You ever get tired of the awkward attempts to reference your job in a useless pleasantry? We don’t.
- “Hey PAO, let’s not put this on CNN.”
- “What’s in the news today?”
- “Big news day, isn’t it PAO?”
- “Isn’t that an OPSEC violation?” I don’t care.
- “Oh wow, I bet you’ve been busy,” This guy is referencing some major news event that has nothing to do with your command.
- I’m talking to my wife on my cell phone and someone walks past, “Is that Barbara Starr?” My wife, “Who is Barbara Starr?”
- “Hyuck hyuck, what’s on Facebook today, PAO?” Probably a lot of bullshit because Facebook is a cesspool.
- “Low turnout at yesterday’s cake cutting. Guess you should’ve tweeted more about it.”
- “Did you see that article in the Washington Post?” Turns out “that article” was in the New York Times and it also had nothing to do with our organization.
- “Did you see that article in Small Wars Journal?” Turns out “that article” was in the Small Wars Journal and does have something to do with our organization … and it came out three months ago. Yeah, dude, we saw it and highlighted it for the command the day it was published.
- Walking down the hall, “Oh man, here comes the media.”
- “Do you have a camera?” No.
- “Do you have any photos of this?” No.
- “Can you print these photos?” No.
- “Hey PAO, how do you spell ‘simultaneity’?” I don’t have a clue.
- “Hey PAO, don’t tweet this, okay?”
- “Are you synced with IO on this?” Who knows, I haven’t seen the IO for weeks. Have them give me a call if they have any tangible actions planned.
- “Who do you think is leaking all of that information?”
- “Add some strategic communications to this.”
- “Hey PAO, can you design these slides / this pamphlet?” Maybe, but I’m going to spend more time correcting your messages and narrative. Be ready for that.
- “We can’t all be the PAO and do whatever we want.”
Do important and effective people non-ironically say things like this to you often? Look in the mirror and find better ways to add value.
(Photo by Staff Sgt. Jefferson VanWey, DVIDS)
