November 03, 2009

I am a very important person.  Oh, I know this must sound awfully arrogant, but there is no brag here, just fact. This is a fairly recent development for me.  I wasn’t always a V.I.P.  In fact, there was a time I was simply just a “person” like, hmmmm, well, like you.  All that has changed since the United Way in Ottawa asked me to be a V.I.P at this year’s Schmoozefest. I now have official Very Important Person status. 

Like so many others in the capital I had bought a ticket to attend Schmoozefest, which is the ultimate networking event in Ottawa.  I was looking forward to rubbing elbows with some bigwigs, like Jim Orban, Publisher of the Ottawa Citizen and Lawrence Greenspon, Canada’s preeminent Human Rights Lawyer.  The list of “Schmoozees” was impressive and I was eager to get to know them and to find out what compels them to contribute in their community.  Philanthropy is a big part of Best Tools for Schools business plan and I love getting inspiration from people who really get things done. 

Imagine my reaction then, when a few weeks before the event I get a call asking if I’d like to be one of their V.I.P’s instead of a guest.  I’ll tell you what my reaction was.  What kind of Mickey Mouse event are they putting together here? I mean, I’m honoured, obviously, but a bigger part of me is thinking that clearly someone had a liquid lunch before they placed the call.  When they sober up in the morning we can both laugh it off and I can go back to obscurity. The call never comes. Instead, I am asked to send in a picture and a few words so that they can put my name up in lights with the other very important people. 

I must admit that right up until I walked through the doors that night I had a niggling little thought at the back of my head. Am I being punk’d? Upon my arrival I am led past the crowd into a private area where all the important people are hanging out. Do you know how long I wanted to be that person? You know, the one who breezes in and is ushered into the “cool” room.  I’ll tell you how long. Forty freakin’ years.  Then, in the evenings most surreal moment I am introduced to my connector.  Somebody pinch me! I have a person? I am now a V.I.P with a person.  It was only a few hours before that I was wearing track pants and struggling to get spaghetti sauce out of my daughter’s shirt. Hours before I was nothing, an unknown, a nobody and now I had a person*.  It was my connectors job to introduce me to people in the room and ensure that full mingling potential was met.  It was also this persons responsibility to get me wine. 

Let that sink in for a minute.  She. Got. Me. Wine.  Is there anything better on earth?

I was living the dream.  For one brief moment in time I didn’t have anyone screaming “Mommmmmmmy” across the room, I didn’t have to pick up after anybody, my hair and make-up stayed in place, I rubbed shoulders with the best and brightest Ottawa has to offer AND I had wine brought to me.

Reality has hit hard since that night. I wander aimlessly, asking strangers, “Have you seen my person”? I throw hissy fits in line-ups, “Do you know who I am”? The only private room in my future is at my soon to be 7 year olds theatre birthday.  Despite my proclamations that I really am a V.I.P, my family refuses to act accordingly. They still drop their socks on the floor and leave toothpaste crusted in the sink and nobody will bring me a damn class of wine. 

So, now I am left with this question. Is it better to have had a person and lose her than to never had a person at all? Hmmmm, I think I’ll have to do it again so I can offer an educated opinion**.


*My connector was one of the most beautiful, put together women I have ever met.  There were many times I felt I should have been getting her wine. 

**Ssshhhh. Don’t let the United Way in on their mistake. Michael Allen (President/CEO of United Way Ottawa) already has doubts.  He’s never quite sure if I’m really supposed to be at a United Way event or if he should have me arrested.

Labels/Tags: Candace Derickx, See Mummy Juggle, United Way Ottawa, Schmoozefest, V.I.P's

Posted by CandaceD at 15:56:44 View Comments | Click Here to Comment

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Oh lordy, am I going to have to roll out a red carpet when you come to town? Fine. I'll be your "person" for a night and bring you wine, but only if I can grab myself a glass too!
Lisa, Ontario, Canada