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Forty-ninth Job of Bob - Presentions; Iraq experience - "Please sir, don't use the word Mafia at a dead animals' club"
This entry was posted on 7/27/2011 1:30 AM and is filed under Jobs of Bob.
I had a boss back in Dallas with the Park Department that used to say that cliche, "What have you done for me lately?" He used it all the time - I always thought he was a sanctimonious pompous cynic, but he dealt with the political and public relations side of our job there. I only worked in the bricks and mortar area of our daily tasks.
I got a dandy life lesson regarding that cliche, "What have you done for me lately?" This lesson came when I did some presentations and radio interviews after my second trip to Iraq.
After three trips to Laos and Vietnam and then two trips to Turkey and Iraq to write about "the culture of war," I landed on the hit parade of some civic groups ( several of the dead animal groups - Lions, Moose, Elks, along with Kiwanis, Jaycees, community centers, universities, professional groups, libraries, et cetera ), newspapers, and radio stations. For about a year and a half I had about three media engagements per month - public appearances, lectures, newspaper interviews, and radio interviews.
After awhile, I had a good grip on my equipment and my presentation. After a couple dozen gigs, I had it down. I had a short video, PowerPoint slides, and a verbal speel. If my equipment broke, I could do the gig from memory as I walked about the audience to keep them engaged.
I took little opinion of the Iraq War politics, oh the politics are unavoidable, but my job was to hone in on the culture and life of people trying to cope in a war zone. I found a bowling alley, a gold fish shop, a flower shop, a pipe cutter, a bogus McDonald's, a pizza shop, and plenty of cafes - all in the midst of war.
For all this time giving presentations, I had always made a brief explanation of my strategy of getting around in Iraq. At first I would wait for someone to ask the obvious question,....
...."How'd you get around?"
But in later presentations, I would do a preemptive and tell people early in the speel about the nefarious drivers and their junky little cars that I would hire to cart me from one point to another. There was always contraband involved, there was always short cuts pushing the limits of safety. They had thiefdoms, and I began to realize it was great advertising for them to get "the American" across their country and back again....alive. They negotiated dangerous cities like Mosul and Kirkuk without complaint. I went through hundreds of check points. They always knew how to pull it off. There were Assyrians, Kurds, Turks, Turkmans, Muslim Arabs, and Christian Arabs. No one sold me out. It was a mission of honor for them I suppose. I pay them well, I get to my destination.
To simplify it all, I referred to these rag-tag daring drivers as, "The Taxi Mafia."
I meant "Mafia" as a generic term understandable to 99.9 percent of any audience.
Toward the end of my run with local notoriety, one of the dead animal groups had me back for a second time. After my presentation to them, a bulky fellow about 55 came up to me and said, "Hey pal, something you said has left me very offended."
At first I thought he was kidding. In all my presenting of such a complicated and potentially contentious subject as war, no one had ever complained.
Then he continued, ""Please refrain from using the term "Mafia." It is a word exclusive to us Italians, and I must tell you, I and my family are highly offended by your insensitivity."
Then he gave me a sour glower, turned and stomped off. No one else seemed to pay him much mind, at least no one admitted to hearing the exchange.
The next presentation I did, I used the phrase, "Taxi cartel," in lieu of "Taxi Mafia."
But after that gig, I pondered that bulky guy who seemed more interested in some idea of being offended than focusing on my work in....a god damned war zone. I bring him news of a terrible war and its people....all the while he sits and eats cake and cookies and drinks coffee and apparently builds up anger about a word that helps me simplify a long difficult story.
Soon, I could tell my war culture message was loosing ground to the pending avalanche of Presidential election politics and the disintegrating economy.
On the last few presentations I did, when asked or when I preempted the questions about travel, I would always pause,smile to myself, and say, "Well you know, I used this bunch of crass junk-car drivers I call"....and I would smile again....
...."The Taxi Mafia."
Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page for an ordered chronology.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Private First Class Andrew Nimir Meari, 21 Plainfield, Illinois (his father, Mahmoud Meari, lives in Grafton, Wisconsin), was killed on Monday, November 1, 2010 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Meari and Sergeant Jonathan M. Curtis were guarding the entrance to Combat Outpost Senjaray in the Zhari district of Kandahar province. The two soldiers intercepted an insurgent, wired with explosives, attempting to enter the outpost on a motorcycle. The insurgent detonated himself, killing both Meari and Curtis. Private First Class Meari was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The Web site heraldnews.suntimes.com mentioned Meari was born September 14, 1989, in Chicago. His mom moved to Plainfield when she remarried. Meari attended Drauden Point Middle School and Plainfield South High School. However, he graduated from Port Washington High School in Wisconsin; and he graduated early. The Web site went on to quote family as saying, "He was remembered as outgoing and a bright student." Meari's grandfather was a Korean War veteran.
The Chicago Tribune noted Meari died trying to defend his unit comrades. He was know as "DJ Tiger" after his middle name Nimir, which means tiger in Arabic. Andrew joined the Army in October 2008. He arrived in Afghanistan in May of 2010. Some of Private First Class Meari's military awards and decorations include: National Defense Service Medal; Afghanistan Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; Combat Infantry Badge; and, the Purple Heart.
At the time of his death Andrew Meari was survived by his mother Denise (Gerald) Meehan; his father Mahmoud (Aisha) Meari; step brothers Ethan and Andrew; one sister Jenna; grandmother Vivienne Williams; uncle and Godfather Todd (Stacie) Williams; and uncle Samir Miari.
Army Private First Class Andrew Meari was the 25th military service person with Wisconsin connections to be killed in Afghanistan since October of 2001.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
101,906 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
10,100 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,477 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1679 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
927 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
1 American/Coalition casualty in Libyan "Operation Odyssey Dawn" since March, 2011
32,158 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
12,765 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
107 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
34 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
3 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in the U.S. related to "The War on Terror" since October, 2001.
149 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
5 journalists (regional and independents) have been killed in Libya since March, 2011.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org
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