantonians as quirky, we are not quirky like those in the series. I think we would be funnier. Scranton is an amalgamation of European immigrants that came over the pond between the Irish potato famine and the southern European immigration wave that ended in the 1920's. We are Irish, German, Polish, Italian, Czech, and various other nationalities that came through Ellis Island to the land of plenty to mine coal. I am of Italian and Irish descent. I have a lot of internal conflict. My wife is Sicilian. I sleep with one eye open.

I am wired to engage my tongue before my brain. This is an offshoot to being a Scrantonian, as many of us suffer from the same affliction. It is not an endearing quality for a consultant. I have made considerable progress with this shortcoming. But be careful asking for my opinion. Because you may very well get it without the benefit of a filter.

My sports allegiances are... You can read these on my Twitter bio (@JeffMarsico). But you may be curious as to the why. Here goes. Yankees: When you grow up in Scranton, you like the Phillies or Yankees, although there were smatterings of Mets and Pirates fans, but why torture yourself? My older brother liked the Phillies. Ipso facto, I'm a Yankees fan. This logic did not apply to me liking the Sixers, as all of my brothers do. Dr. J, Moses Malone, Mo Cheeks, Bobby Jones, Chocolate Thunder! C'mon, like anybody else and I'm not sure you followed basketball back then. St. Louis Rams: This one is out in left field, I will admit. But in 1974 the Rams drafted the only Heisman Trophy winner from Penn State, one John Cappelletti. Perhaps you saw the movie Something for Joey, where Cappy gave his Heisman to his little brother that was bravely suffering from Leukemia. I cried... and I never liked another professional football team. Notre Dame: You either liked Penn State or Notre Dame if you were from Scranton because 90% of us were Catholic and we had a fair amount of Irishmen. My older brother liked Penn State. Enough said. Washington Capitals: I never watched hockey growing up, so this is a later in life decision. The Caps farm team is the Hershey Bears, eight miles from my house. I saw many Caps play when they were young'uns. Philadelphia Union: I never saw a game of soccer until I was an adult. I had the same attitude as baseball and football fans. But my 13yo is pretty good at the sport, and I must admit it has grown on me. Soccer fans, by the way, are awesome. And check out the pic of PPL Park. What a great place to watch a soccer match.

I coach youth girls lacrosse. Note above that there are no favorite lacrosse teams. Because, like soccer, I never saw a game or even knew the sport existed. Even if I did, I would not have played girls lacrosse, which is a different sport than the boys variety. But I have noticed mixed results when parents coach (disclaimer: my 13yo also plays lacrosse and on my team). And when they asked for volunteers, I begrudgingly raised my hand, knowing I would work my tail off to learn the sport, how to coach, and how to develop young ladies into productive players and members of society. Lofty goals. It's still a work in progress. But coaching middle school girls nets a treasure trove of quotes, such as: "Coach, I'm on my period and will probably be a b**** tonight." Or, "Coach if you send me out there I'll probably pee on the field." It also helps with my personal goal of developing more patience.

I am uncomfortable with opulence and putting on airs. I grew up on the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder. The first family car I remember was the Dodge Dart Swinger. My dad passed away when I was six. I had the same glove, bat, and cleats all through high school and I rode the shared family bike to games when the local tuff kids didn't steal it. So I am not used to a life of driving luxury vehicles, staying in swanky hotels, and sipping single malt scotch. Some of these things are the trappings of my profession, and I don't rebel by going to the local Econo Lodge when my colleagues stay at a top tier hotel. But I drink beer. I drive a Chevy. I'm sorry if that makes you think I am not successful.

There you have it. I could go on and on, but I get bored myself when blog posts get too long. However, if you have any questions, fire away. I would also like to know some factoid(s) about you, so feel free to share.

~ Jeff