Thursday, August 7, 2008Today Ernie is wearing the same worn out white sneakers that he always wears. Once, he and his wife took a square-dancing class at the community college. Imagine it- Ernie dressed to the hilt in a cowboy outfit swinging his partner to and fro.
I ask him if he wears those sneakers when he goes square dancing. “No,” he explains. “I bought a pair of used bowling shoes at the thrift store. They were red and purple.” He goes on to say that wearing them makes it easier to turn on a wooden dance floor. I ask if he wears a matching glove for those wicked dosie-doe’s. He doesn’t.
Ernie is failing a summer finance class because of his poor study habits. He said the only way he can get a passing grade is to bribe the teacher with a banana cream pie. I hope it works.
Ernie’s wife is a professional clog dancer. "Is there any money in it?" I ask. He explains that she brings in about $200 every two years but is thinking of retiring due to a foot injury. I ask Ernie if they have clog dancing in The Special Olympics. He says they do not. Too bad, I bet clog dancing is harder than it looks. Besides, everyone knows there is money in the The Special Olympics.
Ernie is full of optimism. In his own way, he is a role model. I think the world needs more dreamers. I’m just glad Ernie has a lady who loves him as well as a professor who loves banana cream pies.
Go, Ernie, go!
Listen to the audio recording here: http://media.libsyn.com/media/jakespage/02_Ernie_Squaredancing_Shoes.mp3
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