I had a gig last weekend, preceded by a rehearsal, which meant I was out and about from pretty early in the day. I am a firm believer in preparation, but honestly I’ve discovered (thus far) that there is only so much that you can do in certain situations, even with the best will in the world.
For a start, I didn’t get up as early as I should have that day, but the reason I didn’t is because gigging involves an incredibly late night and I need to get enough sleep to keep me going. So I only had an hour to get up, get my hair and make up done, feed the dogs and cats and all the usual bits involved with getting up and out. The result was I had no time to prepare food – not even breakfast – before leaving.
So, I stopped at a garage that has a deli on the way – usually a danger zone for me, but I was as good as gold – I ordered a roll with ham, onion and sweet corn – the sausages looked gorgeous but I didn’t go near them. To top it all, when I got to the counter, what should I see but my favourite marshmallow dolphin thingies!! I could have cried but I resisted the urge.
My good behaviour was aided by the sight of an elderly man (he has to have been at least 75) walking to the shop through the pissing rain with his bike (the road was in bits and not suitable for cycling on). In Ireland it’s a regular enough sight to see an elderly person out on a bike or walking to their destination, unlike me and many of my generation who use their cars for the smallest of journeys. They put me to shame, they really do.
