My room was littered with Major League baseball player posters before my wrestling obsession (and after my wrestling obsession the walls were covered with the likes of Motley Crue, Metallica, Def Leppard and Van Halen posters). Like any kid can do out in a sandlot, making up fictitious players and play a whole 9 inning game, I was able to wrestle fictitious wrestlers. On the playground, one had to have a good memory because the other players were invisible. With my PBW (Professional Bedroom Wrestling) association, I at least had a tangible opponent....my pillow. My pillow was probably the best character actor in the history of the world. On any given moment of any given day, my pillow became Ric Flair, Buzz Sawyer, Tommy Rich, Jerry Lawler or one of the Road Warriors. I always played the part of my favorite wrestlers and the pillow was always the bad guy! If you followed wrestling, and many my age claim to have never watched it but I think that is because they are having a hard time reconciling as an adult that they actually, probably at some point, did indeed watch World Championship Wrestling on TBS with Gordon Solie and the all nighter on Saturday with Joe Pedicino for 6 straight hours!
Have I convinced you enough of my obsession....if not, here is a little more. During that time period (mid 80's to late 80's) there was a competing wrestling association from the north, called WWF. They had Hulk Hogan and we in the south had Ric Flair. They had cartoon characters, we had real wrestling and no selling out. They had arena's, flash, gimmicks and 4 minute matches on television, we had a small, live studio in the TBS building where the matches lasted 10-12 minutes on many occasion. It was always known by us WCW followers, the WWF was the place most good wrestlers went to die (career speaking) because they were given silly nicknames, turned into goofballs and were gone in months. But, the WWF was paying more because they were getting more exposure.
Convinced of that obsession yet....good!
So, I grew up in Roswell, Ga in 1981-1988. Roswell was growing but still far from what it is now and the neighboring town, Alpharetta, was where all the farmers, rednecks and country folk lived...that's what we thought anyway. Alpharetta is now one of the wealthiest zip codes in the entire southern region of the United States. It's not uncommon to see any player from a professional sports team in Atlanta, at a gas pump, right next to you. But back in 1982-1983, the largest mall we had was a little strip mall called Roswell Mall and it was big stuff to us. It had a walk in basement with a movie theater, pizza shop and an arcade. (I remember when the movie theater was actually in the mall, upstairs and only had 2 cinemas...I saw Invasion USA there, a real Chuck Norris thriller)
Back in the early 80's, celebrities did not make the rounds through Roswell, Ga. when they came into town. There were no real places to make a public appearance. We had a K-mart on one side of the mall and a Richway on the other side of the mall (later bought out by Target and then bought out by 4-5 other companies).
So, as my best friend and I were strolling through K-mart one afternoon, we saw a poster that the Road Warriors, the most viscous tag-team ever assembled, EVER...was going to make a public appearance at the K-mart. WE FLIPPED OUT! This doesn't happen in our world and we were soon making plans to get there any way we could.
Well, the meet and greet day came and I remember pulling into the parking lot and there were no parking spots available. I was crushed. Every bordering county (it seemed like every bordering state) must have found out about this once in a lifetime chance to meet the greatest tag-team ever. I mean, even a non-wrestling fan would want to come meet these guys. They were HUGE! Way bigger than any wrestler at that time, but what made them stand out from everyone else were there Mohawks and face paint. They were intimidating on TV and every time I hear the opening notes to "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath, I still envision the Road Warriors running to the wrestling mat and not waiting for the bell to start the match. Most matches were over in a matter of seconds.
As we parked across the street and walked over, it was apparent these people were not here for an incredible "Blue Light" special deal. The line to meet the Road Warriors was throughout the entire store. I am not exaggerating at all. There must have been 500-750 people there. So, we took our spots in line and waited...and waited...and waited.........
Finally, we had just made it passed the backdrop area where they took all of those cheesy pictures you see all over the web, "bad family photo's"...yep, I remember when that stuff was real! The wrestlers were now in view, but we were still a few hundred people away....and then, the worst moment of my then 11-12 year old life happened...the voice over the loud speaker. If you grew up going to K-mart, you know the voice...you actually knew the announcement was coming before the voice because the employee didn't know how to operate the speaker correctly, so you could hear them breathing into it a few moments before they actually spoke.
