Tagged - part 1

Tagged by the best Coffey on the net, I'm following her advice to break it into pieces as I'm in my busy season.

Ten Years Ago
I had just been promoted to Manager of Budgeting and Finance, Controller for Latin America for a marketing research company. My boss and I joked that I had the longest title in the company. Very exciting as it was really the first big step into working internationally – a long held dream – and I love Latin America. (And I was often busy fighting with the US Controller, the man got off on playing politics.) Traveling was great, quite a few times to Mexico and once to Brazil before I left. We also had a lot going in Chile and Argentina.

I also had recently broken up with Karen, which was a turning point for me. There was a real moment of truth about learning to take a different approach to relationships, with that came sorting out some personal stuff. That was very liberating.

For as much as I had been idealistic, it began to fade when I turned 31. I must say it was quite helpful to be idealistic; it kept me out of a lot of trouble. I swear I would have been a coke-head in college had I not been proud of my principles.

Around the same time I began re-examining the idea of faith, God and looking to find what it is to forgive and to be forgiven.

Friends recommended that I consider acting as I loved to tell stories and physically act them out. A favorite one was about an insurance claim. Oh, and thanks to the magic of Google, here it is…

When I got home I found that my father's brick silo had been struck by lightning, knocking some of the bricks off at the top. I decided to fix the silo, and so I rigged up a beam, with a pulley and whip at the top of the silo, and hoisted a couple of barrels full of bricks to the top. When I got through fixing the silo there were a lot of bricks left over.

I hoisted the barrel back up again, secured the line at the bottom, and then went up and filled the barrel with extra bricks. Then I went down to the bottom and cast off the line.

Unfortunately, the barrel of bricks was heavier than I was and before I knew what was happening, the barrel started down and jerked me off the ground. I decided to hang on, and halfway up I met the barrel coming down and received a severe blow on the shoulder. I then continued on up to the top, banging my head against the beam and getting my fingers jammed in the pulley.

When the barrel hit the ground it busted the bottom, allowing all the bricks to spill out. I was now heavier than the barrel and so started down again at high speed. Halfway down I again met the barrel and received severe injuries to my shins. When I hit the ground I landed on the bricks, getting numerous painful cuts from the sharp edges.

At this point I must have lost my presence of mind because I let go of the rope…You remember the bucket? Yeah… The barrel then came down and struck me another heavy blow on the head, putting me in the hospital for three days.

Of course, I embellished this little gem with dramatic pauses and silly chin tapping effects on a ladder, and getting the audience so involved in the injuries then letting go of the rope, they had forgotten about the bucket, then “You remember the bucket? Yeah…” Folks were floored. So, I took an acting class; it went well. I’ve kept with it.