Category: Story Time

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School Storytime: Blindfolded Roller-skating

KC J. Hutchins

When I was a senior in high school, I was lucky enough to play the male lead in our school musical… I heard that. The eye roll of a senior getting the male lead. What a shocker. A fair point I suppose given the general view of high school theater. I can assure you though my director didn’t possess this kind of bias. In previous years, they’d made a sophomore the lead. Anyways, in this musical I received the immense honor of tap dancing (something I’d never done before) and roller-skate blindfolded. The latter was the challenge. Of course, my eyes weren’t truly concealed. I could mostly see the stage… just the edge was the problem. Luckily, I never tipped off it. However… there was one injury which occurred.

So, in the show there is a scene where I must chase my love interest off stage. There were safety measures in place when I darted off. Three people were assigned to catch me as soon as I exited. Here we were practicing the same routine. On this particular day, I was asked to go faster than normal. I checked with the cast/director to make sure safety measures were in place. They assured me everything would be fine. Keeping in mind there were several close calls before I simply shrugged. Scene progresses as normal. Love interest exits and I dart off like a bullet. Through to doorway and I see… nothing. Not a single cast member in sight. You know what I did see? I terrified mini orchestra watching the comedy unfolding in front of them. (Granted they didn’t think that at the time. Genuinely concerned but might as well make a joke out of it) Here I went shoulder first into the wall making me twist into the prop bed… which I swear possessed a wicked sense of humor for the corner of it nailed me in the crotch. All of a sudden, I could hit soprano notes. I promptly keeled over that bed and tried to stop the spinning, pain, and blacking out. The first to get to me was the orchestra. They were quick to find aid and steady me. Next was my choir teacher who saw the whole thing happen from his office which was right next to backstage. He went to get ice packs while my director and my cast mates came behind her. Each made sure I was alright before my director called for all of them to meet onstage. Obviously, I was excused as I was still reeling from the event. I tried to listen in on the meeting… well it was more of a yelling. My director was furious the whole thing occurred. Telling them they were going to rerun the safety measures every time and it was one of the most important jobs they possessed to make the show work. Though maybe I’m remembering it wrong. I honestly was barely with it at the time and I’m pretty sure I took a cat nap. All I knew was afterwards they never forgot to catch me each time. On several occasions my choir teacher joined to catch the speeding me. Can’t blame the cast too much, I think. After all I was one of the taller people in the group. Who wants to try and stop an over 6-foot person whose roller-skating at full speed blindfolded?

About the Author, Story Time

Family Storytime: Rotation

KC J. Hutchins

I’d say I was in upper elementary/middle school when our family decided to go to Niagara Falls for vacation. It was my first time leaving the country, so I was very excited. (Yes, it wasn’t far from the US, but I was a kid.) In I was packed into a van with my parents, grandparents, and my brother. We spent hours in the car… most of the time watching the same particular movie over and over on our little portable DVD player. Oh, it was tempting to throw it out the window once or twice, but sleep was the healthier option. Somehow my family was allowed entry into Canada. Now, I could go on and on about the trip as a whole, but I’d like to focus on one event. See, there’s this tower which overlooks over the city and Niagara Falls. One gets to the top of it by taking an outdoor facing elevator. This allows their customers to enjoy the views while ascending to their destination… unless they’re afraid of heights. It so happened three of the adults in our group possessed this fear. Naturally as the good-natured children my brother and I were, we didn’t dare tease or nudge them towards the window. That would be so mean and rude… did you detect the sarcasm?
Anyways, we arrive to the top to find a somewhat fancy restaurant. The uniqueness of this place was the floor rotated to give the tables a view of the city. Got that? Only the floor moves. A long window wrapped along the outside of the dining room with a small ledge. When you go to sit down, they adamantly say not to lean or put anything on it since it stays stationary. Naturally, they put the kids near the window where we proceeded to forget this detail. An elbow slip there and a squeak here were to be expected. However, my brain forgot these moments and I placed my glasses on the ledge. As a couple of minutes passed, I realized my folly and chased after the spectacles. Apologizing to a very nice table who handed it to me. Daggers were glared at me from the servers who gave the warning. You’d think this would be the cream of the crop for embarrassment, right? Wrong. For you see my brother had to unintentionally top it. While calming down from the incident and enjoying my meal, I gazed out to see the falls. Smiling at how enjoyable it was to myself. It seems my brother shared the same thought. I know this because he was so distracted by the fantastic sights that he ended up on my lap. I giggled at first until I realized he was dragging me with him. Somewhat trapping both of us between the window and the seat. We were only freed when our parents helped. They lifted up my brother so I could pull myself out. I’m pretty sure through all these antics every eye was on us. As an adult, I’m surprised we weren’t asked to leave, or my family wasn’t too embarrassed to do so themselves. All I remember was a lot of laughing as we rotated round and round.

About the Author, Story Time

School Storytime: 2-3 Storey Drop

KC J. Hutchins

Yes, you read the title right. Let me explain. Back in my early middle school days, I used to go to a private school. By any means, this wasn’t a rich school (Though according to my parents they were paid well enough to be). So, don’t ask if I got caviar and stuff because I didn’t. In fact, we needed to bring our own lunch. Why am I telling you this? Field trips were rare, and we didn’t possess basic facilities like a gym. You can imagine how excited we were when a local indoor rock-climbing place offered the school free use of their place for a gym course. We bounced off the walls in excitement to try our hands at it. When we first arrived, we were told exactly what we were learning… and some of us weren’t excited anymore. We were going to both climb and belay fellow classmates. For those who don’t know, belaying is the person holding the rope for the climber. It’s their job to pace and keep up with the climber so the rope doesn’t slack. Thus, preventing said person from falling, flipping over, tied up, etc. They claimed anyone could partner up with each other since the belayer is attach to the ground by a hook and harness. Meaning, someone five feet tall could belay someone a foot taller than them and weighed considerably more. Do you see the potential disaster yet?

