This is his baton:
It arrived via post, only moments ago.
Mario opened it and took it outside to his picnic table to admire it and wonder on who sent this and why.
You see, at this point, Mario had no knowledge of music and no need for such a strange thing as this in his life.
He was perturbed by the gift which was further accentuated by the chill of Fall setting in... when a crack in the fabric of reality caught Mario's eye...
"Spider-Spit splits this glass of reality", Mario thinks to himself. "How odd is it that we humans can't create from water and spit, anything nearly as strong or beautiful as this?"
Mario's hands and feet were cold. The season was changing and as with all change, there are moments of reflection that happen. Especially when it is accompanied by an odd gift.
On this day in particular, Mario was struggling with his current situation as an "Introduce-r" for a particular product offering that solves a particular need in a specific industry.
What the product is, is not the issue. It is a good product and it solves a problem and that is really all there is to know about it. Mario is proud to re-present it. To be it's "Introduce-r".
The problem for Mario is that as an "Introduce-r", he is on straight commission. And to be on straight commission is a very tenuous place to be. For example, Mario knew that he could sell things. He is very personable and everyone likes him. He could sell potato chips and be successful, or he could sell ships!
Now, Mario's reasoning is such that to sell chips is to make many, many small sales to many, many people and even though his margins were reasonable, there's all of that customer support that's needed beyond all of those calls to actually sell it. To Mario, that was too tedious to have to deal with, so he thought it better to sell ships. "One big ship would be as much effort as a billion bags of chips", he reasoned. And he may be right. But he doesn't sell chips or ships and this is all metaphor, yet it still applies in Mario's mind.
And this isn't even the problem for Mario. You see Mario's problem lies in the relationship he has as an "Introduce-r" for one of the countless Cool Unique New Things corporations that exist on this little blue dot.
And from the perspective of the corporation, Mario is a no-cost, expendable and unappreciated asset. "I cost you no thing" he sadly recalls saying once, to one of the higher-ups in the corporation. And it is this that has him frustrated.
And it was on this day, when the spider-spit sparkled and the gift of a conductor's baton arrived, that it all fell into place for him.
You see, Mario had done a considerable amount of work for the corporation. He introduced and sold many solutions. And through all of it, he made just barely enough to stay above water. Mario told himself that it was "the nature of the game". He'd get his, eventually. Challenge here was, this eventually was a long time coming.
You see, the nature of Mario's product is such that a concept such as this, took a considerable amount of conducting to communicate, sell, complete and deliver. And Mario didn't get his, until it was delivered and the check cleared.
And the typical cycle that that took, took too, too long.
"Maybe that was what the gift was for", he thought. Perhaps he could conduct better to get a better outcome? Who knows... but what Mario finds is far from anything you the reader would ever expect.
Any way, the nature of taking a concept into a product to solve a particular problem is a tedious process, and the corporation itself, really only has a concept, too, as well as some resources that Mario lacks. Things like credit, or assets, or access to monies. And to assemble all of the fabricators and manufacturers of all the various components, along with their assembly, testing and then shipping entails a seemingly endless stream of idiots, the first and most prominent in Mario's eyes, is the corporation. But Mario feels some need to be aligned with this corporation for various reasons. Namely, that he has no interest is the minutia that makes concepts reality.
Another is, Mario lives a bit outside of the norm. He doesn't do things the way most people do things. He doesn't subscribe to the norm. To Mario, the norm is abnormal. The third is, this concept is not rocket science and is really only a collection of component pieces assembled in such a way that it solves a particular problem. Another still, is Mario lacks credibility in his own mind firstly, and in the eyes of his peers, friends, family and potential customers.
Mario is unique. Too unique perhaps...
But somehow, Mario gets by.
And Mario is proud. Too proud perhaps.
And Mario is cool with Mario. Too cool perhaps.
And Mario could care less what the world thought of him as long as he could live out his life, his way.
And to many folks, Mario was a kook.
To those folks, Mario would say "go piss up a rope..." and mostly, they'd laugh and dismiss Mario.
Mario was fine with that.
What bothered Mario most, was when Mario figured out some odd this or that, which bugged him or made him feel as though he was being taken advantage of...
You see Mario was an honest man, a caring man, and a kind man. And this blue dot was not a place for such a man.
Sadly, this blue dot operates on a principle that might makes right.
It operates, (at least in Mario's country), on the concept that a corporation is an individual as well. And though a corporation is comprised of individuals, the corporation itself is a soulless entity. Its only job is to return a profit to its investors, limit liability and comply with the laws of the land.
And Mario learned this from a documentary called "The Corporation" and found resonance with it, as you may, too.
