Re: [Callers] spiking the 'booking ahead'

At 11:38 AM 5/18/2006, Lisa Greenleaf wrote: One of my favorite stories, and the reason I really stopped booking ahead. I was trying to avoid it previously, but this was a public slap on the wrist (read: humiliation) that permanently cured me. One of the bands at SnowBall 2004 was Moving Violations (MV). I forget the other band - Babes in Tuneland, maybe? One of the fiddlers in MV was Van Kaynor, of whom I have a high affection for. We passed each other in the lines early in the dance, and I asked him for the next dance. He said sure. Lisa announced the next dance was a square. Bobbie Jo and I have an agreement to do most of the squares together, as both are avid squares lovers. We found each other and setup in a square. You can see where this is headed, I am certain. Suddenly, I hear Lisa's voice of the mic: "Paging Seth Tepfer. Paging Seth Tepfer. Your partner is looking for you." I turn around to face the stage saying "But I already have my p...." And there on the stage next to Lisa is Van, anxiously scanning the room for me. Oh. The entire room said "uh oh!" and had encouraging laughter. This event has been burned in my memory. The reason I had been previously trying to avoid booking ahead was because of this very thing - I keep forgetting, and hurting people's feelings (and feeling ashamed when it happened - though not usually so publicly). Although the community reason to not book ahead is more powerful in my opinion, personally, my memory is the strongest motivator. I'm sure that minor hypocrisy is worthy of some soul searching. I've been told to not call people out from onstage. I personally think callers (at that moment dancing) are exempt from rule. Callers are subject to much worse from dancers who speak their minds; callers need to have the ego to withstand criticism - especially when they are caught not modeling good behavior! Anyway, Lisa, I cherish the memory fondly, and have used it a catalyst to change my behavior.