Mrs. Zubatsky's law. One day when I was a kid, our house caught on fire in Milwaukee.A large section of the wood shingle roof was burning as the fire trucks pulled up.The firemen ran into the back yard with a large hose and began assembling their metal ladders and positioning them against the house.Mrs. Zubatsky was our next door neighbor and, at the time, she was standing on her upstairs porch taking in the laundry.She watched anxiously as the firemen struggled with their ladders.Suddenly she leaned over the balcony and shouted down to the professional firefighters,"Forget the ladders! Just point the hose at the fire!"The firemen, to their credit, responded immediately.They dropped their ladders, pointed the hose at the fire and extinguished the blaze in about 40 seconds.There are two morals to this story. One, never assume that just because it's someone's job, they know how to do it.And two, don't let yourself be intimidated by professionals or their uniforms.Growing up in Wisconsin, I never knew anyone in the movie business. I never even knew anyone who knew anyone in the movie business.That world had a mystique that made it seem unattainable to me.
