Does anyone out there have a mentor? The reason I ask is, I’m wondering how a person gets involved in molding a young, ambitious mind. As an educated adult who is considered by many to be worldly, and who also loves to impart knowledge, I wonder…do I have the requisite tools to enter into a successful mentor-protégé relationship?
I think it’s inherently weird, the notion of the aged spending exorbitant amounts of time with children. Then again, who are we to withhold education from those who are bereft of the insight that might be gleaned from an older, wiser person. Like a sage…an expert…a guru…a savant…someone with an extensive vocabulary, who has the ability to work with an apprentice. Maybe even someone whose opinions reach literally hundreds of people every day. Someone with the kind of audience you can’t build by just sitting at home on your ass all day. Someone like me.
Before you cast aspersions on my having never completed anything I’ve set out to do in my entire life, answer me this one question: What have you ever done that’s as noble as this? I don’t see you offering to mentor anybody. Who is your protégé? Oh, that’s right. You don’t have one. You don’t even have a website that gets 350 visitors a day, one or two of whom might actually look up to you. And what if you did? Wouldn’t you want to give something back to the people who helped you earn $9.08 last month through website affiliate programs? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Maybe next time you’ll think twice before scoffing at mentors and protégés.
As I went over my mental checklist of “goals for life” this morning, I wondered, “What is it about mentors and protégés?” Is there a more vaguely homoerotic relationship one can experience ? How do they get set-up? Is there a JDate or Match.com for mentors and protégés? Isn’t it unnatural for a child to be spending time trying to identify with someone who isn’t a parent? Are protégés left scarred by spending too much time with a mentor? I’m thinking specifically of the movie Searching For Bobby Fischer, and how Ben Kingsley comes off like such a pedophile. It’s totally creepy. It’s creepy, and hilarious.
The above paragraphs are how I come up with my story ideas. I think I’m going to write a short story about a mentor-protégé relationship gone awry.
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Last night’s attempt to cull sound bites for the next episode of The Best Podcast You Have was, in my humble opinion, a lost cause. Somewhere between the organic wine, the Jack Daniels and the Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, we tanked. The objective changed from seeking intelligent discourse with random folks to snickering at blind people, making enemies In Iran, and insulting the British. I don’t know, I just don’t see a future in radio for us. Or, maybe…No. No maybes.
