No biting the personnel

It’s contest season in Toastmasters. Fall is for the Table Topics (impromptu speaking) and the Humorous Speech contests while spring is for the Evaluation contest and the International Speech contest.

This last one is my favorite of the four. The written rules are simple: 5 to 7 minutes with substantially original material. However, to win, you have little choice but to have content that will interest the audience. Most, but not all, aim to inspire. To reach their division contest, like the one I organized on Friday and the one I attended on Saturday, they must win their club and their area contests.

Over the last few days, I listened to a number of speeches. One of the most memorable explained how extraordinary people are ordinary people doing extraordinary things, a simple message with an incredible delivery. Another used the speaker’s own gastric bypass surgery to discuss how life is not always greener on the other side. There was also the young man who reminded the audience of the importance of carefully selecting one’s obligations. Becoming a salary man may mean no more travels to New Zealand for a while.

My favorite one remains that of a young Japanese woman who explained her career path. She titled her speech “no women bathroom.” In her youth, she had dreamed of becoming a pilot only to learn that the flight university could not admit her, it had no women bathroom. This unfortunate reality, and the advice of her mentor, prompted her to go study in the U.S. for college. There she earned her flight certification. The story continued with her struggle to earn her permanent resident status, which American airline companies require of employees. More than ten years later, she is a flight instructor at the U.S. school and a corporate pilot on weekends. There are still less than 60 women corporate pilot in Asia.

Yes, you do hear some wonderful, personal stories in Toastmasters this time of the year.

Spring has arrived in Seattle. While it’s still cold at night – temperatures have neared 0 C – the last few days have been gorgeous: goodbye to dreary clouds and hello to the Olympic range. In a few weeks, I’ll probably see Mount Rainier on my daily commute.

On Friday, we headed off for a lazy dinner at Tutta Bella in Columbia City, on Saturday afternoon we visited Ranch 99 in Edmonds and on Sunday we strolled through the UVillage and the Ballard Farmers Market. Our favorite creamery was selling an older tomme. A few stands down S bought fresh foraged fiddleheads, the first time I have seen her want “rabbit food.” Finally, as we stocked up on ground meat and bacon, we heard the best chicken in town would be back in a few weeks along with the sign-up list for Thanksgiving turkey. This year, we’re lining up.

In short, all of this made a great enjoyable weekend to cap off the month of March. This is good since, during the same period, I twice took out candidates for a “post-interview day closing dinner.” I have another one next week. In 7 years, I have had only one candidate who did not like the city by the end of the evening. The fun of this past weekend reminds me that, beyond my sales skills, the city stands on its own. That is a good thing for my conscience.

This makes me wonder what to think of this report by the Mercer Consulting group. Seattle is the 49th best city to live in the world. Geneva is 3rd, San Francisco 29th and Tokyo 35th. Geneva???

Go Canada though: Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Calgary all make the list, in that order.

P.S.: Yes, yes, I know. I’m presenting one-sided arguments about the fun of wandering a city while shopping, for groceries mostly.