(not me, but we share a similar hair color, glasses and attitude)

—

asked to be

in

a focus group

for the company

i bought

my car from

and

had to complete

a series

of  ‘tasks’

in two cars

using

two

new

prototype

technology/navigation

systems

uh-oh

my two

greatest challenges

1. technology

2. navigation

the whole operation

was run

 by two

very serious

engineer/researcher/designer types

armed with

laptops

data

video cameras

poker faces

said they wouldn’t

judge me

but i had to

complete the tasks

asked of me

all on my own

without

any of

their help

very challenging

until

finally

one snapped

and

pushed a button

to get me out of

what i couldn’t

get out of

the other

actually

laughed

out loud

in response to

one of my moves

and

i loved

that they

broke character

and

they loved

that i was

the perfect subject

to test the limits

of their systems

someone who

had no clue

in this area

but could fumble

her way through

without

doing

too much damage

and

trying everything

to solve

the problems

while laughing

all the way

whichever way that was

and

then i got lost

using my own

navigation system

while trying

to get home.

—

clarity affords focus.

– thomas leonard