For the past four days I have been in Tennessee. Nashville Tennessee to be specific. Why have I been in Nashville Tennessee? I have been away because of a leadership conference, but that is irrelevant.
Some things are relevant though.
Today we went to the Hard Rock Café in Nashville. There were ten of us. We decided to go to the Hard Rock Café instead of another restaurant because the wait was significantly shorter at the Hard Rock Café.
While we waited our forty-or-so minutes until our table for ten was ready, we decided to entertain ourselves. We took pictures of ourselves, took pictures for other people, sat still, stood in a circle, and parkour of course.
For those that don't know, parkour (pronounced "Par Core") is best described as "skateboarding without a skateboard." At least that is the best way to describe it in my mind. We would jump off of stairs, spin around in an almost pathetic manner and scream, "Parkour!" We also swung around light poles and jumped over obstacles no higher than our knees. Parkour is also irrelevant.
Our wait was eventually over and we were in a restaurant filled with loud music. The people dining at the Hard Rock Café would, in most other situations, have seemed obnoxious because of the volume of their voice. In this situation such conversation methods were necessary because of the music permeating throughout the dining establishment.
We were seated and waited upon by Amanda. Amanda was a very nice lady. She was in her twenties and was very friendly. She noticed a clothespin on the table. She also inquired about the clothespin.
My friend explained the clothespin to Amanda. More importantly, my friend explained the significance of the clothespin to her. I did not hear the conversation at all but in my mind, the conversation sounded much like this:
"The clothespin, you see, is part of a game. My good friend John introduced this game to us a few days ago. Gee-golly-gosh, is he ever a swell fellow! Anyway, in this game someone has a clothespin. That person with a clothespin has an objective. He or she must attach the clothespin to someone else without them noticing. If they do this then a point is awarded. If they get caught by their target in the act of attaching a clothespin onto their target, then all of the points they have accumulated are reduced to zero."
Amanda apparently liked what she heard. She even proposed a challenge. "If you guys can get a clothespin on me by the end of the night, I will give you free desserts."
Almost everyone had a clothespin and the challenge was gladly accepted. Before the appetizer had arrived to the table a clothespin was already attached to one of the loops of the bow that tied Amanda's apron to her body. By the end of the meal, Amanda had two clothespins attached to her apron and one attached to her hair. (This was only possible because she had a pony tail. Scalps are extremely sensitive and are usually a difficult place to attach a clothespin without getting caught.)
We all got free desserts.
Amanda was a terrific person. We wrote her a note telling her just that. We also left her a nice tip because we appreciated her generosity, good sportsmanship, and her overall character.
Amanda was someone I met today for a short time and I thought my experience with her was worth sharing.
-- John D.
