Perspective

I have one client in particular who I always address as "Sir", and he hates it. I suspect he believes I call him "Sir" because he is a judge. Or, he thinks I call him "Sir" because he was my father's friend. More than anything else, when he hears me say "Sir", my heart tells me he feels this somehow makes him unapproachable, not a "normal" person in my eyes.

About eight months ago, he finally said, "Will you stop that shit and call me by my name, for Christ's sake?"

And I, panicky, wailed, "Oh but, sir, I can't. I just CAN'T."

I pray he has gotten used to this and he understands what a term of affection and respect this is to me. I call you Sir, not because you are some distant stranger, but because I admire you personally and you deserve this small token of respect.


This past Friday night, we had a disaster on the banquet floor. It's a long, long story, but it boils down to this: our reception area was double booked. On one hand we had the most prestigious social gala of the season booked to have a reception on the mezzanine. On the other hand, and at the exact same time, that same space was being occupied by thirty eight tradeshow booths. Ummm, doesn't work.

The hotel proposed the physically impossible: WE would tear down and store all thirty eight of these elaborate booths, we would set up for the gala reception, we would do both of those things in a one hour time frame, and during the night we would put every single booth back exactly the way it had been before.

As a hotel professional, let me tell you that this simply Can Not Be Done. It can't, call any hotel in the world, propose this situation to them, and they will tell you it's impossible.

Yeah. Well, call MY hotel. We did it in twenty five minutes. It was poetry. It was a miracle, It brought me to tears.

And during the worst of it, Mario -- my man, my love, my life partner -- called across the Mezzanine, "Jennifer!"

"Yes, Sir?'

"Go get me three black table cloths, please."

"Yes, Sir!"

I have never called him "Sir" in my life. I have admired him, I have respected him, I have watched him weave his magic, but I never before got out the S-word, perhaps because while I have seen him pull off some amazing shit, I never once before REALLY experienced his mastery of this art. And to be even more honest, I have never heard even a single member of his staff call him Sir, under any circumstances. I instinctively called him Sir with no hesitation, because this is the way I was raised. And even if he didn't notice, I did.

And so, to my good friend Irwin, I say, "NOW do you understand??"