Deal or no Deal

Good morning everyone,
Today I am going to talk about one of the craziest life experiences I have ever had. I am not sure if those who read this watch "Deal or No Deal," if you don't you should. I love that show and recently there were auditions in Nashville. So.....I tried out. I figured I had just as good a shot as anybody and that I had a really good schtick.

Here's my schtick: I'm an aspiring singer/songwriter working two jobs pursuing her dream. I would have my three siblings on the show with me because I moved my whole life and they were the only home I ever had. I would mention my dad's service in the Air Force and the fact that my two sisters and brother are hilarious when we are all together. I love our family dynamic. It was perfect and I would use the money to pay off my demo project, pay our closing costs on the new townhome we are building, buy my husband a motorcycle and make more music! So armed with my schtick, my bottled water and some hot tamales I headed out at 7 am to the audition.

Thankfully my lovely friend Katy decided to come with me. We show up at around 7:20 thinking we were plenty early because the tryout was from 10-1 and there were already 3000 people there in line. We couldn't believe it. So we get in line and immediately start chatting with this mother and daughter in front of us about how early this was and how we couldn't believe we were doing this. Which inevitably lead to talking to the people behind us and along side us. After 4 and a half ours my beloved friend Katy decided to leave because she is a fabulous photographer and had a wedding to get ready to shoot. So I stayed BY MYSELF in line with a crowd that had now climbed to almost 10,000 people. We were all outside, in the hot sun, walking from one end of the Opry Mills Parking lot to the other. And Guess what......I stood in line for 10 hours. Yes!! I stayed in line for 10 hours.

There is so much craziness packed into that last sentence that I might need to break it down for you. One, I hate standing in line for anything. I am horribly critiquing efficiency whether I am waiting in line for the bank or picking up my Chinese takeout. Awful what goes through my mind while I watch people fumble around with a cash register or computer and I fight every instinct not to want to climb around and do it for them. ( I have many years of experience with cash registers and computers) Still, here I am standing in line by myself for ten hours in the heat of all things. (those that know me realize the heat is death to me. I have actually rejected snuggling with my husband at times because he is so hot... who does that?) And here is what was amazing....

One, I was not actually by myself because the people in front and behind me took care of me. After about four hours we had already practiced what we were going to say, told what we would do with the money, where we were from, what we did for a living so I was not the least bit lonely. Complete perfect strangers who lent me their umbrellas to stand under, because even though I was slathering on sunscreen every 15 minutes, I was still burning. They let me get out of line and go by some flip flops at Old Navy because I had been standing in the most ridiculous shoes for 6 hours. ( I had thought we would be sitting and the heels made my legs look really long in my jeans. haha) They let me go get a pretzel and more water and sit down for awhile. The kindness that I saw among complete strangers was beautiful. Now I absolutely returned the favor, pulling people's chairs and bags through line so they could sit out for awhile or get a coke. I lent people my sunscreen and would time them and let them practice what they were going to say at their audition. It really was such a bonding experience with humanity.

Now I know that sounds a bit dramatic but I really mean it. I do enjoy people and I was raised to be polite so I ususally talk and say thank you to people when in public, but never have I really had such community with complete strangers. There were people from all walks of life. There were old people and young mothers with their infants in strollers. People in sequence and crazy hats and even a man straight out of the hills of Tennessee who made moonshine. He had a beard almost down to his hips and a walking stick and work overalls with no shirt underneath. :) I said hi to him right away. The humbling thing was every person there needed the money. Every person there had a dream that they wanted to fullfill. There were definitely people worse off than me and their stories broke my heart. I met the most beautiful woman whose hands were twisted because of her arthritis and she was concerned she might not be able to try out because of her condition. I met a woman who lived in a trailor and was quite happy with her home, but her husband wasn't and she wanted to win the money so she could buy him a house. I could cry now remembering. I was genuinely rooting for every person who told me their story and they were too. We all knew that it was chance so it was easy to be hopeful for everyone.

Everyone had a story and everyone was so kind to one another. Literally everyone let people leave the line to go the restroom or buy something to eat and they would hold their place in line. Nobody was cut throat or mean. Everyone listened to everyone's stories and were supportive. After ten hours in line we all knew about as much as you can about complete strangers in that amount of time.

So now the finale... The great thing is you go in ten people at a time so by this time you aren't half as nervous because you have nine of your friends with you. You have 30 seconds to tell them about yourself. Not much time at all and I said my schpeil and even got a few notes of singing in (yes, I know..cheesy) before i was cut off and thanked politely and that was it. I exited the room with everyone else, said farewell and left for home. As I drove home I thought about the afternoon. It was 5:30 pm this time and I had stood for ten hours outside for 30 seconds. I just laugh thinking about it. My husband and friends were texting me the whole day asking if I was still there and what I was doing and was I lonely by myself. They all thought I was crazy, but it became my marathon. Something I had to prove to myself. I have been waiting for this music thing to unfold and it's been frustrating. Waiting for call backs and meetings is hard and I have been discouraged, but this was an endurance test and I feel like I passed.

I have heard it said that it's about the journey and not the end destination. I believe that... The true benefits to the day was not the 30 second audition, it was all the people in line that I got connected to. They were the reason I was there, the reason I want to sing. People's stories and hopes and dreams and the kindness and community that was there inspired me. I am a Christian and so my outlook and frame of reference is shaped by who Jesus is. I love that He was inclusive and kind to everyone. That He had time for the masses to speak to them and heal them. I have never stood in line, side by side, with so many people in my life. I couldn't help thinking about how on earth Jesus had time for everyone and how he spoke to them all when he was on earth, but he was always about the people. They are what mattered and when he told us to love each other and take care of each other, I was never more reminded of that than on that day when strangers shared their shade and chairs. I know this is pretty deep for a deal or no deal audition, but this was truly what was left on my heart from that day.

They say we could get a call back in a month or even a year. I have thought about making a video audtion and sending it in just for fun. (You can do that through abc) I love being able to rest knowing I have done everything I could have. haha Had I known it would have taken 10 hours to audition, I would not have done it. But I will now add this to the list of things that I am most proud of in my life. It took perserverence and I know I am capable of staying in the race. So here I am, still waiting and trying to enjoy the people around me. Love to you all.
Cameron