[Trombone-l] OhMyGawd!

[Bill Dinwiddie]

Possible new thread:

Many of us have found ourselves in an unenviable position when we have left 
key pieces of our equipment at home and only discovered the omission when we 
arrived at the gig. I will never forget one specific instance when I got to 
the gig, reached into the back seat of the car, only to grasp the handle of 
my.....WHAT?...where the hell is my horn case!!!  OhMyGawd. Knowing full 
well that I was working that night for one of Chicago's least sympathetic 
band leaders, I mentally replayed the last 45 minutes, and realized that a 
habit I had developed had finally backfired on me. When I used to live in 
Rogers Park (extreme northern edge of Chicago), I rented a garage in the 
alley behind my apartment house, and when I would go to the garage to get my 
car out, I would leave my horn case on a conveniently placed garbage can, so 
that I could use both hands to open the garage door (you needed two hands 
because the door was old and heavy). Ignoring the wisdom over leaving one's 
case atop something as unsanitary as a garbage can, I can only say that the 
technique worked very well for me up until the night in question.

Realizing that the only solution to my problem was to roar back up Lake 
Shore Drive to my apartment to retrieve the horn, my heart sank as I 
realized that the quest would very likely end badly. By this time, someone 
had probably seen the case and decided that it would fetch a nice price at a 
local pawn shop. By the time that I arrived back at the garage (after 
setting speed records on the 40 minute drive), I turned the corner on two 
wheels, and, lo and behold, there it was...still perched on the trash can. 
At this point, I can assure you that, unlike the joke, I did not find two 
trombone cases. After uttering a prayer of thanks, I was very happy just to 
retrieve one case and do another mad dash downtown to the gig, where I was 
amazed that I was only about 15 minutes late. I wasn't much good the rest of 
the night as I was mentally exhausted.

Do any other members have horrifying stories of a similar nature? Maybe now 
is the time to get them off your chest.

Bill Dinwiddie
billdin at comcast.net