Today's MOZEN: Exceptionally Average

Words and photo by F LoBuono

Recently, I asked myself, why are you not further along in your professional development? After all, you are an experienced, educated man with a high IQ. What's the problem?

Well, after giving it much thought and deliberation, I came up with a partial list of potential reasons:

1. Name. FRANK. One syllable. So simple. It's just not "fancy" enough. For example, the director, M. Night Shamalan, added the "Night" to his name to make it sound more exotic. Yeah, right. From now on I want to be know as F. Fantabulous LoBuono. Or, I could make it more ethnic, like Francesco. That is certainly more exotic that FRANK.

2. Tattoos. I am not marked in any way. I have no foreign language themes or tribal markings on my body, I have no intricate designs. I have no girlfriends' names or dearly departed relatives. No children's names. No significant dates . I make no statements - nothing but just plain, ordinary flesh. To be cool today, you gotta' have your INK. I guess I'm just too afraid of needles (or square) to get one.

3. Education. No Ivy League schools for me. I graduated from Rutgers - the State University of New Jersey - along with about a billion other kids. I received a solid, but far from spectacular, education - just a state school slub.

4. Family. My parents are first generation Sicilian. I couldn't be more proud of them. But, they were not really exceptional in most ways. My father owned a deli before he switched careers to law enforcement. My mother was a secretary in the local school system. Both were loving and prized education. But, neither would be considered "academics".It was a solid, middle class upbringing. Nothing exceptional here.

5. Athletics. I have enjoyed being an athlete for my entire life. As a kid, I played all the major sports and even excelled at some of them - to a degree. You see, I was a GOOD athlete, not a GREAT one. I was one of the better players on most of my teams but never to the point of being one of the best in the league or county. Again, simply solid but not spectacular.

6. Attributes. I hate false modesty. So, I'm not falsely modest. I know (or I think!) that I am not terrible to look at. I'm healthy, in good shape, and really don't look my age. But, George Clooney I ain't! Certainly, my looks alone aren't going to open many doors. Also, I'm not a large man. In fact, I'm incredibly average in that category, too; 5'9" and about 175 lbs. Even my shoe size (9) is average.

In the final analysis it seems that I'm pretty good at a lot of things. I'm just not exceptional in any. I guess that I'm EXCEPTIONALLY AVERAGE. And, it's always kinda' been that way. When I was in high school, I was the senior poll winner for BEST ALL AROUND. It's a good way to be, I suppose. But, I always bristled when someone would call me a jack of all trades but a master of none.

Well, I want to be the master at something.

When I found out what that is, I'll let you know! ;)