Posted by A funny thing happened last night. Medal Ball is Saturday and I’ve agreed to check out of Silver II in Bolero and Mambo. Well, since I’ve already paid and the cost doesn’t go up by entry, JoNY offered the chance to do other dances. Not to check out but to just get some feedback. Since the check out portion is going to take about two hours, it is probably good to get some warm up stuff in rather than sitting around getting cold and waiting for my turn.
We were going to go over all five dances and we started with Tango. Banged right through it without stopping or hesitations. The moves just kept coming – one after the next. Fox Trot was next and it was the same thing. Then Rumba and it happened again. Got to Bolero and again it went off without a hitch. Mambo was a bit choppy but the main part before we break into the side by side stuff went just fine.
JoNY was even a little shocked at how well things went. Maybe there’s been something in the back of my mind for a bit and, even though I tried to push it out, I couldn’t full do that. Wonder what that was …? Seriously, for better or for worse, at least I know what my fate is at work. Not yet sure what the future is going to be but one big bad thing has happened and life didn’t end. Maybe that has helped put me in a better place mentally. It would probably be different if I still had 20+ years of work to account for, but I don’t and I know I’m going to be OK and just finally getting closure on this has helped.
Group class was another free for all. OwnerGuy was teaching Cha-Cha and the floor was packed because it was an all level. Again, this is fine for those of us who’ve been around the floor a time or two. But, if you’ve never done a lock step – it isn’t as intuitive as you might think. Especially the back lock which is what the ladies had to start with. The other part that was tricky was the walk around turn at the end. It is an optical illusion because it feels like you should be taking two steps and then turning when it is just a single step and a pivot turn. So this one poor lady kept ending up far away from the leads because the turn basically ends right back where you started but she kept taking that extra step and drifting away.
This does bring up an awkward moment with a large mixed group like this. Because I have been around the floor a time or two and it is pretty clear that I know what I’m doing, the newer and more lost ladies will often ask if they are doing the step right. Or, when something goes off track, they’ll ask what they need to be doing. As much as I want to help, (a) I’m not a certified Famous Franchise instructor and (b) I’m not that familiar with the ladies steps. Plus, you don’t want to be that mansplaining dude telling the ladies how to dance. But if they ask, I feel compelled to try and offer some advice. Normally, if we get to the end and I didn’t feel anything truly wrong, I’ll just tell them they did it correctly. I’m guessing OwnerGuy doesn’t want those of us who are really advanced to be totally bored but it is kind of trial by fire for the newer students. I do hate to see people looking lost because I know how frustrating that can be.
Got to party, and there is one newer lady who I noticed wasn’t dancing a lot. So a Fox Trot came on and I asked her to dance. She said sure if I told her what to do. Fox Trot is the easiest dance to do that with. Forward, forward, side, together. Lather, rinse and repeat. Then do basic rock turns to change directions. I started out counting it for her – back, back, side together until it was clear that she had it down. And I explained the rock turn before I did it so she’s know that her part was back but then forward. Pretty sure she might have known more than she let on because she was getting it just fine. After we got done, she’s telling me and some of her friends that its more fun when you know what you are doing. She actually grabbed me later when a cha-cha came on to try and recreate the group but she still drifted away on the walk around turn. Anyway, it is nice to be able to help someone see how much fun dance can be even if all we were doing was super basic Fox Trot stuff.
I’ll touch briefly on work. As we were being dismissed, we all agreed to meet up for brunch yesterday and we shared some stories and offered support. There were a lot of tears and hugs at the end. We’ve created one giant text message list so we do have a way of trying to stay in touch.
It also turns out that my boss had set up a meeting for us yesterday at noon to discuss “transitions”. I mean what was he going to say – hand over all your stuff to this other guy. I already knew that but I’m pretty sure they have to check a box. “talked to ex-employee about tasks” check. Guess he expected me to be in the office just like any other day. Since they sent me home on Wednesday after the dismissal and told me I no longer had any real responsibilities, I didn’t take my computer home so I totally missed his invite and phone call. I had to provide my home email and phone so I was greeted to a text this morning instructing me to make sure I talk with this other guy. Which was my plan for today anyway. I wanted to go in and clear some more stuff up and deal with the emails from yesterday. I mean, seriously, did that have to be done “right away”. Guy couldn’t give me a day to just reflect on having my position terminated. On the plus side, I’ll never have to deal with him again so that’s a good thing.
But enough about that. Got home this morning and saw a crocus flowering in the yard. The first real signs of spring and color! Makes this a good day no matter what else happens.
Facing Diagonal Wall 