Anyways, we pair up for the day. My partner was someone half my size/weight and I got a bad feeling. Didn’t matter though… we weren’t allowed to say no, or our grade would suffer. I took my feet off the safe padded ground and ascended the wall. The entire way I could feel the line was loose; saying this a couple times and slowing down for them to catch up. Once at the top and slapping the bar, I looked down and asked them to gently lower me down. I felt the line go slack and I fell straight down to the floor. My life flashed before my eyes… a good thing too since it reminded me how to fall without hurting myself. As the free-falling sensation tingled my skin and wind blew passed my ears, I steadied my feet to land. When I smacked the ground, my body vibrated and fell backwards. Suspended slightly off the ground for one of the adults noticed the incident. Looking over, I saw my fellow student off the ground and in the air… only stopped by the hook. I shook a bit from the shock while crowded by everyone. I don’t think anyone checked me for injury. Just asked if I was ok, I said yes, and that was that. The kicker is this happened three more times afterwards… with no punishment, retelling the rules, or redemonstrating to prevent it from happening again. Can you imagine why left this school in that year? Oh, the irresponsibility of that school (You’ll hear more about it)… Funny enough I did see the appropriate response from a teacher when this happened while in high school… something I’ll save for another day.

About the Author, Story Time

Work Storytime: Ice Cream Cone

KC J. Hutchins

So, this was my first job with taxes involved. A bit more pressure to do things correctly. My boss was a very angry man who talked with his hands. It wasn’t abnormal to hear him shouting and knocking stuff over. This came from his desire to sell the business for the past couple years; thinking about it more as a way to make money rather than a passion. Given this added stress level, it made it all the more imperative to succeed… especially for a kid in high school. However, he owned a very mixed business… a combination of a deli, convenient store, restaurant (And I use that term lightly), and ice cream stand. This gave me a lot to learn in little time. Thankfully, he was rarely there. Doubly so since I could never do one simple task… swirl an ice cream cone. No matter what I tried I couldn’t make a soft serve stay on a cone… To the point where my managers wouldn’t let me try anymore. Laughing at the fact I could do anything else, but this one easy task. Now, this was happening for months, and it was a well-known fact by all members of staff. In comes my boss on one of his rare visits. Customer orders a twist soft serve cone. My manager says he’ll be there in a minute to do it.

Overhearing this, my boss says, “KC can do it.”

Without missing a beat, he responds, “No, he really can’t make one.”

The most bewildered and angry face went on my boss’s face. Growling he commands, “Show me.”

First attempt was too small.

“Come on!” He says.

Second time, too big and uneven. Now, I’m hearing laughter.

In between I hear, “One more time.”

This time it was just plain deformed. They both were trying to catch their breath, my manager grabbing the cone for the customer.

Finally, my boss was able to squeeze out, “I guess it’s fine you can’t do one thing. Easier on my wallet too if I don’t let you try anymore.”

After they recovered from on the floor laughing, the three of us sat at one of the tables. Each of us ate one of the messed-up cones with a smile on our faces.

About the Author, Story Time

Work Story Time: The Umpire and the Bat

KC J. Hutchins

Way back when I was young, one of my first jobs was as an umpire. A great little job to ease me into the working world… sort of. Anyways, I came to one of the games as usual and met with the other two umpires. One of them was a friend of mine and the other I worked with before. Both these guys were doing this job longer than me. Remember that cause it’ll be important later. So, in most situations the most senior of the umpires is supposed to go behind home plate. However, neither of them wanted to do it. I, who wants to get the job done, volunteered for the duty.

I’d say we were halfway through the game. Dust in the air, people cheering, and a general sense of enjoyment by all. Nobody showed ill will towards anyone, but enjoyed the game as they should. Keep in mind these were little kids playing. One came stumbling over to the plate. I was minorly concerned the kid would hit himself as he tried to take practice swings! The coach came over to steady and reteach him. A nod of assurance led the batter to the plate. I readied myself to watch as the pitcher wound up. The ball came down the plate and WHAM!

My helmet vibrated and eyes went blurry for a moment. I steadied my legs as I tried not to fall forward on the catcher. An audible “Ooo” of sympathy rolled through the crowd… only broken by my word calling “Time!” The back of my head was throbbing for the batter had hit me in the back of the head. I walked off the field trying to steady myself. I stumbled a bit while groaning and growling from the pain. Rubbing the back of my head, I made sure there was no blood. A parade of people came to check on me. First was the two coaches who patted me on the back for taking the hit. The head of the umpire association (My boss) was the next to show up. Seeming a bit more worried than the rest and offered to give me free food for the rest of the week. Finally, my fellow umpires came to check on me. Knowing I was fine at this point, they were giggling to themselves. I asked them what was so funny? They responded that both of them didn’t want the home plate duty for they were worried about getting hit by the ball… but now they were afraid of bats!