Hunter S. Thompson speaks ......

"The television business is a cruel and shallow money trench,a long, plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and where weak men die like dogs, but you can get free cookies."

~ Hunter S. Thompson

I just ran into an executive at a post-house who I knew early in his career. He was the guy who delivered the late afternoon cookies. My first thought was, "Oh my, I hope I was nice to him when he was the cookie deliverer", but I knowing that my nature is to be paranoid, I generally try to back that up with kindness. He was, of course, only bringing treats that left fond memories. Treats from the outside of my dark room filled with people behind my back that I couldn't see and were steering my day with veiled threats and secret jokes.

Well, time has flown by -- he is not youngster anymore. I think back at all those people starting out in "the business" and where they are today -- executives, innovators, masters of their art. Some bailed to pursue other careers, but still look back with awe that they were there in the beginning, before it became digital. Before it became desktop and the market was flooded with people who didn't start out as the "cookie guy". They came straight out of college with a skill intact and took pretty lucrative jobs that included sweet deals -- never having to pay their dues and still getting free cookies.

Thinking back, I realize I felt privileged when I had an "entry level" job -- I worked hard to get that gig. We were called interns, we were fresh faced and enthused. At that time, interning was a new thing -- kind of an innovative workforce. Not like the free labor that it is today. You were on a career track and everyone knew it was just a matter of time before you were hired. You just had to stick it out.

It was understood that those "free" cookies weren't always free of angst. They were brought in to make you work harder and longer hours. The cookie guy was your cheerleader and a perfect personality to move into producing. It was a sure career path, if you didn't let the cookie crumble. I remember thinking, "that cookie guy is going places", because he treated his job like it was a career path in the making -- white shirt tucked in and tie straight up.

In those days, you just had to bake a while and not get too crispy in the process. The cookie guy was the sweet side of those dark plastic hallways.