Cherry-pickin' daddies

So the other day I'm at Starbucks, looking at the menu, obliviously asking the clerk questions about the drinks. When I eventually make eye contact with him, I realize that I know him. It's my high school tech-theater teacher! (Awkward!!)

"Mr. Madsen?" I say. "Yes, it's me," he says, looking slightly disappointed that I recognized him.

We chatted a bit about his daughter, who was a few years behind me in school. We also talked about this group of kids he used to cherry-pick to star in the school plays and for the big techie jobs. It was always the same kids.

Turns out his daughter (who he used to cast in everything) is a waitress and struggling actress here in town. The other kids got married and got regular, non-theater jobs.

For some reason this all made me very happy. What this meant was that Mr. Madsen was terrible at spotting potential and terrible overall at making smart decisions. Otherwise, his pupil-picks would all be stars now (or at least working in the theater industry) and he wouldn't be 65 and working at Starbucks. No wonder he never picked me to be Head Lighting Designer! This explains everything!

I had no idea that this bothered me until that moment. I can't help but wonder. Would things have been different if this teacher had encouraged me to be a lighting designer? Afterall, I went and pursued a journalism degree after my Creative Writing teacher, Ms. Carducci, told me I would be a famous writer someday. And I went to law school after a professor told me I would make a great lawyer. I guess we'll never know. It's too bad this guy wasted all his cherry-pickin' skillz on the wrong kids.