Prop Shop . . .

The World English Dictionary defines "serendipity" as "the faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident "  It states further that the word was "coined by Horace Walpole, in 1754, from the Persian fairytale The Three Princes of Serendip, in which the heroes possess this gift." And all this time I thought it was made up by Jiminy Crickett . . .

But, English trivia aside, running into Richard Fick at Winn-Dixie that night was about as "serendipitous" as it gets.  I had just quit my job at the Hall of Fame (after only a week), and had no idea of where I was going to go, or what I was going to do next.  I think I gave him a ride back to the train, but I could be making that up.  I do remember the next morning, I went to the arena with Richard, and just walked in with all the other 1st year clowns, acting  like I belonged there just as much as they did . . .

Talk about luck!  I walk into the prop shop, and there's Harvey Copeland and Bill Ballantine all in a tizzy about how much there is to do and how little time there is to do it in.  They need stuff from the local hardware store, but they need to be at the arena and "hey! Bruce could go to the store . . ."

So they give me a list, and a blank purchase order, and off I go.  I found everything on the list, then copied the list onto the purchase order, completed the transaction and went back to the arena.  Later on I got complimented by the comptroller for being the only one from the clown department whose receipts actually matched what was requested on the purchase order . . . never told him that it was really the other way around.

By the end of the day, I had a job, and a motel room, courtesy of Bill Ballantine and RBB&BCSI. (Now there's an idea for a TV show . . .)  Oddly enough, I have no recollection at all of what was in the show, and I saw all or part of it probably more often than any other edition.  What I do remember is the frenzy of activity from early morning to late at night.  I believe it was the second year of whatever edition it might have been, and more than half of the clowns were from my recently graduated class.  What it felt like, more than anything else, was coming home.

I went to sleep happy that night . . .