Behind Every Successful Man…
a) is a very surprised woman?
b) is an equally successful woman?
c) is the ability to also get a woman?
d) his fingers are crossed?
By specific request from one of my readers. This one’s for you. Even if you might not like the answer.
I don’t believe a successful man necessarily got there because of a woman, he might have got the woman because he is a successful person. (He’s a nice guy.) People write books with titles like Smart Women, Foolish Choices but surely there are the occasional smart women who make the right choice?
Might not look that appealing on a paperback cover, but there should be some kind of Law of Probability out there that dictates there are some smart women who choose correctly. N-ot that I was necessarily claiming to be one of them (sorry, darling).
Well, then it also depends on the kind of woman, doesn’t it? If you’re successful there is a kind of woman that flocks to you.
(Please see beyond what appears to be my perpetuation of a stereotype to instead my narration of a not uncommon point of view that exists here about China women. Oh, and on a mildly related aside, I have male Singaporean banker friends who declare it’s easier to chat up a woman in Hong Kong than in Singapore – which they attribute to the proximity of China.
And here’s my wimp-out: Please don’t shoot the messenger.)
Here’s to a great man: My ex-boss from Brisbane. Long semi-retired (because he hates retirement), he was one of those bosses I wished were 10 years younger just for the pleasure of working for him a little longer.
A whole new world of “war stories” opens up when you work with “relationship managers,” ie the bankers who sell investment products to rich people. No one’s allowed to disclose specific details, but you still come away with colorful entertainment stories that are so nutty they can only be true.
(And btw, if sometimes we come across famous names attached to the client account numbers we deal for, we look the other way. We never want to know. Not knowing means we don’t get into trouble if there’s ever an information leak and Compliance starts hunting it down with That Giant Stick Up Their Butt That Seems To Be A Pre-Requisite For Getting Hired In Their Department)
Beloved Brisbane ex-Boss long, long before he became my boss was a relationship manager. At some undisclosed bank (it’s always Some Undisclosed Bank) he previously worked in, BBB says, he was assigned a big client then married to fairly well-known Asian singer.
Big Client requested a meeting at the Hong Kong Jockey Club (because of the no cellphone policy, which was a great reason he could give his wife, for switching off his cellphone).
From the Jockey Club however, BBB was then instructed to drive BC to some bar outside of Hong Kong Island, where he retrieved 2 of those vintage-looking glass Coca Cola bottles. They were filled with what looked like a muddy maroon substance in the dim light, and had little bits floating in them. He also retrieved 2 exquisite Chinese women. The women, he later learned, cost his client USD 5,000 each for the night.
At this point BBB excused himself to call his wife and explain, in case somehow she heard about his car having been sighted in the area (BC had parked at the Jockey Club and requested to take BBB’s car). His wife starts shrieking “WHAT ARE YOU DOING??” (because she thinks he might bungle his way into a jail cell, not because of the other thing) and he’s spluttering “But- but- but- he’s a BIG client!”
Meantime, BC downs the liquid in the Coca Cola bottles (which turns out to be a concoction of deer penis blood) before directing BBB to a hotel and exiting the car with one of the girls. The other girl then turns to BBB. “I’m for you.”
According to BBB, it wasn’t easy to get her out of his car. She tried very hard, he speculates, possibly because she was afraid she would have to issue his client a refund.
When he gets home weak kneed, his Aussie stay-at-home wife declares, “I want to see what a USD 5,000 girl looks like!”
(We laugh about it a lot – USD 5,000 a night, he couldn’t even take a picture for everyone else’s entertainment pleasure. All he has for us is “OH, they were exquisite!”)
See?
Don’t see?
1) “Great” men can be great bastards who think up great ways to cheat (BC was a running a wildly successful business). No correlation between great man and woman.
2) Great men can equally likely be people who boot USD 5,000 girls out of their cars and have great wives who want pictures.
My own definition of Great Man involves somehow also being a great person.
There’s an answer in there somewhere for the reader who sent me a Youtube video of Japanese men caught on tape ogling chesty women and asking me to rank Kings. Though I might not know quite what it is.
Behind every successful man…… is God.
If there’s a woman in the picture, she might be rather busy supporting his relationship with Him. No time to push him ahead at the office – let God. They sell t-shirts like that, don’t they?
I believe we ultimately can achieve nothing without God… It is a belief that has shaped my marriage – the way in which I counsel and support my husband, the place from whence I draw strength in times of crisis. (Of course we’ve had them in our marriage.)
You see, Dear Reader Who Asked, it’s less about a man’s weak points. It is about the willingness to work together around weaknesses – something we both have. And when we don’t feel like working at it, we pray for help. Boy, have we turned to Him often. I don’t know how anyone does it without a little help now and again.
Like I said, we can do nothing without Him. That includes staying married. Marriage is a toughie. People grow and change. It’s less about being perfect for each other at the outset, it’s more about the commitment to stay together and work around changes and challenges as we go.
(Stay tuned for a sterling example in a future post – I can’t blog about that til we’ve actually finished sorting it out.)
The following morning, BC calls BBB:
“I’m very disappointed. We’ve been friends for so long, you couldn’t tell me?
Next time, I get you a BOY.”
(And yes, this really happened. I’m not smart enough to make this stuff up.)
