I woke up this morning with a tremendous backache and a headache on top of that--so I slept in for a while, laying on an ice pack--hoping to alleviate some of the spasms in my back, and the resulting inflammation of my muscles. I still arrived at the office at 8, and I worked hard to catch up on the lost hour. Little did I know, that I was going to work an hour later than I normally do--so in fact, I didn't lose any time at all!
I worked several more rows on my socks (picture follows).
I got an email from my friend Ray.
Here's where the Grand Rapids and District Pipe Band can listen in--
Especially you, Jeri.
Since, if you guys were denied drummers at the Flint Ceilidh, you should know that was not my doing.
Ted called me the evening of the ceilidh, after having received a letter from my friend Ray--asking why I'd been dismissed. I answered that all I had to go by was what the pipe major had put in his letter of dismissal to me, but that it didn't make a whole lot of sense since he never made me drum sergeant--but that had the drum sergeant put the snare corps down again, that we would have quit on the spot, tired of being told that we couldn't do something new out of concern for "confusing" someone else. I told him that I believed the charges were pretty bogus, and that Ray had told me that Flint was asking us to come down and had been for years. He then asked me if I was coming to the ceilidh, and I told him that after Grand Rapids dismissed me, that I'd made other plans, and that I was presently playing "Cut-throat Canasta" cards with my husband and his family. He asked me if I would be having more fun playing cards with my in laws instead of playing drums in a pipe band, and I told Ted that if it came down to that choice, given what had been done to me, I would choose cards with the in laws every time...no question.
He asked me again to come to the ceilidh, and I let him know that while regrettable, there was just no way that I could do it. I still hadn't gotten to the part about Ray's car being totaled the week before, and I think that he was still sure that I would drop everything and head out on his invitation, even while he was hanging up.
It was a nice phone call. It made me feel pretty good about myself.
But there was no discussion about drums, or who could or couldn't play or anything of the sort.
So IF you are angry with ME for not having drums at the ceilidh, your anger is misplaced.
Back to the email from Ray:
Within was notification of a phone call from Flint's Instructor, once again asking us to come out, wondering why we hadn't shown up (weather has just not cooperated!) yet, and why he hadn't called Ray about it all yet, but that absolutely, he was still interested in us coming to Flint to play.
Not only that, but to play in the massed bands at Alma.
And, I would be willing to bet, to serve as extras for competition.
HA!
(please note the thumbing of the nose)
Take that "it's nothing personal".
I'm still not sure which way I want to go, but the fact that my skill and experience is still in demand gives my soul a sense of solace and peace that many people never come to realize. So thanks, Ted, for boosting my ego and telling me in so many words that I'm still a valuable person and a hot commodity (somehow, I even feel like I look good in a kilt!)
And as for Grand Rapids? So sorry you didn't live up to MY expectations. I had some grand ideas that never went anywhere because of your drum sergeant. Ray had twice the ideas that I had--had you made one of us drum sergeant, neither of us would have booted any of your personnel--because everyone was valuable--all the bodies that you could get!
I close with the statement "THERE IS NO *I* IN "TEAM"."
Remember that the next time you decide you're going to boot somebody else.
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