The Bitter Oldtimer What they do: Around since the company was founded (or maybe it just seems that way), The Bitter Oldtimer has definitely seen it all, and they’re not scared to tell you all about it. One has to wonder why they’re still at the job. In the long run, though, they can turn your optimism and can-do spirit into the same bitter regrets that they sport, killing your own enjoyment of your job. Attitudes can be contagious.
Yes, this is the problem where I work. People are as old as some (or most) of the objects in our collection. They hate technology, they hate young eager people, and most of all... they hate change. But the fact is, in order to be relevant in this day and age, we need to change. We know it. But I am so tired of going into meetings where there is always a Debbie Downer who puts down every idea and never has a positive alternative. Next time I go to one of the meetings, I really want to take a water pistol with me. Whenever there is a negative commentary that goes on for over 3 minutes, I'm shootin'.
Bill Clinton agreed to this one for his official portrait? Really? The psychoanalysis of this is just too easy. This is from the digitized collection at the National Portrait Gallery.
... and it's been pretty non-stop since the Inauguration. I think everyone has "Cameron Moments" like this one. Mine was yesterday. Okay, and this morning. Yesterday I gave up, called in sick, and went back to bed and slept for 6 more hours. Today, I forced myself to get out of bed, take a shower, and get in my car to get to the train station. But this was what was going on in my head:
I didn't bother going to the 5 year reunion because I felt like I had just left high school. I didn't go to the 10 year reunion because I was getting married a week after the event in a completely different state. I don't think I have an excuse for the 15 year reunion. And why would I want to avoid it anyway?
My mom has said that by the time you hit your 25th reunion and over, you are just happy to see each other alive and happy. And I think with the 15th, you are finally pretty set in who you are, what your priorities are, and at least a little more secure about yourself than you were on Graduation Day. But right now I'm in a bit of a whirlwind professionally and personally, and my old hometown loves to gossip. So I know by going back I'll have to have a full-on ready explanation of where the hell I've been, what I'm doing, and how my family is. With a town in Ohio with only 6000 people, and a graduation class of 64, there is no avoiding the how is your family hoo-ha. Luckily, I think Facebook has helped me with the transition. But still, do I look better than I did in high school? I certainly feel better.
When I graduated, my parents were divorcing, they put the big house up for sale, and I was quickly running off to Syracuse University and then abroad to London. Yep, I ran. I won't deny it. And I studied my fanny off. I pretty much cut myself off from a lot of my old friends that I had known since Kindergarten. And I haven't talked to them since... except for a few on Facebook.
Now it's been 15 years, and I have a graduate degree from the University of Chicago and work for the Smithsonian. I work at a place where I see guards with guns, and some with very large guns, on a daily basis. Just last week, I was dealing with an emergency at the Holocaust Museum and hoping none of the students in my program were hurt. On a good day, I am summoned to a Castle. On a bad day, I'm dealing with lawyers. My mom has ALS, my brother is in the military, and I'm married with a kid. I have a lot on my plate right now and manage to still get through the day.
But for some reason, when I think about going back to a high school reunion, I am struck with a certain nervousness that can only be experienced by a neurotic, low self-esteemed 17 year old. And the first thing I think is, "What am I going to wear?" I haven't even talked to my husband about making the trek back to Ohio to actually go to this reunion and I'm already wondering if my butt will look big when I get there. I'm sure this will not be last blog entry about this event.
Oh, Ohio.... when I think of you... I think of this version of this song... I need a drink.
I've been working on Smithsonian Connections for awhile, and our first project is about Abraham Lincoln. The Bicentennial of his birth is this year so there's been a lot of hoopla around the country at museums and historical Civil War locations. It sounds boring, but you end of finding lots of cool stuff. Like portraits of Lincoln made out of cupcakes and stuff like this:
