Realizing Provision

                Some people can read body language and know exactly what to do when someone comes in for the side hug. Others cannot. Some people intuitively know which side to stay on when receiving a holy hug or kiss. Others second guess, bobbing and back and forth until they meet at a not-so-happy place in the middle. Some people have fond memories of the time they met the Prime Minister. I do not.

                It was an exciting Thanksgiving Day back in October of 2015. We had heard of the possibility that Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in his final days of campaigning before the 2015 election, was coming to Martin’s Family Fruit Farm, my dad’s family’s business.

                My knowledge about politics and the Conservative party did not drive my excitement, maybe because I had little. The prospect of the claim to fame—seeing the Prime Minister in person—instigated the jitters for me. At school the next day, when my friends would ask how I spent my Thanksgiving Day, I would nonchalantly say “Oh, I just walked up the lane to see Stephen Harper. How about you?”

                I tried not to get ahead of myself, though, as we did not know for sure that he was coming. Later that Thanksgiving morning, though, someone notified dad that the Prime Minister and his entourage were indeed on their way to the apple farm.

                We watched him speak amid the stacks of apple cases and equipment, and when his rally was over, we received word that Mr. Harper wanted a picture with the whole Martin family. Even better for the fame, I thought smugly. After the picture, things improved even further. The Prime Minister came around to each one of us and shook our hands! I accomplished shaking the Prime Minister’s hand quite successfully. You know, stuck out my right hand and shook nice and firmly (none of this dead fish stuff).

                If only security would have shooed us away then. If only the Prime Minister would have mounted his big Conservative bus right then. If only I could have vanished then. If only.

                Instead, Mr. Harper was suddenly there, right in front of me, beginning to extend his hand. And don’t misunderstand me, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to shake the Prime Minister’s hand again. In fact, I was planning to. I lifted my hand as I heard the words,

                “Did I miss anyone over here?”

                And before I realized what my logical brain was making my awkward body do, I stopped and pulled my hand back, because he hadn’t missed me!

                (And Mr. Harper, I am truly sorry for pulling my hand away from your second handshake.)

               Immediately, I realized how awful that must have looked, and how awkward I had just been. I no longer had much desire to talk about meeting the Prime Minister at school the next day. Because now, meeting the Prime Minister was overshadowed by refusing to shake the Prime Minister’s hand. The two could not be separated. My claim to fame was also a claim to awkwardness.

                I didn’t tell this story to anyone for a long time, but now, I rather enjoy telling it. I’m starting to learn that my awkwardness and embarrassing mistakes aren’t the end of worthwhile existence, even if they feel like it at the time. If you are the kind of person who finds themselves in awkward situations frequently, you are not alone. If you give yourself some time, however, you might be able to start seeing a gift or two come out of them. I’ve noticed several gifts from my experience. The gift of having more than enough reason to stay humble. The gift of laughter. The gift of a chance to not take myself too seriously. And the gift of a story for the blog. 😉

Bonus! A Handshake Tip:

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you meet someone as you are stuffing the last bite of a granola bar into your mouth and holding a piece of the granola bar wrapper in your right hand, contrary to what you might think, the person will probably keep their hand extended long enough for you to transfer the wrapper from your right hand to your left so that your right hand is uninhibited when performing the handshake.

If unsure, however, you could secure the wrapper with your pinky and fourth finger, extend the other three fingers, and hope the person doesn’t catch on that your hand is in the shape of a gun pointed at them.

Not that I would have any experience with such things…