Places to Be and Things To Do

Time for a change of pace. Instead of me telling you an awkward story from my life I’m going to tell you one that more pertains to someone else but I was present when it happened. It’s a story of quick thinking when being caught off balance and playing it cool.

It was a summer night in Grand Rapids and my friend and I found ourselves walking down some side streets near down town after parking the car. We were walking along, joking around, probably talking about ideas for tattoos, real important stuff. We were coming up to a street corner when we were approached. It was a homeless man asking for a moment of our time.

“S’cuse me, could you…”

If you’ve ever visited a larger city you know the situation I’m talking about. It’s not that you’re afraid of homeless people or don’t want to help them. In fact, most of the time I end up feeling terrible about myself after such run-ins which is I why I often avoid those situations as much as possible.

Anyway, this story isn’t about me this time. My friend, whom I was with, decided to take the lead and respond to the homeless man. See, where I often am so flustered, my friend excels and carries himself with such poise, such confidence and with such fluidity. He interjected the pleas of the less fortunate with:

“Sorry, we…have…to..uh..be over there….now.”

Well, we certainly couldn't stay there after that embarrassing display so we began to cross the street. We made it only a couple of steps when my friend turned to me, “Man, I’m terrible with excuses.” He wasn't lying, that was an awful display of stammering. But the fact that he said it to me quite loudly and only a few feet, well within earshot of the man really accentuated the event.

Moral of the story: Be prepared. Make note cards, even crib sheets if you have to. And if all else fails and you find yourself halfway through an awkward sentence with nowhere to go, try turning it around. Stop, take a breath, wait a few seconds and say, “…you were saying?” or “…well, go on.” It can’t make things worse than it already is and if it works it will be one of your new crowning achievements.