I have been to the Wintermoon Festival a few times and one of the features of that outstanding event is that you need to get there a day or two early to set up your tent and campsite.
We always camped with friends and part of the deal is that you all get in together and help set everyone up. The setting up part involves all the blokes rolling up their sleeves and working together to get the job done.
It requires co-operation, co-ordination and teamwork and involves all sorts of equipment like tent pegs, ropes and hammers.
And there is an expectation that, because you are a bloke, you have a pretty good idea of what you are doing.
I wasn’t sure about (a) how long it would take for me to be found out and (b) how public my humiliation would be … but the answers were (a) a couple of minutes and (b) very.
Riley, the then-teenaged son of my friends Mel and Bryan, noticed my incompetence early as I struggled with some previously obscure piece of camping equipment while setting up a tent.
Rather than keeping his observation to himself, Riley brought it to everyone’s attention with the loud exclamation: “Hey, check out outdoor Dave! How you going with that mate?”
It gave everyone a chance for a big laugh and I know they enjoyed it because it created continuing laughter over the weekend. The best part for everyone, apart from the fact I had been exposed by a mere child, was that I could now be referred to as “Outdoor Dave”.
Whenever a piece of equipment required attention or something needed fixing you would hear the call, “get Outdoor Dave on to it”. Absolutely hilarious. Every. Single. Time.
It is no coincidence that my career choice of real estate does not require me to be useful in the traditional male sense.
There are plenty of blokes, and no-doubt women, in real estate who can build and fix and do all sorts of useful things but, thank God, it’s not a prerequisite.
Most people have done something prior to going into real estate and there are people from all walks of life.
Bringing some sort of life skill is important but real estate soon establishes what is vital if you want to be successful: great communication skills, the power of insight into fellow humans, authenticity, integrity, resilience, a strong work ethic and the ability to juggle multiple issues or problems at one time, among other things … oh, and not making up stupid names about people who can’t fix things.
