Know your Beat

I was passing through LAX a couple of weeks ago on my way to an international conference in Brisbane. I desperately needed a WiFi connection before the flight departed.

There is a large amount of last minute business preparation asscoiated with overseas travel when you are a business owner. This is further complicated when travel involves going to the other side of the world.

If I didn't get online, I would have nobody to pick me up down under, after 20 + hours in the air and that thought drove me even harder.

I visited an American Airlines "help booth" with 30 minutes to go until boarding. There was an older gentleman at the desk who seemed to be the type to have retired once or twice before, but who needed something to keep him active.

I asked about the possibility of an internet connection of any sort. He pointed to an area and said; "I'm not sure what that is there, but the young kids spend a lot of time around it".

I walked the 20 feet or so to where he had pointed and discovered a charging area for cell phones. In his normal day, he must have cause to walk by that charging pole at least 6 times a day...maybe twice that.

If I wasn't so desperate to get connected, I probably would have laughed. As it was, I wondered how someone could wear a uniform for all the world to see who they worked for and yet be such a clueless ambassador.

Know your area and know your field. In the seurity profession, many non-security types believe us to all be "experts". That is a reasonable expectation.

Lets do our best not to let them down.