People can be really amazing. We live in a society that runs on specialization – we all have a job that generally requires us to do one thing. True, the one thing often includes various “tasks” so we’re not literally doing nothing else. The receptionist will answer phones and greet people, but probably also files documents, does some typing, runs errands, and of course, makes coffee. Teaching includes reading, writing, watching children and keeping order, creating art, and million other things. But we don’t expect the teacher to also fix our car or write a prescription for medicine. We have a mechanic and a doctor for that.
The thing is, even though we all specialize, we all have more than one talent. Most of us indulge these talents in our free time, i.e., time not spent doing the specialized thing we get paid for. Some people paint, some cook, some play a sport… some have many talents and try them all out. Some of us turn our talents into side jobs, and if we’re lucky, into a full-time job where we can be our boss. Like writing and publishing books, for example (ahem).
I love to find out what someone’s “other” talent is, especially when it’s completely different from what their real job is. And yes, I have an example.
A week or two back, we hired a contractor for a small job. We’ve been living with wires running all over our family room, from our sound system speakers, cable, and other TV attachments. We needed someone to run the wires along the walls and under carpet, so they are hidden and safe.
You know how it is. A guy comes to your house with his tools and takes care of the job you yourself don’t have the know-how to do. You don’t expect anything else from the fellow – you just want him to do your job well and be on his way. That’s pretty much all he expects, too.
But our fellow – Ron Bouchard, has another talent. He told us about it when he saw the special little boxes we have on our mantel, that contain the ashes of our two dogs. It turns out Ron makes special containers for those ashes. Like this:
Isn’t that adorable? Ron uses a photograph of your pet and creates a ceramic sculpture that captures the animal in a characteristic pose. Milo, the dog in this photo, lived with chickens, and the sculpture captures a typical encounter.
You can store your pet’s ashes in the sculpture, and have a life-size reminder of his silly ways. Here are a couple more:
Ron works in the Bay Area. If you want to take advantage of his “other” talent, he can be reached at rbouchard8@mac.com or 510-235-7768.
Oh, and he did a wonderful job hiding our wires!
Marlene Dotterer 