Looking for a Silver Lining

Every year, this weekend there is The show. It's the biggest trade show of my business, everyone and their brother is there. Hell, the city of Anaheim, home of Disney Land btw, is even worse than usual. I hate it. I actually call it The Show from Hell.

Now, let me just say I know a lot of my friends are really into to healthy. Organic, fresh, good for you food. I get it. Hell, look what I do for a living! But that being said, the best way to describe this show is take every stereotype of hippy you've ever heard or thought and put it all in one place. Seriously. You have no idea.....

And I always get stuck working the entire weekend. I'm kinda of the pack mule. I schlep everything from product to cups. I usually park about a mile from the center so it's a walk. I'm still 30 pounds heavier than I should be, and damnit it! I'm going to be 50 in a few months. Not to mention my idea of a work out lately is walking back to my warehouse (takes all of 3 minutes.) And this show was no different.

So I'm tired, because I still got my day job, it was 93 degrees on Friday, traffic was a nightmare. It had been a tough week anyway and, well, I just flat out didn't want to be there. At all.

That all being said, there was one up swing to this whole thing. I got to spend a couple of days with my peers. Guys that do the same thing I do, but in different areas. We talk on the phone all the time, and just like bloggers, we've become very close. I don't know what I would do without them. They keep me grounded. Give me hope, keep me honest and offer advice. I love these guys.

And lucky for us our booth was not busy. It was kinda freaky. We're a very well known company and brand and folks would just stop by quickly for a drink but no conversations. So that gave us a chance to talk.

In English. You have no idea what a treat that was. More than you could know. I love my team, but oh....to have a real conversation with my peers, in English. It took a few hours, but it all started coming back to me. All my smart ass remarks, comebacks. My sarcasm. Reference to Middle American humor. Seriously folks, you have no idea how much you miss that, how careful you have to always be when you have to watch every single word you say.

Now, please know I don't do that. I'm blunt. To a fault. With everyone. But sarcasm doesn't translate and can lead to lots of problems. So I don't use it. Smart ass remarks? Yeah, those can get you fired. Probably not a good idea.

So while the weekend was uber short and I'm sitting in my living room exhausted, sore, drained, I still have a smile on my face. Yeah, I hate that show, but if that's the price I have to pay to spend time with a few folks I love and can let my hair down with, I have to admit it was worth it. The hippys? Yeah, they'll mostly be gone after today. My time spent with friends? Priceless.