What is Over That Line?
A lot of things! Over That Line is a lot of things and a lot of things are Over That Line. At heart, it’s simply a place. That place. The place that exists on the other side of the line. Which line? THAT line! You know the one… The line over which polite society does not cross. The line we’re all supposed to toe. Lines are all around us. Party lines, state lines, unemployment lines, checkout lines, the line of least resistance, lines of thought, property lines, an actor’s lines… the list goes on. This place is beyond all of them.
Where does it come from? You know how you’ll be in a group of people and someone will make a comment and you’ll take it one step farther… perhaps too far? In that situation in the past I’ve simply responded by saying… “It’s other people’s job to draw the line. It’s MY job to step over it.” I like that idea. The idea of stepping over lines. So why Over That Line and not Over The Line? The short answer? Becomes someone is camping overtheline.com hoping for a pay day and I’m not the one to give it to them. But I think there’s something to the idea that the obstacles we face are there for a reason. Using THE would have been my immediate preference but being forced to dig deeper and come up with something else can have a way of refining our thoughts. When I came up with overthatline.com I had to consider the specification of THAT line. Hence the explanation above. Which I like. A lot. So while overtheline might have been easy, overthatline is far more entertaining. At least so far. I hope to keep it that way.
So why am I doing this? To combat a very uncomfortable line… the unemployment line. In a capitalist society we all have something to sell. For most of us, we sell our time and talents to an employer and work at a job. When the “Great Advertising Downturn of 2009” struck, I found myself out of a job. In fact, by the end of that year, I was out of two jobs. So what do you sell when you can’t find an employer? Some of us sell our things – but of course for most of us that’s a limited supply. Some of us sell our dignity – and often end up with regrets. Some of us simply don’t understand that we need to diversify our product lines when our primary product isn’t exactly “flying off the shelves.” I’m trying to diversify. I’m still working on plying my primary trade but I’m also trying something new. This site. It’s a way for me to try and sell my talents to a much wider audience than one employer. I’m hoping to make many of you into my mini-employers. I’ve had ideas for years, as I’m sure many of us have, where I’ve come up with something and thought… That should be a t-shirt… or a mug… or a bumper sticker. That used to be the end of it. A thought. A line of thought. It’s time to cross that line and move some of those ideas into reality. In so doing I hope to cross another very important line… the line of profitability. In short, I hope that my amusements and ideas appeal to enough of you to motivate you to want to support those ideas by buying them on a shirt, or a mug, or making a purchase I recommend through an affiliate link. I’m hoping that at least some of you value what I have to share with you. If you don’t that’s ok. I hope you enjoy your visit. If you do, then thank you. I will forever appreciate your support.