Sunday, June 27, 2010

Go Big or Go Home


Since my very first foray into the realm of NASCAR, I have been angling for a job somewhere within the empire. All those self help books promising to aid the reader in achieving her goals say that it is important to have a well thought out plan that includes specific, measurable goals. So I think I should take a moment to try to narrow my focus a bit to determine what kind of position would be the best fit for me. Here's my list so far:

1. Driver

                 The pro column for this one is pretty easy to fill. Obviously, the really cool jumpsuit and legions of adoring fans rank high on that list. If you would have asked me last week, I'd have said this was my top career aspiration. But that was before I watched the machine that is the Danica Patrick Show in action. There was never a time when her car, pit, and hauler weren't swarmed with 15-20 camera-carrying people ready to snap a photo of her every eye flutter. This would drive me completely nuts as I try to maintain a 1.5ft radius,  intruder-free bubble around me at all times. Plus, there's that forgetting which side of the road I'm supposed to be driving on thing. Still, I'm not ready to completely rule out this option. Some dreams will never die.


2. Pit Crew Mechanic

                This one has real potential. Aside from the cool factor of getting to wield power tools, this job would also allow me to wear a jumpsuit. Just look how cute my bff looks in hers:
I, too, could totally rock that look I think. My utter lack of mechanical knowledge could present a minor handicap though as at this point in time, I could not tell you the difference between a track bar and a Hershey bar. Plus, my hand eye coordination deficit could be a cause for concern. However, I feel these obstacles could be overcome with the proper motivation and mindset.

3. NASCAR Official

                    This job seems to have it all: headset, access to pit road, and a jumpsuit. And not just any jumpsuit either, but a white jumpsuit. Yes it's true that my understanding of the rules of the sport is nonexistent, but I'd imagine there's a school for that somewhere, right? I'm a quick learner. I'm told that this job would involve being yelled at all day by crew chiefs unhappy with penalties, but I think I can handle that by activating the "helpless and cute" gene that all females possess. But while the helpless part comes easily enough for me, I really have to put a beacoup of energy into the being cute part. So it would be a rather exhausting job.


And that last part there brings me to the quandary that I have with all of these professions: they all have hectic schedules. This is without a doubt a huge stumbling block for me. I even have visuals to support this fact. This is me at the New Hampshire track at the end of a week that involved 1 race weekend in Wisconsin, 1 husband out of town, 1 play date, 1 girls' night out and 1 pair of house guests in the form of my parents:

Look at those slits there where my eyes are supposed to be. I was so tired that I took every opportunity to lean against anything that looked like it could bear my weight. Somewhere around lap 40, I was nearly lulled to sleep by the soothing sounds of 40+ cars zooming around "The Magic Mile". I clearly need to work on my stamina before giving any serious consideration to any of the 3 previous occupations. Which makes my final choice the most logical and attainable at the moment.

4. Car Owner

          From my observations, the duties of this job include fishing the week before, flying in the day of the race, telling a few funny stories, discussing strategy with the team, and eating a PB&J Uncrustable or two.  These are all areas in which I excel--well except for that discussing strategy one.  But every job should offer a challenge and a chance to learn new skills, wouldn't you agree?

The only thing keeping me from ordering new business cards today is that most car owners are already successful business owners, so it would seem that it isn't really an entry level position. I'll admit that the odds aren't in my favor, but I've always been a big believer in that old adage that anything is possible. I think I'll go ahead and eat an Uncrustable now just to be sure I'm ready when the door of opportunity opens. 


             

3 comments:

  1. Ha! My favorite line: "My utter lack of mechanical knowledge could present a minor handicap though"...too funny! Wow, so cool! And I'm not even a Nascar fan! (Don't hate me :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Enjoyed reading your blog and this one brought back neat memories of watching Nascar races with my brother! Thanks for the trip down memory lane and I love the way you wrote this well-thought-out career choice!

    ReplyDelete
  3. CM--the sad thing is that there wasn't any exaggeration there for comedic purposes either. I really am completely inept when it comes to mechanical things. :-)

    Hi Julie! Thanks for stopping by. I'm a new NASCAR fan, so I don't have any childhood memories of the sport--but I bet my kids will!

    ReplyDelete