Midwest Memo
Flexible
by Alan Shultz

I encountered a balloon artist the other day. You know this guy, he kind of entertains you with jokes and streaming dialogue while he blows up balloons and twists and turns them into a crown or a dog or something totally confusing.

The thing about this guy, the balloon artist, was he had an added dimension going to his gig. He did his act in traffic at a busy stop light intersection. To make any money at that particular location he had to be fast enough to produce something in the time allotted between red lights. He also had to be alert enough to watch his art and watch the traffic and spot the customer.

I didn't buy a balloon creation from the balloon artist. And I suspect he pegged me as a non-customer right away as he spanned his potential customers. But I do figure I owe him money. His whole act could have been a short elective course on being flexible. He constantly made little adjustments to keep safe, to keep in front of the customer, and to keep on task. All the while, he appeared like he was actually having fun.

I don't consider being flexible one of my strong suits, so I admire it in others.

The other day the international news contained an item about a mentally disturbed fellow in Rome. This guy made news when he managed to jump up onto the open aired vehicle the Pope was traveling in as he waived and blessed a crowd of local faithful. Over and over the news reporters delivered the story with the exact same comment. The reporters said it looked like the Pope was oblivious to the fact of the intruder. And over and over I caught the unspoken, implied tone of "what's with not knowing when someone's jumped into your car?" The unspoken commentary was so consistent I am convinced it was not my imagination.

Buried inside the complexity of the concept of "flexible" is a quality I think the Pope displayed that day of the intruder. I suspect the Pope knew there was a ruckus going on in the back of the vehicle. I also suspect the Pope was aware that the team employed to maintain his safety was busy doing just that. Conjecture on my part? - you bet. But because the news reporters seemed to think daft to not notice the intruder, I came to appreciate the flexibility that translated into qualities the Pope displayed of trust and focus.

I used to do some public speaking and I took a number of seminars on the topic. Flexibility was almost always somewhere on the talking points of being a good speaker. We were told there was always a microphone waiting to buzz or shriek. Likewise we were warned that somewhere out there lurked a waiter ready to drop a tray or a cell phone ready to ring, chime, cackle or

blast.

We were taught the solution to all those distractions and to all those interruptions was one simple thing. Be flexible. Sometimes you ignore the "intruder," sometimes you work him into your act.

My wife and I bought hot dogs in the park the other day. It was sweltering, a hot, burning sun overhead. By the time we had our lunch purchased all the shade in the park was spoken for. There didn't seem anywhere to sit and eat safe from the direct sun rays overhead - and me without a hat!

Then we spied it. A narrow two-foot wide shaft of shade cast by a concrete pillar set on a cement slab. Under normal circumstances our picnic spot would have hardly been considered a "find." But on that particular day we plopped down on the cement, scrunched up together with our backs to the pillar and dined alfresco in a bit of shared shade.

I thought us two to be quite flexible finding our spot and enjoying our lunch that day. Flexible, that is, until once finished and full we tried to get up from our little concrete oasis.

Ouch.