Will Your Decisions Give You a Happy Ending?

Remember this year’s other notorious governor before Rod Blagojevich’s arrest last week? Former New York governor Elliot Spitzer (he stepped down last May after an investigation revealed illegal involvement with a prostitution ring) is back in the news again, and this time he’s talking about his new job. Since his fall from grace, he has been contributing to Slate magazine, an online source of news, opinion, and commentary.

Last night at Slate’s holiday party, held at the “Happy Ending” club in NYC’s Chinatown, Spitzer responded to the question of how he liked his new gig as a writer.”It sucks, ” he said. “I used to be governor of New York.”

In light of that, here are three things we can learn from Mr. Spitzer:

1.) When you are at your office holiday party mingling with people who are likely to be journalists, be very careful about badmouthing your new job. We’ve all had to face questions like “Hey, how’s work? How do you like your new job?” Honesty’s usually a good thing, but sometimes it can land right where you’ve been trying to stay out of–the papers.

2.) Realize that as much as we may try to separate work and our private lives, our professional and personal decisions affect one another. Mr. Spitzer made a poor personal decision, and it affected his professional life. Our professional decisions, like taking a job in another state or working longer hours, certainly affect us personally.

3.) Dress for success. Regardless of his behavior or reputation, the former governor

has yet to “address the slovenly dress code of his peers” and, according to one eavesdropper, he said he might have been “the only one wearing a suit” at the Slate party.

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