Boring Anonymous

“Hi, my name is Murray.”

 “Hi Murray.”

“And I am a bore.”

“Tell us your story brother – don’t’ keep it in. Let it all out.”

“Well, first of all, I work in front of a computer screen every day. I don’t jump out of planes. I don’t fight fires. I don’t throw touchdown passes. I just work with software every day.”

“What type of software, Murray?”

“Well it’s Trucking Software, and Freight Broker Software, and we combine it into Trucking & Freight Broker software as well.  You know, for the folks who move freight by truck – things like commodities, merchandise, all sorts of things. Well, they need it.”

“That sounds somewhat interesting.”

“Maybe to you, but I have been suffering with being bored and being a bore for several years now. I was a bore two years ago and now I am a total bore. Sometimes I have been tempted by excitement,  I’ve felt the urge, I’ve  felt the little quiver of joy… But I haven’t been able to get there, because I know that I am a bore – and I have to live with that fact each and every day.”

“You are speaking the truth, Murray.  We are with you brother. But you have to give up the boredom and being a bore.  You have to have some joy in your life, feel the shot of adrenaline, and sense of elation you get from…”

“Selling dispatch and freight management software? I don’t think I can avoid being bored – I mean telling customers that they are able to send Invoices directly to their customers with a virtual POD attached, or make a Driver Payment directly out of  a trucking software system is so boring. B-o-o-o-oring!!”

“Don’t think of it that way, Murray. Think of it as helping a small business, or helping a young family running a trucking business. Think of how that will improve their cash flow, help with expenses at work, and with their budget at home… You would be giving them the chance to spend more time with their families.”

“Hmm. Where did you find that in the program? Maybe I need to scroll down a bit lower and click on some of the links or something. I can’t stress enough to you, How boring it is!  The other day, a customer wanted to track all their drivers! I wanted to make sure that they could stay current on the Drivers’ licensing and certifications, how their drivers got paid and their driving history. I showed  them all the fields, and where they could select drop downs, and it was so boring! I even put in a picture of the driver. I had to show him how to attach the picture like his license information on the record. I was bored out of my mind!”

“But Murray, they need all that information to make sure that they don’t get audited and put out of business. Their kids could be working on the streets begging for money,  just like that kid in that old Charles Dickens’s play.

“Oliver?”

“Of course ‘all of her’. What do you think?  They’d put a half a kid on the street? But you are missing the great things that your software is doing for their business. The software is making sure they don’t get suspended, lose customers, or lose good drivers. You are making sure their drivers stay loyal to them because they get paid accurately, and on time, and those drivers have families too. You are doing real ‘good deeds’ in this world”

“Okay. But like – you try showing someone that button that lets them know that a Dispatch has been completed. Moving a cursor over to a button and making a left click – it can only be so exciting.”

 “Murray! It sounds like you mean, your customers have delivered a load, which means they have delivered on their promises to their customers. That they are making their customers happy, which means their customers will spend more money with them. Then those customers will be happy and recommend other companies to them… Then they will scale their business adding more trucks, more trailers, more dispatchers and they will get very rich. They will make enough money to afford a Florida vacation where they will attend a Jimmy Buffet concert, cavorting around in Margaritaville… Eating Steak and Lobster… Jumping on jet planes to the Riviera in France and Tuscany in Italy…”

“Oh wow. I think my heart just fluttered? It did, it did!  You mean all they have to do is complete a dispatch in our trucking software and they will get a trip to Tuscany?”

“Well not exactly… Maybe they need to hit it about 50,000 times first. Either way, it may be just a bunch of bits and bytes to you, but to your customers it a gateway to wealth and happiness in their lives. They will build a successful business, improve their health and create a better life for their employees and their families… ALL because your boring program works so darn well.”

“Wow… I never thought of it that way. And here I thought I was just going through the motions, clicking on buttons, tabs, and launching new windows… When all along I was changing people lives. And now for once in my life I can feel like a somebody, feel invigorated, feel alive! I can go on to write books, go on a speakers circuit, attend book receptions, have business people take selfie pictures with me,  jump on helicopters, and land on the business tower roof tops, as the CEO of some Fortune 500 business, fighting the wind, everyone fighting to shake my hand because I have arrived… I have finally arrived… Hey… Where did everyone go?”

“Sorry, but the guys thought you were getting a bit full of yourself. There is the ‘Overly Motivational Speakers Anonymous’ meeting next door if you are interested. Good bye.”

“Huh?”