3, 2, 1 ...You're On!

It's not everyday that a person goes public...I mean really public. We tend to move in our own comfortable orbits - meeting the same people, using the same streets to get to familiar places, doing things on an established schedule. As we do all this, others we don't know might notice us as we intersect their lives and schedules anonymously, but they don't know much about us. Then comes the opportunity to appear on community television. My friend Carol and her business associates are taping a one-hour program today. They'll be interviewed about their professional lives and the significant features of their dog care enterprise...all in a single one-hour take. They'll go public.

Joining them on the set will be a small, white, mixed breed short-haired dog - a loveable lump that was put on the earth to attract, and then absorb, any excess adoration that may exist anywhere. If this dog only knew the potential of the medium, she would shift into a level of unsurpassed "high cute." During the taping, this dog will bliss out on a dog bed or a lap and will wag as glances come her way. She'll nuzzle and get close. And there will also be a pit bull. Fifty pounds of competitivly trained rippling muscle under a brindle coat, docked ears, piercing eyes. She's very obedient, but she has an edge. She is, as they say, "ready to go."

Unlike the dogs, the people do appreciate what's at stake. Knowing the flow of the interview in advance they divvy up topics, hone their messages, and figure out what to wear (nothing that will show armpit rings, please). The show will air in a couple of weeks to those who will watch any program that has a dog in it, or to (ta-dah) potential clients. I have every expectation that the show will go well. The interviewer is benevolent, the business is doing well and expanding, and Carol and associates will be discussing topics they know very well.

The small white dog may be subtly miffed at the absence of close-ups she deserves, and the pit bull may harbor lingering distrust of the production staff. But the people will get their message out about a business that has consumed their lives, and will enter the orbits of people they do not know.