Who in their right mind would dare ask me to connect Specialty Box to the age old and very personal question of "Do you crumple or do you fold?"This deeply offensive suggestion tempts me to make like Donald Trump vs. Lindsey Graham and supply you with my "friend" Angie's personal email address and cell phone number.
However, I will take the high road and dutifully honor the request to find common ground between retail packaging and real life wiping.
The extremely personal nature of this question compels me to share an actual email conversation I had yesterday with a long time colleague who is also our go to guy for printed ribbon. It had been a coupe of years since Dan and I had the chance to catch up.
Dan: How are you doing? How is life as a happily married guy?
Eric: Fantastic! =) Did you don't know I now have a 3 year old daughter? Her name is Piper and she couldn't be more of a joy. How bout you Dan? It's been a long time since we chatted.
Dan: God bless you! I'm too old for more kids. I am preparing to leave full time employment this year.
Eric: Wow! Congrats. The packaging world won't be the same without you.
Dan: Nobody will even miss me
Eric: That's not true; you don't find your kind of personality just anywhere. What will you be doing?
Dan: Today I heard about a guy just a couple of years older than I am. They discovered he had cancer and has less than 90 days to live. There is much more to life than working, don’t you think.? Why should we be slaves to our jobs?
Eric: I guess I see work a little differently. I try to work as wisely and kindly as I can. It is conversations like these (the ones that step outside of work tasks) which make work more than work. I'm glad to say that I have chats like these pretty ordinarily with friends disguised as customers, prospects, suppliers and team members. I'll bet that is true for you too. I remember many phone conversations with you that quickly delved well outside the realm of work. That is why you will undoubtedly be missed by many.
Sure, our post-potty practices are personal. I hope the same is true for your interactions with our six person Specialty Box family (and all of your "business" relationships).
Now let's talk about politics and religion ;).