Can You Stand The Pressure?

Amid my excitement about the publication of a book containing a story of mine, I was honored to be asked to speak at a yearly event the local library holds.

"Now, is public speaking a problem for you," the head librarian asked.

A fair question. I was able to reply quite honestly that the fear of making a fool of myself never troubles me anymore.

You see, some years back, I had an epiphany in an elevator of a high-rise office building in Houston, Texas.

I had just walked into the building, dressed in the most Conservative of gray suits when my ankle gave way, and I sprawled on the floor of the foyer like a beached whale, skirt hiked up in a most un-ladylike manner. Two businessmen got to witness the whole sorry scene. They hauled me to my feet, and, as luck would have it, entered the same elevator as I did. I waited for the floor to swallow me; I waited for my face to turn red. But neither of these things happened.

And suddenly I realized that this was not the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to me.Probably wasn't even in the top ten. It wasn't as bad as when I tripped and fell over a bale of hay at a county fair, taking a small Asian woman out on my way down; and it certainly wasn't as bad as when I inadvertently typed an "S" where the "W" should have been in a letter to a Mr. Whittaker.

Maybe it was just a part of growing older: that little things just don't bother me that much anymore. Or maybe it's because of George Bush,senior. After he threw up on his plate at that state dinner, I figure nobody could ever top that in terms of embarassing things to do. I owe him a debt of gratitude!
By the way, the book is "A Cup of Comfort for Dog Lovers II" and my story is "The Dashchund That (Almost) Conquered the World."

Susan H. Miller