Work seemed as usual for Mer last Tuesday. In the lull of the 4:00-5:00 period she was folding napkins, slicing lemons and doing other such tedious tasks to pass the time. That’s when fate walked in the door in the form of a 7-foot-tall black man clad in tight jeans, leather boots, massive sunglasses and two pierced ears. “This guy must be kidding,” thought Mer who was somewhere between impressed and embarrassed at the way he turned heads.
So she sat him at table six and brought him a menu. The man introduced himself as Franklin who grew up in Chicago and now lived in L.A. Franklin and Mer started blabbing away about their love of Chicago and their thoughts of Dublin. It turned out Franklin was the drummer in a band that had been touring around since April, so they talked about his travels and his favorite cities. “What kind of music do you play,” asker Mer. “Rock and Roll,” responded Franklin with a smooth smile. “And what’s the name of your band?” asked Mer.” “Lady and the Krumpets…” mumbled Franklin.
Well, Mer had never heard of them so they continued to have mindless conversation about nature, Australia and other such random things. Then at the end of the meal, Mer brought Franklin his bill and said, “Hey why don’t you write down the name of your band and I’ll look up some of your stuff?”
Franklin looked kind of surprised, but started writing…”L…E…N…LENNY KRAVITZ!” He’d only gotten to the “V” when Mer started freaking out and apologizing for not reacting with more excitement initially. “I must have misunderstood you!” she giggled nervously, “Of course I’ve heard of your band!” Franklin laughed, “Ain’t no thang, girl. I’m used to people freaking out so I’m glad you stayed cool. Just gimme a moment.” He pulled out his blackberry and called up his agent and ten minutes later, Mer and Al were “on the list for the show tomorrow night…just for being you.” Franklin strolled out of the restaurant and Mer sprinted into the kitchen to shriek and giggle out her excitement.
The next night, we showed up to Marley Park, a huge outdoor venue to see One Republic, Alanis Morrisette and Lenny Kravitz. Outdoor venues in Ireland are, of course, a recipe for disaster as the concertgoers inevitably leave covered in mud and soaked from rain. So we danced in the rain, rocked out to Alanis and Lenny and had a blast. At the end of it all, we went to get a snack for the ride home and struck up a conversation with a man eating a hot dog. He claimed that his father owned the park, but Al was skeptical and told him, “Get me a hotdog to prove it.” He thought she was crazy, but, determined to prove his lineage, he got Al a free hot dog. Free tickets. Free hot dog. Sweet concert. Life is good.
1 comment:
That is a great story!
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