You’re Badass! (The First Time)
It's been nearly a year since a blog post, and so many funny stories have gone undocumented! No longer. I will try to post some of the funnier moments from the Spring 2014 Vortex, or at least the tale of one of my rock star schedule days--but for now I have to write this before I forget and fast so I can get back to work.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of working with a couple on their wedding--the groom is the youngest son of my former employers, so that's how we became involved in the planning. The bride and groom could not have been nicer or more appreciative of our efforts and I think we've even become friends, which is a nice bonus.
The couple designed their own ceremony, in effect having "everyone" marry them. I loved this idea, and it also meant that there was no designated "officiant" to run the wedding rehearsal. That role fell to me, and I realized the other day what an interesting moment it was in my life--to stand in this room as a real adult, with this somewhat iconic figure in my life, and be in charge. In the moment, I turned on my inner teacher, was completely focused on getting everyone's attention and having things operate on time--of course--but later I realized it was a special moment. My former boss took it upon himself to be "my sidekick" as I teased him, making sure people listened to me and that questions were answered. He and the rest of the family complimented me later, saying that I really "inspired confidence," which was nice.
Anyway, near the end of the rehearsal dinner, I was chatting with the groom when one of his groomsmen approached. The groom was about to introduce me when the groomsman, a kind of lanky, quiet type, simply said to me, "You're badass!" Oh, I could not stop laughing. It was a great moment.
On the wedding day, Philip and I were doing our best to keep the trains running on time--not an easy feat--but the wedding ceremony happened on time, was poignant and beautiful, and shortly after I finally had a moment to sit down to dinner, the bandleader approached me.
"Hey, um, would you happen to have a sewing kit?" He said. "You see, these pants were tight when I put them on this morning..."he continued
My mind was clicking--back to the moment a few days earlier when I had assured my colleagues that we probably wouldn't need a sewing kit for the emergency kit we had put together for the ladies' room.
"Well, I may have one in my car, but I don't think we put one in the emergency kit." I told him.
"Yeah, well, I split my pants. Bad." Said the singer. And laughter just bubbled up inside me. I could not stop laughing at this poor guy. Off we went on a 10 minute walk back to my car, where we fetched the sewing kit. We went backstage, he took off his pants, and we did our best to patch up his pants--but they were destroyed. "You really need to get pants with lycra if you're going to be jumping around the stage," I told him.
Off he went, back on stage where he and the band continued to deliver a fantastic performance. And as I stood chatting with some of our vendors...the singer split his pants again.
Originally published June 10, 2014