Not a word

Remember Christmas?

I know it was more than three months ago, but I remember it vividly.

Because I was working. It was one of those long drawn out new business pitches. You know the ones. You work like a dog. Weekends, nights and days filled with stale coffee, limp pizza and colleagues who desperately need a bath.

And finally the big day arrives.

You emerge from the pitch feeling good. Analyzing the body movements. Rehashing the highlights. And picking apart every snippet of dialogue.

"How about when the client asked about tissue sessions? And remember when they talked about the friends and family discount? Oh man, I think it went great. I have a good feeling about this one."

And then, a week later, the client calls and says they urgently want Another Presentation.

Yeah, those new business pitches.

That's why my partner and I found ourselves scratching out new concepts on Christmas Eve. And again, on December 25, the very birthday of our Lord and Savior. And on Boxing Day. And every day thereafter. Until the NCAA college football champ had been crowned.

Mind you, I'm a creative mercenary and was getting a decent day rate, so I'm not complaining. At all.

Plus, I'm an atheist Jew so not only was I happy that I had something to do on Christmas, I was feeling quite flush, so that night when ordering our ritualistic Chinese food to go, I sprung for the General Tse Chicken as well as the Sweet and Sour Lobster.

Sometimes you just gotta live like a millionaire.

But now I look up at the calendar and notice that today is the first day of Spring.

And the potential new client who called for the urgent additional presentation and turned over the apple cart on so many staffers who had to re-arrange their Christmas plans has still not made a decision.

"Mommy and Daddy will take you to Disneyworld next year. Promise (fingers crossed)."

Industry pundits and observers wonder why ad agency morale is so low.

I don't.