Another Excuse

This is yet another reason WHY we are making such slow progress here at The Gear.

Saturday found us at a lecture and book signing at the Flint Institute of Arts. The lecture started at 4PM which made it too early to start a project before the lecture and too late to start a project after we returned home. Basically, all that was accomplished was snow removal which is an ongoing battle at this time of year.

The lecture was great and I should finish the book tonight. The book signing was perfect because we had a plan. The plan was to sit towards the top of the FIA theater at the end of an aisle. This would give us rapid egress out the door and at least towards the front of the book signing line.We were shocked when we realized we were first in line. The museum shop was packed with people buying the book. There again we planned ahead.....I bought several copies online the week before.While we were waiting for the author, Laney Salisbury to show up, we were approached by several people trying to take cuts. The most common maneuver was to just step in front of us. Finally, R told one mink wearing lady, that the "line is back there" while he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. She muttered something and headed to the back of the line. R then leaned over and said to me in a hushed toned....."nice try, B**ch." The people behind us started laughing and said to us, "What? She couldn't see the 30 or 40 people standing here in a line?" Leave it to R to tell it like it is.

Seriously, line cutting at a book signing? At an art museum? This is the type of behavior you would see on a Black Friday or while waiting in line for Superbowl tickets, not at an art gallery with a one of a kind Chihuly hanging over our heads. The English say that Americans don't know how to queue up and I have to agree. I am always amazed at how poorly we, as a people, line up and how we conveniently fail to see the line of waiting people in front of us. No wonder we need velvet ropes at the bank to keep people zig zagging their way to the teller. Thanks to those velvet ropes, our trips to the bank are not only free of passbook dividends but also free of people who try to take cuts.