George Stroumboloupoulos is the new guy on our national network, CBC. After about 100 years of plastic haired, ‘gentle but stern’ news people, there is a Goth, pierced (and tattooed? I’m not absolutely sure) dude, with an impressive media resume, doing a current affairs program on the mother ship. FREAKY! Ok, the content is a bit inconsistent; George has an interesting sense of humor. Doesn’t really matter: I’m in.
So: why is this a Staffing blog? Because George is the face of what is to come. Not only the marginal folk have these body modifications: mommies at the park, cashiers in the store…My son’s special education assistant has a really nice tat on her right arm. Zach likes it, too. “It’s like yours, Mom. Except it’s on a different arm. And it’s not a tree. It’s Japanese.”
It’s a bit disconcerting, perhaps, to be faced with the unconventional person across the table when interviewing, but think of it this way: We (the consumer) like to see ‘us’ when we spend our time, and our money. My mom doesn’t care if the woman at the bank has a tattoo (after all, I have one, and I’m nice). She does care if that person is courteous, and interested in helping her out.
The CBC has done ‘diversity’; it’s a pretty true reflection of the culture, actually. But George is new. He actually (gasp) swears on the television! This is not my mother’s news show. It’s a gamble, for sure, but if I can watch (yawn) current events with Strombo, then I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. And I hear he’s also on some ‘sexiest Canadian’ list. Yes, that helps, too.
