How To Interview A Mime

This is my first blog here at Active Rain and I have to thank (or blame) Linda Davis from RE/MAX Realty Group in Gales Ferry, CT.  I first began hearing about Active Rain a couple of months ago from fellow members of CyberProfessionals, an International networking group of REALTORS.  Other Active Rain bloggers in my sphere of tech friendship include Active Rain Point Queen Teri Isner from Orlando, Florida, Sharon Simms from Tampa/St. Pete Florida, Angus "Mooo" Woodbury from Naperville, Illinois just to name drop a few.

While attending the NAR Convention in New Orleans this past week, it became clear that if I was not blogging, I was not doing my duty to help push forward this bit of new technology.  Never mind the fact that I could ultimately become famous in my area for being a "blogging" expert. 

So I tagged along Saturday morning to an impromptu gathering of Active Rain bloggers.  Besides the AR's I mentioned earlier, I got to meet Bill French.  (Actually I met Bill on Friday when he spoke to my CyberProfessionals group meeting)  Bill is a fun guy.. a little preoccupied with delicious liquid refreshments <g> but as I discovered when I stopped by his booth at the NAR Exhibition Hall, Bill is a man of his word.  He challenged me to walk across from his booth and pick up this very nice fruit basket that was on display and bring it back to him and he'd pay me $25.00.  Not being one to miss an opportunity to take someone up on a street bet, I walked over to the neighboring booth, looked the people straight in the eye and said... "excuse me, I'm going to take this basket from your booth and sell it for $25.00".  I proceeded to take it directly over to Bill who has witnessed the whole event and was digging into his wallet for cash.  I did the right thing and returned the basket to the vendor and let Bill off the hook for the bet, but now I am one up on him for the next time we meet.  I think I'll be ordering an expensive drink ($25.00 to be exact) in Las Vegas next year at NAR.

Now, back to the title of my Blog... How To Interview A Mime.  One of the very neatest people I have had the pleasure of knowing during the last few years is Jerry Fowler from Columbia, South Carolina.  Jerry is a member of the CyberProfessionals and is the creator and host of South Carolina's most listened to radio real estate talk show in Columbia.  He is a natural interviewer.  This I found out first hand on Saturday evening on Bourbon Street.  As he and I walked the street (not in the sense that Bourbon Street is typically walked), we saw a man standing in the middle of the street in Mime face and costume.  There was a bucket at his feet with a couple of dollars inside.  It was a cold night on Bourbon Street and as he stood still in statuesque pose with his eyes directed straight ahead, I could see a tear coming from one of his eyes.  Even though I knew he wasn't crying, (the cold breeze was causing his eye to tear as he stared into the distance), it gave me a feeling of sadness for what he and his fellow Katrina survivors have endured.  His name was Harold Short according to a tattered business card he later gave me.  He is a street performer and AIDS advocate.  To look closely you would think that this man was in his 50's perhaps even 60's.  The white face paint accentuated every crease in his forehead, cheeks & neck.  His facial expression was stone sober, unlike any mime I've ever seen at least. 

Jerry walked up to the man and began a 20 minute conversation that I don't think I'll ever forget.  With the drive of a veteran interviewer he started a conversation with Harold Short.  Harold's voice made him seem even older than he looked.  His slow Louisiana drawl was that of someone that had been to hell and hadn't found his way completely back yet.  As Jerry asked how he survived Katrina, how he was affected, what his experience was getting out of New Orleans... my thoughts went to the video images I remember seeing on TV right after Katrina hit.  New Orleans was not a financially rich place before Katrina.  But richness runs deep within the people of the city.  They have been beaten down, literally run out of the city to survive and many have made their way back.  Some say that they don't know if New Orleans will ever fully return but Harold Short is back.  When asked why he returned his response was "Where else would I go... where would I go to do mime?  This is my home."  Harold Short a man of many years by looks is 34 years old.

NAR, thank you for keeping your commitment to the city and people of New Orleans.  It wasn't the cleanest and prettiest place that we could hold the convention, but it was the right place. 

Les Sulgrove

RE/MAX Real Estate Group
Des Moines, IA