NOT GONNA DO IT!

No, I won’t go THERE....

It was a hectic day and it felt like I had been running like a hamster on a wheel, getting nothing done but running as fast as I could, hoping for some results. I needed to feel that I completed at least one thing that day. Then just after dark, I found myself headed to a show my son’s band was performing that night. It was at a big bar downtown that is called Soul Kitchen.  As I pulled onto I-10 towards town, my mind was racing through the events of my day and then filled with wonder about what may be in store.

There was a young group of guys I had never seen before that opened up for our band. They all looked to be high school age and very nervous. As they awkwardly began their first song, I hoped they would gain the courage to play through their nervousness. They did well. The lead guitar was very skilled at playing his instrument but appeared to be extremely shy. He not only never made eye contact with the audience, but he never looked up from his guitar. He stared straight downward and it looked to me like he wished he could be somewhere else. All of the other little faces in that band had the look of fear emblazoned in a permanent stare. The fear never melted or even faded as the show proceeded. 

The minute this young band completed their show, it was like the weight of the world had been lifted from them. They smiled, they exited the stage and began to talk eagerly to everyone around. Their personalities blossomed right there before me and it was a beautiful transformation to watch. I only wished they could have shown that on the stage. I have not heard of them again and do not know if they are still performing but I do hope they continued. I could see clearly, post performance, that they loved music and they loved the ability to create music (even though they only sang cover songs, there is still creativity taking place). 

I made a special point to speak to the lead guitar and the bass player. They were so young and so excited about life and about music. It was uplifting to hear them tell of how it felt for them to be on the stage and to hear the applause. The bass player was about 6’ 3”, slim and he had a big cowlick in the front of his black hair. His smile revealed a chipped tooth in front and his big brown eyes were dancing as he told his stories.The lead guitar had long blonde hair and braces on his teeth. He spoke softly, yet he sang forcefully and quite loud, so I was surprised when I first heard him speak.

Our band cranked up and the place was filled with people dancing, swaying, laughing, crying, girating to the music. Suddenly a person popped up right in my face and startled me. I moved back to reclaim my personal space. She was so cute with her blonde pigtails that bounced as she stood there. Her words seemed to skip and jump in the air as she spoke to me. “Hi, I’m Juliette, and you are Eric’s mom!” I nodded and smiled. She continued on..“We met before, do you remember me?" I said, “Sure” (with my fingers crossed behind my back because I did not recognize her at all) I heard when I was a child that if you cross your fingers while lying, you are forgiven for it. 

Juliette spoke with a somber tone and had a serious look with a wrinkled brow; she continued her one-sided conversation as I listened intently. After babbling for a few minutes, she said, “I feel like I know you or at least that I can trust you, and I really really really need your help”. Intrigued, I leaned in toward her and softly said, “Ok, how can I help you?”

She went on to tell me that she had gotten a piercing in a very very private place two nights earlier and tonight the gold rod that was in the piercing had come out. She wondered if I would help her get it back in. She said, “I know you don’t know me but I have seen you many times across the room at shows and I FEEL like I know you well.” She told me it was embarrassing and freaky to need help getting her piercing back in place, but she just couldn’t do it by herself. 

While I was flattered that she would trust me with something so personal, there was just no way I was going to do that. When I declined, she then asked, “What should I do?” I told her to go back to the place where she got this done (it was just a few blocks away) and they should be able to take care of this for her. She nodded and thanked me for the advice.

I love people, and I will help you with anything....ALMOST anything. If it involves your genitalia...that is where I draw the line.