Record Show
My Dad and I are a lot alike. Mostly in that we like to collect things. Movies, records, books, instruments, and all sorts of other things that aren’t cheap. Vinyl being a big obsession for both of us. This will probably be a quick story. Every time I think about it, I chuckle.
It was sometime maybe in 2002 or maybe 2003 we went to a record show in Lansing. It was in the conference room of some hotel and the first record show I ever attended. I was going through all the record bins and not finding anything punk, indie, hardcore, or other weird shit I am into. If I were to go back in time, I probably would find something cool there now that I have a much broader musical palate.
I was checking out the records from some vendor and not finding anything when a woman walked up to me, placed her arm around my waist and said, “OK baby, are you ready to go back to the room?” My first reaction was “Who is touching me?”, my second reaction was “Who is this woman?”, My third was “Is she trying to solicit me?!” I was somewhat mortified. What was I supposed to do? Say “Hey Dad, I’m going up to this woman’s room and see what she needs?”
Well, it turns out that once we made eye contact, she was the one who was mortified. I guess her boyfriend was also wearing a blue hoodie and was of a similar stature as me. She apologized profusely. I assured her that it was no problem, and funny. She got out of there quick after she found her boyfriend. Her face was bright red.
I wonder if she ever thinks of that embarrassing moment over 20 years later? I would hope that she does. Telling her friends about the time she tried to take some random dude back to her room. What if I had said yes? These are the little nuggets that I remember. Rarely do I remember anything important. Maybe the process of me writing them out will make more space for the important stuff.
