Thursday, March 25, 2010

#857

I should probably tell you that this past Saturday was totally wasted. I will tell you that 8+ hours of that day were spent standing in a line that covered almost the whole KSL building dowtown. And standing there for 8+ hours should give you an idea of how fast the line was going. So what was my purpose for standing in line for that long? At the beginning of January I sent in a tape to one of my favorite reality shows. It was kind of a symbolic act that represented the start of a new year's resolution. But, 2 months later I received an email from the casting director on the show, informing me that casting calls were coming to Salt Lake City and that I should attend. After much deliberation among me, fam, friends, coworkers, etc. etc., I decided to go.


W got work off to accompany me and we headed downtown around 10 am, only to be greeted by huge crowds of people and a line that, as stated before, wrapped around a majority of the building. As we tenatively walked to the end of the line, W kept saying "Oh Megs. Oh Megs. Oh Megs." It was cold. Then we moved 3 feet, and it was hot. Then we moved 3 more feet, and it was cold again. We talked to the people behind us. We talked to the people in front of us. We talked to people on the phone. We talked to each other. We listened to music on W's iphone. Then the iphone almost died, so we stopped listening to music and listened to the lady from South Carolina who flew all the way to Utah just for this event. In 1 hour, we pretty much knew her whole life story. And so did everyone else in line. You can imagine what the remaining 7 hours were like.


The only real break we got was when people from the show came down the line handing out 1 page paper applications to fill out that had numbers in the top corner. I was # 857, meaning 856 people were ahead of me. I was sorely disappointed when I realized it had only taken me 15 minutes to answer the questions and we had only moved 6 inches in line. Same thing when I took a bathroom break at LDS Business College and a security guard harrassed me until I pulled my BYU ID out to "prove" I was a student. (He didn't have to know I already graduated.) I knew that had to have taken at least a half hour. Nope. 15, maybe 17 minutes total and only a foot in line. Why? WHY?!!!


By 5:00 pm, we were almost to the front of the line. Bless her little heart, it was all W could do from ditching me and heading for the car. When they finally took us back, they grabbed 30 of us then split us into 2 groups of 15. The girl directing us kept saying "Be enthusiastic! Be yourself!" All I wanted to say was "I'll show you enthusiastic: My name is Megan. My favorite dessert is Wendy's frostys and when I'm outta here I'm buying three and eating all of them. I don't like lines. And I don't like you. I'm gone! Peace!" Okay, I didn't really say that- but close. They ran us to a table with 1 of the 2 casting directors. Each of us quickly went arounnd the table and said 4 things: name, age, profession, and biggest weakness when it comes to food (you bet, Wendy's frosty), and THAT WAS IT! The whole thing took no more than 7 minutes. 7. Minutes. . .7. I couldn't believe it. I was shocked. So shocked, I couldn't even do anything but just giggle in total shockness. I looked at W and all she said as we walked out "You better believe I'm grabbing a free calendar! And you're buying me dinner."

So . . . I wasted a whole day. But, at least I did it. There will be no doubt in my mind, because I tried. I did my part. If anything, it was a memory. A good memory? Debatable. But a memory, nonetheless. I think the best part was W standing by me the whole time. Sure she was hungry. No doubt her legs hurt and her feet were killing her. I know she was about ready to shoot "South Carolina" and was annoyed by the many onlookers who took pictures and pointed as they wondered out loud what the heck we were all doing. (We just told them we were trying out for "Survivor" or waiting for Sting tickets.) Yet, she stayed. And she stood by me because she loved me and wanted me to have every opportunity I could to have a life-changing experience. She believed in me. So . . .she stood in that dang line for 8 hours. I may have been #857, but #857 was important to W. For this, I will forever be touched. For this, I will love her always.

1 comment:

  1. Megs! You're most definitely not #857 in my book! I think it's awesome that you went, and can't wait to see you on Survivor! Just be sure to vote everyone off the island. Oh, and kick that weakest link lady in the shins if you see her, she drives me nuts! See you soon, be it on TV swallowing a bag full of mealworms or racing through shopping malls in the greatest race! You're a reality TV superstar in my book!

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