Posted: Jul 12, 08 9:30am
(NOTE: I posted this as a main discussion but did not want to see it fade into obscurity. So, I am adding it here with all your creative minds, in the hopes that you will share some experiences--real or imaginary--where you had to think on your feet, fly by the seat of your pants, and find a creative way out of a tight situation.)
As some of you know, I just got back from a working trip to an orphanage in the mountains of Jamaica. These trips present all kinds of fun challenges every single year. I am often faced with situations that are entirely new to me and where people are depending on me--me! silly little me!--to be the one to figure things out and fix them. If you knew me better, in 'real' life, you'd know precisely why that amuses me so much!
Anyway, I discovered a new and unusual talent this year. And here is how that happened:
One of the young women I travel with and I were amusing ourselves by playing a memory game in our off moments. This game consisted of saying, 'I am going to the movies, and I am going to see.....' and then naming films, in alphabetical order, all from memory. So we had 'Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, Clue', etc etc on down to Rocky...and we were in the process of thinking up the one beginning with S. We were walking out of the building we stayed in to go up to the dining hall to assist in getting the space ready for a special dinner we were putting on that night for the kids. It was our last night there! And yet, we were so focused on our silly little game, we forgot to bring the keys. The only set of keys for that particular door. The only set of keys for that particular door for that large building at the entire orphanage, out in the middle of nowhere, Jamaica.
As the door slammed shut, and locked behind us, we both instantly realized what we had done, and said OH NO. What hell there would be to pay for that little mistake. Our group leader is a woman who worries and leaps to worst case scenarios endlessly. It is her take on life. She is the original 'glass half empty' lady. She is the somewhat benevolent dictator of worrydom. She was already displeased with us because we were constantly challenging her despotism with constructive ideas and a positive outlook! With humor even! How dare we. Anyway, the keys, locked inside, disaster brewing.
I began to frantically look around for a way to get back in. Windows at the orphanage have no screens. There is louvered glass, and bars, and no possible way either of us could fit inside the spaces between the bars--only an arm fits between those spaces between the bars. I looked for something to try to slip the lock. I know all about how some locks can be opened with a credit card, but the best thing I could find was a piece of cardboard. I tried and tried and tried, but the cardboard was not stiff enough. We were ready to despair. We were. Ready to be the pariah dogs of the mission trip, the bad girls, the irresponsible ones. The ones who locked the only set of keys in the building!
And then I saw the butter knife. It was stuck into the dirt of one of the director's potted plants. I looked at my friend. I smiled a big crazy smile. I took the knife and I squatted in front of the door, and worked away and finally popped the lock.
YAY! The door was open! We ran in to get the key! We were delirious with laughter and relief! It was to be our little secret! Such fun! Partners in B&E!
Until the next day, shortly before we were to leave. It was discovered that someone else had left the keys inside! The door was shut tight and locked! How thoughtless! How irresponsible of them!
The director came to us. She needed to get inside. Where were the keys? None of us had them. Uh oh. She was angry. Our group leader was churning up her worry machine. It wasn't pretty. We all stood there, kids clustered around us. What would we do?
And so, I spoke up. I said, "I can fix this. This happened yesterday. I know what to do. But you have to make the kids go away."
The director did not even flinch. She began shooing the kids away, and some of our group went with them to keep them away. Some of our group stayed to watch. I found the knife. I squatted in front of the door. I did the same thing I had done the day before. The door popped open.
Our group leader pinched her lips in dismay. She didn't know I had such unusual talents and she wasn't sure she liked them. (I had to do some fast talking to her, about being a single mom and the resourcefulness needed when you are the only grown up in the house.)
But the director of the orphanage stood squarely before me. She looked directly into my eyes. She reached out her hand and touched my shoulder, and she said, "You come back next year."
Ever been in a tight situation and discovered unusual talents you never knew you had? As i said, I had to do some fast explaining to our group leader. This was a church trip, after all.