The announcement was not a "Blue Light Special"..."attention K-mart shoppers, the meet and greet is now over. Thank you for coming out and continue to shop our store for all of the great items on sale, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!"
No way this was happening, NO WAY!!!! But sure enough, here they came, hulkishly walking down the aisle, making their way right past all of these people who had been waiting hours! NO WAY! This was not going to happen.....(Pause) now, I was a very skinny kid growing up and by skinny I mean, you could see my heart beating through my chest in a standing position. I was social, but only if you approached me first. I was never the first one to act out or make a scene, ever! I'm not sure when all of that changed, but who I am today is nothing like who I was then. Maybe this was my coming out party!
As they walked directly in front of me, the Road Warrior named "Hawk," the one with the reverse Mohawk looked like he had just eaten a few kids like me for breakfast that morning. The scowl on his face, the head jerking and arms flailing as he was literally knocking little hands off of him, looked right at me and stuck his tongue out...kinda like any demon possessed individual from an 80's horror flick. Normally, I would have pee'd in my pants on spot and then hid in a rack of clothes, but not today. All 82 pounds of me, stood up strong, leaped out towards his direction with my pen and magazine cover and slapped him on the arm....
Time stood still for all of 8 seconds but I literally played out my death, my funeral and burial in those 8 seconds. It was a lovely ceremony, many people had wonderful things to say....BAM! Back to reality! I was greeted by a slap to my chest, my magazine cover and pen felt as if they had left an imprint on my shirt and when I pulled it away, I had an autograph, "Hawk!"
Now, I say all of that to say this; what is it in your world that freaks you out? I mean, who or what is it that you will drop everything for and go see? What would you risk your life for, even if it wasn't literally in harms way? What would you drop everything for?
For many of us, the obvious answer is family; our children, our siblings, our cousins, aunts and uncles. But I'm not talking about that...I am talking about "fanfare"...those things that seem to really matter, but don't. Even if it's just for the the experience, a once in a life time shot, would you run to it in a heart beat? Experiences fade, they go away and before you argue with me, we take our experiences to the grave with us, never to be remembered again. Are these things that important? As a child, a pre-teen and even a teen in some situations, I get it. There is a pass.
This year at Beach Retreat, I had one of those moments again. I have learned to give away a lot of what I spent wasted time and effort and knowledge on. It takes a lot to move me now days. It's not that I am cynical about it, I have just learned to compartmentalize what is truly important and what isn't. What deserves a "WooHoo!" and what doesn't.
After praying with students for almost an hour, one after the other and watching, feeling those chains being broken in lives, I was exhausted. I was completely wiped out and missed out on a few of the stories I normally get to hear about. On the car ride home, I had texted one of the other adults during a stop at the gas station and as we chatted, he told me that a particular student had accepted Christ into His heart the night before and we had both been praying for this kid for at least a month before Beach Retreat. I finished pumping my gas, checked my phone one last time before I cranked the car back up and read his text to me. I pumped my fist in the air, and with a loud shout of praise to God, I screamed, "WOOHOO!" Because that my friends is worth getting excited over. It is eternal and won't fade away because there is life beyond the grave. If all you look for are experiences and moments, they are enjoyed on the earth, but that's as far as they go. Yes, enjoy those moments, capture those memories, because they do enhance this wonderful life we have, but have you replaced the "Real Joy" in life with chasing after experiences and memories.
I get it, we all are fans of something or someone. But in all of the years I have been a Chicago Cubs fan, they have come close to the World Series 2 times. There are people who have lived to over a hundred and never seen the Cubs play in a World Series, much less win a World Series. A day will come when they finally will win it all and even if it comes or doesn't come in my lifetime, it won't affect me at all. Yes, I would be happy and cheer, but it would not and could not replace the moments I have had, knowing that someone has been risen from death to life, because they have placed their life in the hands of Jesus Christ. There is no greater joy, not even close!
Do you know what I'm talking about?
No comments:
Post a Comment