Friday, May 04, 2007

Lunch With A Side Order Of Precociousness

This has nothing to do with sports, per se, but I just have to mention something -- and some nifty kids.

Yesterday I was covering a career focus luncheon in Sterling Heights for one of my freelance gigs, Biz X Magazine. It was at Penna's on Van Dyke. The focus, in this instance, was today's sixth grader. And there were nearly 1,000 of them, seated at over 100 tables. I was at table #73, sitting with nine sixth graders from Oakbrook Elementary school in Sterling Heights.

The pleasure was all mine, believe me.

They were very courteous, and asked me several questions about writing as a career. They appeared fascinated when I told them I could get into games for free and sit in the press box. They wondered if I had any relationships with the players. They asked me what I would be doing if I wasn't a writer. All of their queries were on point and their interest in my answers was sincere.

But best of all, they bore gifts. Their class project was to make up pretend resumes and biographies and business cards, projecting what they would be doing by age 28. And they handed their stuff to me, one by one, as I looked at the proposed vocations.

Pharmacist. Police officer. Air traffic controller. Veterinarian. Accountant. Surgeon.

Quite an array.

They even asked for my autograph, which I found delightfully adorable.

For the record, the kids are: Leonardo Krasnic; Cullen Gray; Lindsey Marie Vernier; Nikki Nowicki; Barick Mansoor; Ryan Wietchy; Jon Barr; Emily Duynslager; and Sarah Young.

I told them of our daughter, Nicole, and how she just turned 14. I'm a doting daddy, and naturally I think Nicole is just fabulous: well-behaved, pretty, smart, funny. But the parents of these children, I hope, think the same of their kids -- because I found them to be terrific. And I promised I would mention them in today's posting.

"I'll never sell your autograph," Leonardo told me.

And I'll never get rid of the resumes and business cards I collected yesterday.

Somehow I think I got the better part of that deal.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

hey i'm nikki nowicki. :).. Mr.Eno was the niciest person ever

Anonymous said...

Wow, Mr. Eno! That was very nice of you. You are a great person, and you are also very funny. Thanks for everthing you've done. I'll remember you for a long time and read your blog a lot. You were probably the best person at the lunch. Keep up the good work!