Mr. Mark and Me

Some people are driven by inspiration, others by provocation, still others by desperation. In this instance, I was driven by Manny the snowplow guy. Manny is the Guatemalan version of Mr. Magoo. He's not near-sighted, like the character, but he's an easily distracted, jolly sort of bungler who, quite appropriately, doesn’t get my name right. During this terrible snowstorm, Senor Magoo cheerfully gave me a ride in his truck to the train station. We arrived safely, too.

"Thanks for the ride, Manny."
                "You are welcome, Mr. Mark."

On that snowy day, “Mr. Mark” echoed. I remembered when I first met Manny to talk about regularly cutting my grass. I introduced myself  and while his English wasn't great, we managed to agree on a price and a few additional landscaping jobs. I immediately liked him. We shook hands and when he left he said, “Thank you very much, Mr. Mark.” I wasn’t quite sure I heard it right – 'Did he just call me Mr. Mark?'

Is there something about Guatemalan Spanish that makes "Marty" tough to pronounce? I've no idea. I’ve known Manny now for 12 years, during which time the landscaping job led to the snowplowing job and his reliability extended to him always calling me Mr. Mark. Once, I tactfully corrected him but he bungled his way back to his boisterous, “Hi, Mr. Mark,” “Thank you, Mr. Mark,” “We need to fertilize, Mr. Mark,”  as if I had never said a word. My wife, Felicia, corrected him as well, but that also went nowhere. He probably uses the language barrier as an excuse to avoid saying things that don’t roll off his tongue. Regardless, as far as Manny goes, I am Mr. Mark; and as far as I’m concerned, I’m okay with that.

Hmmm. Did you ever meet someone who seemed to speak a different language and no matter how you tried, it was clear you were from different planets? For some reason, this Mr. Mark thing reminded me of the often unbridgeable gap between account people and creative people. I say one thing and they hear something else. And vice-versa. Sometimes there’s a comical absurdity to it that is similar to Manny’s always calling me Mr. Mark:

Account Person: I think that idea is off strategy.

Me: What idea?

A psychologist friend of mine says that creative people are motivated by visions and feelings, while account people are driven by results. I buy that. It’s why creative shops and creative cultures aren’t likely to be led by account guys. Results are pre-determined and great work can’t quite be predicted. For me, it’s perfectly clear.

           Sure, if some people want to call me Mr. Mark, fine. I’m used to it. But this year, as I venture into a new life, I need to be sure to let them know that I hear something slightly different and that I should hold on to whatever it is that really drives me, on that crooked road to a cool place.