Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Business is Business....

So, TV's Mike Rowe has been in NYC mucking thru the dirt...going on shows to promote Dirty Jobs.

Yesterday, he was interviewed on Good Morning America, where they had a very lame mechanical snake on the floor...why? I have NO idea. The only host that I knew was Robin Roberts, and I only know her from her reportage from New Orleans during Katrina. I honestly think that the last time I watched GMA, David Hartman was still the host. And yes, I am that old. But, I digress. Mike was his usual charming self, dressed in well fitting jeans, a black shirt open enough at the neck to see a few of those lovely chest hairs, and...brown shoes. At least they weren't those ghastly beige Hush Puppy slides ;) Anyway, the last segment they did was Sarah Moulton cooking chicken in a balsamic glaze. Apparently Sarah no longer has a Secret on FoodNetwork and instead is on PBS now. But again, I digress. They did the cooking segment, and then everyone...and I'm guessing that the everyone's present were hosts, but like I said, I have NO idea who anyone other than Robin Roberts is on that show. So everyone, including TV's Mike Rowe, went over to the food. I have no idea when the last time Mike ate was, but apparently it was not within the last 24 hours before the show. He shoved what had to be half a chicken breast right in his mouth...and then Robin Roberts proceeded to ask him a question and hold a microphone to his face. Mike, keeping his mouth closed, politely declined to speak. Boy was raised right. I think Robin had a little crush though, judging from the way she was salivating over Mike instead of the food :D

Next up....Mike meets O'Reilly. Well...so far all we know is that Mike taped O'Reilly...to be aired at a later date. Now, there are some on djmb who think perhaps Bill will be mean to Mike, but, having seen him interviewing celebrities before, I'm sure Bill got a kick out of Mike slogging thru poo, but was probably more than charmed by Rowe. People who don't watch FNC or OReilly and who only know what their detractors say about them really won't have any clue until they see the actual interview and see how nice Bill can actually be. So, we wait for the air date to be announced.

Meanwhile, Mike WAS on Donny Deutsch's show, The Big Idea, on CNBC. I'm not much of a fan of CNBC to be honest...Jim Crammer is, to me, everything that is wrong with business TV. I will admit to watching Michael Eisner's interview show...but his guests are generally more 'entertainment' oriented than business. Take last night for instance...he interviewed Kenneth Cole (I like Kenneth, but not really his shoes lol) and Vera Wang. I enjoyed the Vera Wang interview and found out that the first wedding gown she designed was her own! But, again, I digress. I haven't watched Donny Deutsch (who I have a special nickname for, but shall keep it to myself) for quite some time and noted that they changed the format of his show. Gone is the big sofa and casual attire on Donny. In are what appeared to be high chairs and a suit on Deutsch. Mike was still wearing the nice jeans...and those brown shoes.

So Donny and Mike discussed Mike Rowe's 7 Dirty Habits for effluent people. These would be 7 'rules' that Mike says he's learned from his experience doing about 200 of these dirty jobs over the last 3 years, things that will make you happier in your job. Now, I don't have to tell you that I do, indeed, like Mike Rowe. I find him intelligent, charming, funny and dare I say he has one of the finer chests on TV. What I don't find him is an expert on business. TV's Mike Rowe has never worked corporate. He's never had to create financial statements from vague information. He's never had to tick and tie a spreadsheet or spent 4 hours searching for a one penny difference. He's never had the company he worked for sold or found himself a victim of down sizing. In short, TV's Mike Rowe is hardly someone who I would turn to for expert advice on business.

So, Donny and Mike began to discuss these 7 habits. Mike talked about honesty, and passion and how he opted to leave the film of himself hurling over the side of a boat in the episode, because it was more 'real'. When you are vulnerable, he offered, it makes people trust you. True that, Miguel. But, then both Mike and Deutsch decided that people with dirty jobs are much more satisfied with their jobs than those of us with white collar office positions, essentially because there are visual cues that tell them they've made progress with the job. Using Mike's example, a ditch digger is satisfied at the end of the day because now there is a ditch where there hadn't been one before.

This, I have to disagree with.

I watch Dirty Jobs, and often times, the person Mike is working with is the boss. That means that if they don't own the business, they are at least the crew chief of the operation. He's not working with the poor schlub who makes $7/hour to haul rocks from point A to point B for 8 hours while the crew chief yells at him to get the lead out because he's not moving fast enough. I wonder what that fellow would say to TV's Mike Rowe if he were to ask him how happy he was with his job? For that matter, I wonder if TV's Mike Rowe has ever asked the 'worker bee' how happy he is?

As for the visual cues, like I said, Mike Rowe has never worked as a paper pusher in an office. I have visual cues all day, every day. When the pile or reconciled invoices is higher than the pile of unreconciled ones? That's a visual cue that I've made progress. When all of the client invoices have been run and the girls have stuffed them all in the envelopes? That's another cue. The billing cycle is over. The work has been done, and done correctly.

There is a reason it's called "work" and not "play". Work is never pleasant, and I'm sure that there are days when even TV's Mike Rowe wakes up and doesn't want to go to work.

If TV's Mike Rowe wants do perform a REAL dirty job....then he needs to work in corporate accounting for a day...

5 comments:

newsjunkie said...

See, this is why I love you... you're obviously a fan of Mike (and his chest hair) but you don't hesitate to call him to task when warranted.

Or anyone else for that matter.

I enjoyed reading this post!

Lisa said...

Thanks, girl.

I need to call 'em as I see 'em.

It doesn't mean I like Mike~or anyone else I've taken to task over something *cough*Shepard*cough*~any less.

And yes...yes...Mike's chest hair just does something to me...I can't explain it. In fact, I don't even try to understand it...I just sit back and enjoy it :D

newsjunkie said...

Hahah well that's how such things should be. You shouldn't question the rationale of the chest hair. Just go with the flow.

And I am LMAO at the irony of *cough*Shepard*cough* in light of one of his largest vices. :)

Lisa said...

I can't type his other vice...it'd look something like *glug glug glug*Shepard*glug glug glug* LOL

Ah...Mike's moving to Mondays for the Deadliest Catch season...That means I have something to watch both Mondays AND Tuesdays now...even if Mike's chest hair isn't on Deadliest Catch...

Munin said...

I agree it is easy to see progress for dirty jobs. Hence, a feeling of accomplishment anyone could be proud of.

I visited an interesting site I want to share with you the Young Entrepreneur Society from the www.YoungEntrepreneurSociety.com. A great documentary about successful entrepreneurs.