Mario knows, (as I am sure you do too), that all ideas are parroted and borrowed from some where's else, just like Mario's corporations' product offering... it is a collection of various pieces assembled in such a way that it solves a problem or answers a question.
None of it is unique or special, novel or new... it is a collective bucket of mix-n-matches rearranged to suit one's own needs, adjusted and readjusted as needed.
One other principle on this blue dot that Mario noticed, (and which is rarely talked about in polite society), is the deceptive nature of it all. Deception, as Mario has learned, is the greatest sin of sins.
Deception deceives and does things that make others do things that they would not do if they knew that they had been deceived.
This is where Mario is today.
An articulation of a realization of a deception.
And Mario is pissed that he did not catch it, for Mario is not a person that can't understand new things! Quite the opposite, in fact. Mario understands the doings of language better than most, as he has spent many a waking hour contemplating what words do!
Mario knows things.
And Mario does not subscribe to the norm. To him, it is abnormal, like we said above. Mario can read between the lines.
But, there is a problem with Mario's ability to see forward with his super-hero- read between the lines - skill-set. He, like most of us, can only see it once it has been done.Once time has past. Some call it common sense. And that too, is only common, once someone knows it... up until that time... it remains unknown... un-common.
Now, Mario has been doing a great deal of work with the corporation, and as each sale turned concept into reality, Mario had to wait for his pay-off. He'd sell the item... get the 50% down, (check made to the corporation), maybe get a few pennies to survive off of... and wait the supposed 8 weeks until the product was produced.
But the 8 weeks turned to twelve. 12 turned to sixteen... and the delivery added another week. Then the buyer took 30 days to pay and the check took 10 days to clear. So Mario added this all up and found that 26 weeks from the time of a sale was too long!
In addition, every set-back in production added time to Mario's date of getting paid... every delay extended Mario further.
And if Mario had only sold one unit, that would be frustrating enough, but since he sold many more and multiples of these units, each with its own unique set of variables, delays, set-backs and small piteousness of funds off of which to live, made this an accounting and collections nightmare!
"Who has paid, how much has been payed, what was owed, what was due, when would it be paid..." Phone call upon phone call... un-replied to emails and nothing in writing all made for a very stressful relationship between Mario and the corporation.
"Call you next Tuesday" the corporation would say when an inquiry of if any funds had posted, which was followed with a "See you next Thursday" and an over generous offer for some supposed training that was needed. They can "see you need training" and are willing to teach you until you're taught on the principles of how to sell more... after which, if you did well with your training, some unreasonable expectation of some return on their investment in the form of immediate sales in some unrealistic time-line is demanded, at which point they throw out there that perhaps you "can't understand new things" as you could never meet their demands in the first place.
The corporation calls this "normal thinking". The corporation asserts that you "can't understand normal thinking" and Mario thinks "Can you NOT talk? Just send me my check!" But it falls on deaf ears.
Mario feels defeated.
Mario waits.
Mario knew at the time he took the gig on that it was not ideal. Mario knew that in order for him to remain the unique person that he was, not having any resources outside of his personality and such, that Mario would have to make some concessions.
What Mario did not know then, was that he would subscribe to a prescription that he himself uttered, which set the whole ball in motion.
Mario should never have said "I cost you no thing". For it was this very utterance that made him the fool.
Mario knew that to become an "Introduce-r" for any one of the countless Cool Unique New Things corporations that exist on this little blue dot was to become ensnared in a game.
Mario knew that deception.
Mario is not a person that can't understand new things!
Mario knew he should have told 'em to "go piss up a rope" the moment the corporation said "Call you next Tuesday" or "See you next Thursday" on his money or when they offered to teach him until he was taught tight as a string and about to snap, or when they said "see you need training" or that he "couldn't understand new things".
Mario knew what marginalized meant. What the cost of unique was. What the price for non-norm behavior would be.
And Mario would keep his mouth shut.
Mario would survive.
Mario knew that Mario was not too keen on the corporate understanding of "normal thinking", and also that they were watching his every move, but Mario is only human, and prone to making foolish mistakes. With this at least, Mario was able to sleep soundly. Mario is no one's Boo-Boo Doll. Mario is a force!
And that in the grand scheme of things, the universe wouldn't hardly notice the insignificance of any of it, anyway.
For it is but one small story speck on one small blue dot in the grand cosmos and there are many more much more horrific examples which take up so much more of this small blue dot that are all but specks upon that dot and that that dot is but a small speck in any of it all anyway.
So, Mario is not all that concerned, just a bit irritated.
"It's as pretty as spider-spit" he'd say. "A new perception of reality".
"But this baton... that's something altogether different..." Mario thought. "What could it mean?"
And that is where we'll leave Mario today... contemplating an odd gift.
Till next time, Cheers
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