December 14, 2012

"Freebirds and Kind Words"

Dear Reader,

I write this as I digest a burrito and rub sleep from my eyes, so if it doesn't make much sense with like such as and kittens the speakers Christmas not judge tree.

At lunch today, I received a phone call. (Unfortunately, it interrupted a video I was watching with my friends...who knew Bollywood movies could be so explosive...) I whipped out my telly, and answered with an inquisitive "Hello?" (The number began with 414...so I was expecting to hear a Bollywood action movie actor's cousin trying to sell me bulk toothpaste...) It turned out to be my old theater teacher from my musical theater days.

"Is this the wonderful Nicholas Merrill?"

"Yes...."

"Will you come down to the Theater tonight and audition for our upcoming show?"

"Sure! I'd love to!"

....and that's how that conversation went. (I butt-dialed her 20 minutes later, but that's irrelevant.)

So in a nutshell, my past called and asked for my future. Sweet, huh?  I really did mean that "Sure! I'd love to!" so I did what any kid-in-high-school-without-a-driver's-license-who-needs-to-get-somewhere would do...I called my parents.

They said they would drive me downtown, and they did. We turned onto memory lane, and pulled up in front of the theater I had spent many evenings in before. I walked in the door and was warmly greeted, handed paperwork, and was told that I would audition soon. I filled out the blank spaces, took a "mug shot", and went into the audition room.

I wasn't nervous. The folks I auditioned for are good people, good friends, and very amiable. We chatted a little bit and caught up with each other. They told me that they were very happy to see me, and I knew that they were telling the truth because they were beaming. I sang a sad song for my audition, and they liked it. (The song is about my wife being dead......how wonderful!) They liked my singing and asked me to come tomorrow for the dancing portion of the audition.

I walked out of the room after politely thanking my friends, and I got in the car with mommy and daddy. Before I knew it, we were at Freebirds World Burrito.

Now I don't know if you've ever been to Freebirds, but it's a pretty great place. The employees stuff your 'ritto as you try to count the number of piercings they have. (.....47....) Anyways, I got to the register, and there were three 20-something-year-old girl employees behind the counter.

They started hitting on me.


Hard.

"You have nice teeth."

"I like your hair."

"You're just a handsome man all together."

"Are you single?"

Are you in college?

".......How old are you?"

"....oh...crap. Um, are you one of those 20-year-old kids that got held back a ton?"

"We probably shouldn't be...."

"Here's your food."






I went and sat down with mommy and daddy, and my mom said "If girls ever hit on you like that, just tell them that your mom said you were too young to date."

"Even when I'm in college?" I asked.

"Yes, Nick. Even in college." She said....seriously.

From my experiences today, I learned several things...

  1. It's fun to do things that you don't normally do, to stretch yourself.
  2. It's nice to be called handsome and mistaken for a college guy.
  3. My mom is a little protective, but it's because she loves me.
Life is really unpredictable....and that's why I love it. NM