For the sake of my dignity, I must believe that this happens to all of us: we do something goofy or dumb or embarrassing and at least one person notices, and we probably make their day.
On Friday afternoon, I was supposed to emcee the opening of the annual Meals on Wheels Walk for Wheels at London’s Covent Garden Market. I love our market and like many Londoners who don’t live downtown, I don’t visit it often enough. I got there a little early and wandered around to soak up the atmosphere. I purchased some lactose-free cheese and admired the crazy leather purses cut into the shapes of owls and other birds, the fresh flowers and the specialty chocolates.
I talked to Mayor Matt Brown and city councillor Mo Salih, posed for some photos and helped our promo queen Becky set up the Classic Rock Free 981 display. It includes a tall banner that has our logo and colours on the front and is white on the back. My perch was at the edge of the banner at our portable podium stacked with T-shirts and other giveaways.
Soon I learned that the agenda had me closing the event, not opening it. That meant 90 more minutes of standing and smiling and I was already exhausted. Fridays are catchup days for the week’s sleep deprivation, but I was happy to help and happier still that I was asked to conduct some trivia games during the walk and hand out prizes. That would keep me awake, I confessed to the organizer with a grin!
Just as things were rolling, a wave of fatigue hit me. I had been talking to Becky and as my peripheral vision caught the back of the tall banner my tiny brain mistook it for a concrete pillar and – you guessed it – I decided to lean on it. With the force of someone who thinks a flimsy banner will hold her up, I sent my body over to the right only to push the banner into Becky who, with the strength of 3 men and a boy, caught me and righted me again. As Becky and I laughed with relief, I snapped back to alertness and naturally looked around to see if anybody noticed my moment of insanity. It appeared there was only one witness, a painter whose stall was located behind me and with whom I had earlier discussed our radio station’s music. In a battle to rival the Capulets and Montagues, classic rock had lost out to 1950s hits played across the hall by the event’s 95-year-old DJ and I had been forced to turn off my sound system. Now my witness was laughing and I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.
“I’m not drunk!” I told him. “I just seem that way!” He shook his head, amused, embarrassed for me but unable to control his reaction to what must have looked like a cartoon moment.
Later, when I thought the misstep was well behind me, the artist walked over and whispered conspiratorially, “I’m going to the liquor store. Want anything?”
Walk for Wheels raised $45,900 for the program, including one woman who brought in more than $10,000 on her own. I learned that Meals on Wheels now delivers frozen foods weekly as well as fresh meals daily. Supporters at the walk ranged from children to people in their 90s. And I learned that a paper-width banner won’t hold me up.
The liquor store comment is priceless. You are a great storyteller.
So glad to have been there, don’t want to THINK about what could have happened to you, but I do have a feeling that 95 year old Art would have been there to rescue you in a flash!
Let’s go back to how the woman who gets up at 3 am and had to stay and close an event. On a Friday. How did THAT happen…?
Oh well. You know what? I’d rather do that than be expected to go out to a bar mid-week and judge a battle of the bands – because those opportunities come up as well and I simply can’t handle that kind of shift in my routine! But yeah, I was pretty damn tired. 🙂
Glad that you didn’t fall & break something. That would’ve been nasty.