I enjoyed Tina Fey’s story about working at the YMCA and thought that it was one of the nice times she comes to the light of reality. She describes her quirky experiencing and interactions working at the front desk of an urban YMCA. She stops to take a moment to address the reality of the situation:
The twenty-third came. I punched my time card and headed out, excited to see my family and enjoy some middle-class comforts. On my way out of the building, I passed the Men’s Residence Christmas Dinner. If you’ve ever witnessed a school bus accident or a dog trying to nudge its dead owner back to life, then the sight of this dinner probably wouldn’t affect you. But for me, it was easily the third-saddest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
The residents were at a long table in the basement, and Mr. Mkvcrkvckz was wearing a Santa hat with his dingy suit. There had been some kind of turkey dinner, because the place smelled like gravy, and they were just opening their presents. A tall goony kid named Timmy held up a pair of tube socks.
There were tube socks for Mr. Engler. Opening tube socks over here, boss! They all got tube socks. It wasn’t the tube socks that got me. It wasn’t knowing that these guys would get nothing else for Christmas. It was the thought of Mr. Mvzkrskchs at the dollar store buying forty pairs of tube socks that set me weeping all the way home.
She takes a step back to look at how these people are really living and it allows her to see that there is something more out there for her. After this experience at Christmas, she takes a step forward to acquire an office job at the YMCA to fund her improv classes.
Have you ever witnessed or experienced something that has given you an extra push
to go after what you want? Have you ever had to drudge your way through something difficult to get to the light at the end of the tunnel? What was this experience like?
I don't know if I've experienced something that completely changes my outlook, but I find that every time something good happens to me that is related my theatre career, it pushes me to keep continuing to grow, because it makes me feel energized and like I really can succeed in the field. I actually feel like we all can say that we've had to drudge through something, because that is kind of what we're all doing this semester, trying to get through senior year, with the light at the end of the tunnel being graduation!
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