Dispatches

It was a similar experience for me though, at the Fire Fighting in Canada golf tournament on May 4. Laura introduced me to so many people that day, I was lucky if I remembered one name out of the first 40 people I met . . . Brian from FESTI? (I think he was actually the first one I met and honestly, the one name that stuck.) I’ll have to learn that word association thingy that helps you remember people’s names when you’re introduced to them. Could make for an interesting experiment.

Early into the introductions, I had someone say to me, “Jen? Jen Mabee?” My first thought was, “OMG, how does he know my last name? Did I meet him at a conference a few years ago and don’t remember? And if so, why don’t I remember? (After all, there tends to be the odd drink consumed at conferences in an effort to be sociable, of course) . . . Was I drinking at the time? Oh geez, I hope I didn’t make an a*#  of myself.” Then I catch myself and interrupt the run on train of thoughts long enough to answer him. “Yep, that’s me .  . . ” I said rather hesitantly.

“I read your blog!” he replied. A wave of relief and surprise washed over me. “Whew!” I thought to myself. “Dodged that bullet. But, wait .  . . did he say that he reads my blog????” Well now, there’s a whole new uncomfortable feeling to contend with.

My mind starts again. “I wonder what he thinks of it? What do I say now? Do I ask him? Thank him for reading it? What’s the appropriate response here? Make a joke? Drawing a blank . . .” My mind goes back to something I’d read that someone (not mentioning any names . . . Laura) put in a newsletter that went out promoting the golf tournament. “Ever wonder if blogger Jen Mabee is as funny in person as she is in her blog? Come and meet her at the FFIC golf tournament.” In that moment, I’m sure that the fellow I had just met was wondering why “Jen the Blogger” suddenly clammed up. Not so funny now, is she?

Social ineptitude aside, I met lots of great people at the golf tournament and had a ball. I think there were six people who actually commented on the blog once they found out who I was, and I was genuinely surprised by each one. Six might not sound like a lot, but if you add that to the four known readers that I mentioned earlier in the blog, (and the assistant editor, Olivia, who also admitted to reading it, probably because it’s part of her job . . . lol) that makes 11 readers!
That totally amazes me. After all, I’m just a woman, who likes to write, about something I love.