Grouchy Old Man

Rick Stanton, Creative Director / Managing Partner / Grouch, Stanton & Everybody Advertising + Design

I was on the ferry boat, on my way home not too long ago and a friend of mine said, “I like your blogs you grouchy old man.”
This got me thinking, not a lot, but some. I realized a couple of things in my self-analysis:
I am kind of grouchy. But not because I’m old.
Hell, I was grouchy when I was young. Back then I was referred to as ballsy.
In defense of my take on things and the tact (or lack there of) I use in confronting those things, I’m not as grouchy as you might think.
What I am, and have always been, is unforgiving of fools and B.S., sometimes occurring together.
Our business is full of both. From the client who doesn’t think we need to hire a photographer because they have a camera, to the guy who had me re-do an entire identity project because his wife didn’t like blue, I have spent a measurable amount of time defending the fact that we know what we are doing and why.
Not to intimate that we do not seek opinion, we do.
I can’t tell you how many times a client or the janitor for that matter, came up with a slant that made something better. Good ideas are where you find them.
In fact, I am happy to say that most of my clients over the years have been wonderful.
One is wise to avoid the bad ones. Budget is not a good enough reason to come to work everyday, at least for me.
But when I hear something really stupid come out of someone’s mouth, I tend to respond.
If standing up for who you are and what you do means I’m grouchy, so be it.
There are too many people in our business who lack a spine. My boat buddy is not one of them. Actually, he’s pretty grouchy too … Tom.
Maybe if more of us were a little prickly we’d be more respected as a whole.
And just to make sure you understand, my hackles are not limited to the job.
While standing in line to board the boat one day, I had had enough of the arrogant rambling dialogue this one guy does every morning and asked him if he ever took ten or fifteen minutes off from being a crashing boor or is it pretty much a 24/7 job.
Suffering fools got us PC. I hate PC.


Worth Reading: http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Marketing/Branding/maintaining_the_customer_experience_2259