Monday, May 30, 2005
Patience, Dancing Grasshopper
This past weekend, I visited Cleveland to dance again. I really tend to enjoy these trips, and the people that I hang out when I go out there. This time, I went with a local Pittsburgh friend, Kyle, who made the ride there and back much better with chatting and such.
Yesterday, I had to leave early, to make it back to set up my Chicken Swing dance. In fact, leaving made me particularly sad, especially since I was expecting this week's Chicken Swing to be a flop. CMU declared we had to change the time at the last minute, because the venue was closing 2 hours earlier this week, and furthermore, we had a dance this week only because CMU cancelled our event for commencement a few weeks earlier. On top of all that, it was Memorial Day weekend, and I couldn't even find a teacher to teach with. Everything was against us.
So, I got back to Pittsburgh with 30 minutes to spare, got my equipment, a muffin for dinner, and went to set up the dance. I had to park a block or two away, which made carrying my big-as-a-whale speaker and additional equipment by my lonesome very difficult. When I got there, I was a few minutes late, and nobody was there for the lesson. I didn't even set up the dance --- I just sat in a corner and caught up on my email. The dance was obviously going to be a flop.
Before long, though, a few people showed up. Soon, I was involved in nice conversation, and still had no energy to set up the dance. Eventually, there were 3 other people there, and so I set up the equipment in case they wanted to dance some. I figured soon the energy would die, and we would all sit around chatting, or everyone would go home.
Within the first hour, though, something like 15-20 people showed up. And they were all brilliant dancers, and lots of people who don't even normally come out to ChickenSwing, or haven't been out in a long time. I was happily amazed! The night was wonderful, and I was struck with a nice dance high for the entire dance.
My DJ'ing even seemed to score some props. Every time I went to put on another song, there was a crowd of 2 or 3 people around my computer, writing down the name and artist of the song. I swear, there are two people now who have the complete playlist written down on scrap paper with them now. It was quite ego-boosting :)
So. The Moral of the story. Even when your chips are down, things can really work out so much better than you think they ever will. Just be patient, do your job, and hope for the best.
Yesterday, I had to leave early, to make it back to set up my Chicken Swing dance. In fact, leaving made me particularly sad, especially since I was expecting this week's Chicken Swing to be a flop. CMU declared we had to change the time at the last minute, because the venue was closing 2 hours earlier this week, and furthermore, we had a dance this week only because CMU cancelled our event for commencement a few weeks earlier. On top of all that, it was Memorial Day weekend, and I couldn't even find a teacher to teach with. Everything was against us.
So, I got back to Pittsburgh with 30 minutes to spare, got my equipment, a muffin for dinner, and went to set up the dance. I had to park a block or two away, which made carrying my big-as-a-whale speaker and additional equipment by my lonesome very difficult. When I got there, I was a few minutes late, and nobody was there for the lesson. I didn't even set up the dance --- I just sat in a corner and caught up on my email. The dance was obviously going to be a flop.
Before long, though, a few people showed up. Soon, I was involved in nice conversation, and still had no energy to set up the dance. Eventually, there were 3 other people there, and so I set up the equipment in case they wanted to dance some. I figured soon the energy would die, and we would all sit around chatting, or everyone would go home.
Within the first hour, though, something like 15-20 people showed up. And they were all brilliant dancers, and lots of people who don't even normally come out to ChickenSwing, or haven't been out in a long time. I was happily amazed! The night was wonderful, and I was struck with a nice dance high for the entire dance.
My DJ'ing even seemed to score some props. Every time I went to put on another song, there was a crowd of 2 or 3 people around my computer, writing down the name and artist of the song. I swear, there are two people now who have the complete playlist written down on scrap paper with them now. It was quite ego-boosting :)
So. The Moral of the story. Even when your chips are down, things can really work out so much better than you think they ever will. Just be patient, do your job, and hope for the best.
// posted by David McWherter @ 11:05 AM 
