Where have you gone, Laurie Meyer?
Twain said, "I am not an American. I am the American."
Well, the communication manager retired last Friday.
Laurie Meyer worked in communications at Walgreens for three decades, and finally retired as vice president.
Editor, mom, politician, friend-to-everybody from the CEOs to the mailroom Joes.
Her colleagues asked me to contribute to a tribute, an I wrote that Laurie:
Laurie, may your retirement be happy—and productive.
* Laurie's first effort as mentor-to-the profession will be a March 19 audio conference titled, "How to Become a Much Better Communication Manager in 60 Minutes." It's hosted by the editors, of which I am one, of the wonderful, free publication ContentWise.
Wal-Mart media relations, this is David, how may I help you?
These days even steel-balled, risk-loving entrepreneurs like The Murr find ourselves thinking about a sepia-toned notion called "job security."
A Chicago Force player the other day mentioned she's a prison guard, and my first reaction was: "Damn, girl, you're set for life!"
Looking at a Google News page for Wal-Mart this morning, I had the same perverse thought about Wal-Mart's media relations director; these are some of the headlines he or she had to deal with in the last week:
• Child Attacked in Wal-Mart
• Police: Wal-Mart Shooting Suspect Kills Self
• Wal-Mart Employee Burns Himself to Death Because He 'Couldn't Take It Anymore’
• Wal-Mart Customer in Mass. Finds Teeth in Wallet
"Ah, Dave, you've got a call on line three."
"Is this about the angry guy who snapped, or the fed-up guy who burned himself to death?"
"Um, actually, it's about the customer who found teeth in the wallet."