Follow
As a TV producer, I get a lot of calls from one network or another needing a quick interview or footage shot of something.
Several years ago, I got a call from ESPN asking me to go interview Jerry Reinsdorf. It was made clear Reinsdorf is a very busy guy and we had to have our cameras and lights set up so he could walk in, clip on a mic., answer the questions and leave. It’s something that happens a lot with busy people and not that big of a deal.
Being a “Chicago kid,” I have always admired Reinsdorf and wanted to make a good impression. Instead of wearing my usual sport coat and jeans, I donned my best Armani suit and tie. In my mind, I was hoping Reinsdorf would be so impressed with how professional I was – take one look – and offer me some kind of cool job.
What happened was completely different and ended with a lesson I will never forget.
The day came for the interview. At the time our daughter was eight months old and I was mostly at home with her while my wife worked more regular hours. I was going to drive our daughter from our home in Grayslake to her office in Skokie, drop her off, head to the Cell, interview Reinsdorf, impress him and change our lives forever!
As any parent knows, plans with babies have a tendency to take off in a different direction quickly. Our normally happy baby woke up crying and everything I did to calm her down didn’t work. I had to leave – there was no rescheduling Jerry Reinsdorf. We had a small window of time and it had to be hit.
I calmed her down enough to get into the car and, as if it was planned, it started to downpour. The drive from Grayslake to Skokie is hard enough on a clear day, but with rain and a crying baby, it was bumper-to-bumper and non-stop crying.
I tried to calm her and drive, but that was a losing battle. After what seemed like ten hours, I grabbed my umbrella, pulled to the side of the highway, got out as carefully as I could trying not to mess up my best suit. I unstrapped my sobbing baby from her car seat, picked her up in my arms and before I could blink, she began to throw up in my face, all over my suit, covering me from head to toe in acidic baby vomit.
I was faced with the option of dropping my daughter or the umbrella to comfort her. The next thing I knew I was standing in the rain, clutching my vomiting baby, soaking wet and covered in baby spew!
After a few minutes, she calmed down and we forged ahead. I got her to my wife and took off to meet Reinsdorf.
Dripping wet, covered in vomit, I had no choice but to do my job and apologize to Reinsdorf for looking and smelling the way I did. I was screwed.
My camera crew set up their equipment as I tried to put myself back together, but it was close to impossible to bounce back from this one. I was terrified that Reinsdorf would walk in, take a look at me and bail.
Our meeting time came and Reinsdorf walked in. I was in full “panic mode” as I extended my hand to greet him. “What happened to you?” was what Reinsdorf asked before I could say anything other than my name.
I told him the story and did everything but get on my knees and apologize. When I was done explaining, Reinsdorf began to laugh! “I have kids and grandkids. Don’t ever apologize for being a good dad. It’s the most important thing in the world.”
I was speechless. Then Reinsdorf turned to one of his staff members, told him to move our interview and to take me down to the locker room to take a shower and get new clothes! “I’ll meet you back here in a half an hour and we can do this.”
With that Reinsdorf was gone and I was being lead to the locker room, where a new pair of White Sox sweats and a shower were waiting for me.
While I never got the job offer I was waiting for, I did learn a lesson that I take with me to this day, “never apologize for being a good dad.”
There are so many times, we find ourselves apologizing for the most ridiculous things. “Sorry the house is a mess, sorry the kids are a mess, sorry I am a mess, sorry he just woke up from a nap, sorry about this meal,” and on and on.
I no longer practice the art of senseless apologizing. Yes, there are times when you are covered in vomit and you might need to explain things better, but not apologize.
Reinsdorf taught me none of us are perfect. Things happen that are out of our control. We are all fallible. We shouldn’t have to be constantly apologizing to live up to an image that only exists in the pages of a magazine.
I wake up every morning with the same goal;” let me be a better man today when I was yesterday.” Sometimes I hit the mark and sometimes I miss, but every day I do my best.
I do my best to keep my kids “safe, healthy and happy.” If they have food on their faces, the beds are unmade or the floor isn’t vacuumed, I am not going to apologize to anyone for putting my best foot forward. That’s not the kind of pressure anybody needs or deserves.
We have enough to deal with on a daily basis, we don’t need to beat ourselves up as well. In life like in baseball, “sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you get covered in baby vomit.”
No matter what, you gotta keep playing.
Remember to “like” our Facebook page by clicking here.
Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.
