I met up with a friend whom I hadn't seen in quite a while. We went to high school together and, back in the day, we used to kick it up pretty good when getting together. I am glad those days are over but there are some pretty funny memories. I will save his name because of his outstanding family man status; a successful marriage and three really cool kids who might rather keep good ole dad as GOOD ole dad. It's the least I can do.
Back in the day, when the two of us would go out looking for amusement, I would spontaneously introduce him as someone he wasn't, just for kicks and grins. Kind of like Castanza in the clip wanting to be an architect. He wouldn’t know what was coming but he usually pulled it off. I would introduce him as a dentist, perhaps a painter or a sculptor, he would always go a long with it and it would usually play out during the night. Once we crashed a fraternity party at the University of Illinois in Champagne, claiming to be alumni while there on business. If we were artists this would have been our masterpiece; they wanted to put us up for the night and kept our drinks full for hours while we told stories of the old days, having never stepped foot on that campus. Priceless. Wrong, totally wrong, but priceless.
I suppose it pays off if you stay in character, and yes those days are far behind me. There are exceptions and you better be ready when life doles them out to you…
I was touring Chaminade College Prep Schools new Arts Center prior to doing an event there. There was entertainment; dancing, a pyrotechnics show and a cocktail party. There were probably 20 folks getting ready to go on a tour when I arrived, and I had just happened by to say hi to my manager there, John Buchanan. John offered up a quick tour of the site for my own personal benefit, because it had recently opened and I had not seen it yet. We ended up on this tour as part of an orientation for what was to take place the night of the event. Nothing that I would have a part of.
Eventually we ended up on the stage, a most amazing place looking out over the seats in the audience, we stood in a circle and were asked to introduce ourselves and tell everyone what we did. Very few of the group had ever been on the campus, it seemed everyone was a dancer or a musician or part of the event. Again, I didn't even belong there, piggybacking on the tour. So when it was my turn I said that my name was Ralph and I was the President, (of what I assumed they would take as the President of Pfoodman). John introduced himself first as the Manager of Pfoodman. I must have assumed that they would make the connection.
When the introductions got back around to the host everyone felt comfortable with one another and they were joking around about how the show would work out if there was a fire issue with the pyrotechnics. At that time the host of the group looked and pointed to me laughing saying that perhaps Father Ralph would say a prayer!
Huh?
Yes, I had on a white shirt and a black blazer with no tie, and well, I might have looked the part, and yes, I was raised in the Catholic Church. But realizing, while standing there in front of all those people that they thought, for that small moment in time, that I was the Reverend Ralph A. Siefert the President of Chaminade, my client, and someone whom I could only aspire to be as well thought of, well, it was just funny, and awkward, and funny!
And at that moment while standing there, opinioned through the eyes of the others; thought of as someone completely different with honors and achievements far outside of my ability to shoulder, the realization hit that I was indeed in a very interesting situation. I laughed and quietly stepped away as not to embarrass the host and grinned to John Buchannan, “did that really happen?”
Life has its “top tens”. This was one of them ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.
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