Spotted on the Selling Floor: Kerry O'Brien

Today I present to you Part Two in my series on career crushes I’ve encountered on the Selling Floor…aka the day I saw Kerry O’Brien.

Kerry O’Brien has been a hero of mine for a long time; from grudgingly watching 7:30 Report as a child I grew to love him and his journalistic integrity and he motivated me to improve my skills and be an awesome journalist (clearly not there yet). Don’t worry I’m not so serious with all of my career crushes…Ron Burgundy shaped me too, but Kerry O’Brien easily inspires me the most.

Let me take you back. It was around the time of my 24^th birthday and I was walking down stairs in an absent-minded fashion (I don’t JUST meander the selling floor…honest), when I spotted a man in a power suit with a shock of red hair. God I wish that were Kerry O’Brien, I thought to myself. Half way down the escalator, I realised it was. Fuck.

I don’t think I have ever moved as fast as I did when I got to the lower level. Faster than a speeding bullet, I was around the wall and on the up escalator…but he had gone. Like a crazed stalker I ran around the store asking if people had seen the great man. No luck. Turns out Gods of Journalism aren’t as important to everyone else as they are to me.

I made my way back to my section and answered the phone…it was my manager who had seen me make the dash around the escalators, wondering if anything was wrong. I explained the situation and how I couldn’t find him to profess my undying Man-Crush and how I would probably have to go home as I was now too depressed.

What happened next, in reality, lasted about fifteen seconds; it felt, however, like six months.

I shouted down the phone that I had to go; I had spotted him…ten metres away. I was off. I kept chanting “Be Cool” in my head, to the point where by the time I got to him, I couldn’t speak (noticing a pattern with me and career crushes). I also couldn’t breathe. I tried to find something to say. Fuck, nothing…so I smiled. He returned smile. It was at this point that I realised I wasn’t breathing, and was getting dizzy.

The fifteen seconds without oxygen to my brain was not great…may have led to some hyperventilating which in turn led to me sitting in a box out the back focusing on breathing. But Kerry O’Brien had smiled at me. Nothing else mattered.

As you can imagine, it was awkward telling my manager why I had to hang up on her. Not as embarrassing as explaining I had been sitting in a box trying to catch my breath for ten minutes.

Don’t worry, next time I spot a career crush on the selling floor…I’ll be ready. I have learnt from my mistakes…I think.