I’m sure no one really wants to read this, but I had to get this off my chest. My wife and I were at the 2008 Trek convention in Las Vegas. We only went for one day—when most of the DS9 people were there. It would just have been too expensive to go for more than that.
Anyway, we decided we would purchase photo ops for Avery Brooks and Jeffrey Combs. I remember thinking that, as much as I love Sisko, I had a bad feeling that Avery Brooks would be very “stand off-ish,” and it would completely ruin my view of him. But I decided to go ahead with it anyway, just hoping that someone I respect and enjoy the work of doesn’t let me down.
So it’s a couple weeks before the convention, and I’m talking to a friend of mine about it. He’s also a Trek fan, though not as much as I am. And I say to him that he has to help me come up with something witty to say to Avery while we’re standing for those few seconds taking a picture. He made some sort of joke, but we never came up with anything.
Anyway, shoot forward to the convention, my wife and I are standing in line waiting to get our picture taken with Avery. I’m nervous as hell. My palms are sweating. I still didn’t come up with anything to say. Mind you, this was my first convention. I love Trek and own all series on DVD/Blu-ray, but I never went beyond watching it. Never read the books. Never dressed up. Never bought any figurines.
Anyway, the position we’re at in line is outside the room where the pictures are being taken, so I don’t see Avery just yet. But I hear him talking. And he seems to be laughing and joking around with the crowd. So that alleviated some of my fears. We’re inching closer and closer, and I still hadn’t thought of anything to say. And then we get to the point in line where we’re in the room…and I see him.
And I really start shaking now. I think to myself, “What can I say to this man that he hasn’t already heard a thousand times before, that isn’t corny or stupid, and that has meaning to me.” Finally, it hit me. One of the things I enjoyed most about DS9 was the relationship between Sisko and Jake. It reminds me in so many ways of the relationship I have with my father. Which is one of the reasons “The Visitor” is probably my all-time favorite episode, and I cry every time Sisko disappears from Jake and Jake starts to break down.
So we’re inching closer and closer. Again, Avery is laughing with the crowd. He has some guy there dabbing his head with a handkerchief before each photo is taken. And he’s wearing these pants that look like something out of an M.C. Hammer video. Now, we’re next in line. The person before us had their photo shot and says something quick to Avery.
My wife and I now begin to walk toward him. I rub my hands on my pants one last time to get the sweat off of them. We take the picture. He had put his arms around both of us! The picture is done, and my wife says something to him about his teaching at Rutgers University—she went to school there, way before becoming a Trek fan.
Now it’s my turn. I shake his hand and intend to say something to the effect of, “Thank you for the relationship on the show between Sisko and Jake. It was so real and reminded me of my relationship with my father.” But instead, the words that came out of my mouth were, “Thanks for Jake.” And then I walk away!
I was just so nervous. I couldn’t get the right words to come out of my mouth. As soon as I walked out the door, I said to my wife, “He must think I’m a moron.”
Anyway, that’s my story. How I totally messed up my one chance. Though it will always be a great memory for me, and I got a cool picture out of it.
PICTURE: ftp://digger@upload.comcast.net/001_1.JPG
Anyway, we decided we would purchase photo ops for Avery Brooks and Jeffrey Combs. I remember thinking that, as much as I love Sisko, I had a bad feeling that Avery Brooks would be very “stand off-ish,” and it would completely ruin my view of him. But I decided to go ahead with it anyway, just hoping that someone I respect and enjoy the work of doesn’t let me down.
So it’s a couple weeks before the convention, and I’m talking to a friend of mine about it. He’s also a Trek fan, though not as much as I am. And I say to him that he has to help me come up with something witty to say to Avery while we’re standing for those few seconds taking a picture. He made some sort of joke, but we never came up with anything.
Anyway, shoot forward to the convention, my wife and I are standing in line waiting to get our picture taken with Avery. I’m nervous as hell. My palms are sweating. I still didn’t come up with anything to say. Mind you, this was my first convention. I love Trek and own all series on DVD/Blu-ray, but I never went beyond watching it. Never read the books. Never dressed up. Never bought any figurines.
Anyway, the position we’re at in line is outside the room where the pictures are being taken, so I don’t see Avery just yet. But I hear him talking. And he seems to be laughing and joking around with the crowd. So that alleviated some of my fears. We’re inching closer and closer, and I still hadn’t thought of anything to say. And then we get to the point in line where we’re in the room…and I see him.
And I really start shaking now. I think to myself, “What can I say to this man that he hasn’t already heard a thousand times before, that isn’t corny or stupid, and that has meaning to me.” Finally, it hit me. One of the things I enjoyed most about DS9 was the relationship between Sisko and Jake. It reminds me in so many ways of the relationship I have with my father. Which is one of the reasons “The Visitor” is probably my all-time favorite episode, and I cry every time Sisko disappears from Jake and Jake starts to break down.
So we’re inching closer and closer. Again, Avery is laughing with the crowd. He has some guy there dabbing his head with a handkerchief before each photo is taken. And he’s wearing these pants that look like something out of an M.C. Hammer video. Now, we’re next in line. The person before us had their photo shot and says something quick to Avery.
My wife and I now begin to walk toward him. I rub my hands on my pants one last time to get the sweat off of them. We take the picture. He had put his arms around both of us! The picture is done, and my wife says something to him about his teaching at Rutgers University—she went to school there, way before becoming a Trek fan.
Now it’s my turn. I shake his hand and intend to say something to the effect of, “Thank you for the relationship on the show between Sisko and Jake. It was so real and reminded me of my relationship with my father.” But instead, the words that came out of my mouth were, “Thanks for Jake.” And then I walk away!
I was just so nervous. I couldn’t get the right words to come out of my mouth. As soon as I walked out the door, I said to my wife, “He must think I’m a moron.”
Anyway, that’s my story. How I totally messed up my one chance. Though it will always be a great memory for me, and I got a cool picture out of it.
PICTURE: ftp://digger@upload.comcast.net/001_1.JPG
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