I don't think he's laughing -with- me

Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.

William Hazlitt (1778 - 1830)

Serbian elections were on Sunday (01/21/07) and in PASP our predictions seem to be about right. The radical party (SRS) won the biggest share of the vote, however the majority of Serbs voted in favour of EU/Western leaning parties who are fractured. The goverment will likely be an uneasy coalition under the last PM, who will probably stay PM because he could always make a deal with radicals.

Its the monday after the election and our director Jarek is passing through the hallway. He's looking for a Balkans expert to take to his meeting with the Assistant-Secretary General (ASG in NATO lingo). Trouble is that they are away leaving only me to watch over the region. Jarek asks "Chris do you know anything, anything at all about the Balkans?", well that is my field I guess. So we rush down the hallway to the ASG's office. I grab a sheet of paper and a pencil from a random lady I don't know so I can take notes. We get into the office and Jarek tells our ASG Martin "I brought Chris along, he's handling the Balkans while Gabriele and Steffen are away". Martin is a large German fellow who looks at me and smiles a broad smile and breaks into a hearty laugh.

"That's amusing"

I'm young, but I look even younger. At a party thrown by our ASG the 16 year old daughter of a colleague guessed I was about 18. God 18, high school, its ancient history now. So I know my face conveys zero credibility, if credibility is measured by stubble and crow's feet. There is an idea, a construct, an image of what an intelligent and credible person looks like, someone you would trust your important affairs with, who's opinions matter to you and is valuable. For example see this graph giving the average height of US Presidents

Notice the upward trend? The most noticeable is senior military men. With few exceptions they all "look" and "talk" like the leaders from Hollywood. They are tall with a full head of slightly greying hair, they have deep voices and sharp features. Of course this doesn't affect his abilities at all. But when you have to trust the judgement of someone you don't even know, what else do you have to rely on?

Jarek takes a moment to apologize for Martin while we walk back, of course he certainly doesn't have to, and I guess neither does Martin (though from a purely management point of view my job satisfaction went to about 0 that day). I understand, it just sucks is all.