Hmmm

I’m a bit of a goofball by nature.

It’s largely genetic.

My dad (who is long retired and nearing 80) is by nature a clown. Although he wore a tie and reigned in his goofy behavior during the work day, as a kid he was voted “Class Clown” and as an adult at night he became a natural ham.

For me, he was the dad who at a crowded restaurant stepped up to the front desk and pretended he was the snobby host, much to the laughter of the crowd when they learned he was just a patron like the rest of us. He was the Huskies fan who mowed a big “UW” into Cougars-loving neighbor’s lawn to the laughing delight of all the other neighbors. People love him and his antics. But at work he was someone else. I first witnessed this when I joined him for lunch at work 30 years ago, when he seemed very serious and people called him “Mr. Mathison.” I had never seen that side of my dad before.

Time was in my 30s and into my 40s I tried to reign in my own goof behavior. But I find it increasingly hard in this era of social media and the ability to post words anywhere and everywhere. One where as agents or professionals we’re encouraged to post often to build a platform.

For example:

• Last week, I wanted to post a video of using children’s clip clops to navigate between houses to keep my shoes dry during a rainy day.

• I wanted to post a mock video of ways to help our children cheat on tests better, saying this was the real way of helping them get ahead in 21st Century Corporate America.

• I wanted to post an AI-generated video of a superhero real estate agent (me) saving a tree from crushing a client’s house, not unlike the infamous Vern Fonk videos.

Of course, a calmer head and my wife (and real estate partner) stopped me. “Would you want a goofball negotiating for you?” My wife asked. But it’s hard.

I’m in some training the past couple of weeks. “Social media, social media, social media,” we’re told. But I don’t want to do social media to self-proclaim how amazing I am. Or to add yet more seriousness to the world.

I want to be spontaneously me. And genuine. And for me, what is genuinely normal is being a good at what I do but also being a total goofball who doesn’t take himself too seriously. Because work is work, but social media takes itself too seriously. There are too many pundits and influencers out there who proclaim they are The Stuff.

Me? I want to do the social media thing as a sign of respect to my trainers. But I want to do it my way, much to the chagrin of my respectable wife (she wisely asks, would you want someone who is goofy on social media negotiating for you?). In the end, I guess I’ll choose to do it more anonymously (here). And not so much in a professional forum.

In other words, I’ll try my best to be serious with a tie on (figuratively speaking) who then mows a giant UW into the neighbor’s lawn at night.