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EdAgain3
The continuing saga of a madman..... well, at least he's K-nuts!
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An experience that Ed will never forget happened while he was working part-time for the trucking company. The owners knew that Ed's family had left him, so they asked him to play Santa Claus at the company party. Ed was given a very fine Santa suit with big black boots and was he looking so much like Santa! The party was a family affair at large pizza parlor in east Portland. There was a special area for the company party, and there were glass wall-windows so that the kids play area was in view of Santa at the company party. The company president was told that all of the regular customers kids saw Santa over in our area, and they wanted at him! So when EdSanta was done giving gifts etcetera to all of the kids in the company party, they allowed all of the children from the regular customer area in to visit Santa. EdSanta was thrilled! This went on for several minutes when EdSanta noticed that the children were shunning one of the kids who kind of stayed off to himself. As soon as EdSanta spotted him, a lump rose in his throat and his heart went out to him. You see Ed was born with a hair-lip (cleft-lip) and had a very good repair operation done to fix it. However this little boy was not so fortunate as to have had his hair-lip (cleft-lip) repaired. The other children would not even go near him, some even pointing at him laughing, antagonizing, and being cruel. Ed was not far from tears as he called the lad over and spent some time with him alone, finding out what he wanted for Christmas. As soon as Ed set the boy off his lap, EdSanta had to rush off to the rest room in a surprising hurry. The company president came rushing in to see if Ed was alright, because he thought Ed was getting sick or something. That's when he saw EdSanta wiping tears from his eyes, trying to regain his composure. EdSanta became Ed again, removing the Santa suit and related the story to the company president. The man never really looked at Ed again the same.
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Ed found a job in the newspaper that he thought he would apply for. Even though he was now forty years old, maybe he could do this. DJing parties for a local franchise of a nationwide DJ company, Complete Music Disc Jockey Service. The interview went well with David Gard, the owner of the franchise. Ed started training and was off doing his own shows in no time! The owner happened to be in need of an office manager, so Ed got that job, plus DJing events too! Ed was quick to become the most requested DJ of the company, and was awarded the coveted "Golden Mic" award after his first quarter there!
Sharon Stravens, the young lady that Ed "stole" the "Golden Mic" award from became good friends with him however, and they were goof-off buddies after their respective events. On paydays they would go to lunch at the Mongolian Grill down the street and treat the place to their own style of buffonery. Blow-darting chopsticks and such, you know, just kicking up their heels. Because of the large amount of requests for Ed, he performed about 112 events in the thirteen months he worked for Complete Music. One time Ed did an all night event for a graduating high school in the mountains at Hood River, Oregon, then at 7am drove to Tillamook, Oregon on the coast for an afternoon wedding. A 2 3/4 hour drive of 140miles. Both were special requests for him to be the DJ. Ed's favorite event is when he was requested to DJ the new year's eve party for the Oregon Special Olympics (kids and adult special ones) in the Capitol City of Salem. Edward has a special place in his heart for those folks, because his one-time little brother was a special one!
This time drew to a close when an assistant pastor at the church where he was going asked Ed to come and be his Marketing Manager for the same wages, and 1/20th of the commute daily. Besides Ed was getting burnt out on hauling the hundred of pounds of DJ gear around the state of Oregon. The new Marketing Manager job consisted of knocking on doors, telephone calling, helping set up appointments, and follow-ups for the sale of Rainbow Cleaning Sytems. Vacuum cleaner sales. After three months at this, Ed was offered a job back at the Christian radio station he had worked for previously for better wages, and to be the morning host! You bet he took the job!
Ed was now back working in radio again, and meanwhile he decided to get together for dinner with his friend Sharon who had also quit DJing and was off doing her own thing. A good time to catch up on the friendship. Sharon was telling Ed about her new adventure in acting. Something that she had wanted to do for years. Sharon was going to be in a Western style play that was coming up in the summer. She told Ed that they still needed a blacksmith, and Ed said "okay" and that he would keep an eye out for someone to fill the need. Sharon then said again "Ed we need a blacksmith." Ed gave the same reply about keeping an eye out, when Sharon tapped him on the chest and said, "Ed we still need a blacksmith". Ed got the hint. "Me"? "Yes, Ed, you". Sharon managed to talk Ed in to heading out to auditions the following Wednesday afternoon. They arrived at a little mini-ranch outside of Hillsboro, Oregon and visited with some folks, then Sharon introduced one of them as Nigel Sanders, the producer of the play. Ed had already displayed his strange humor, and the producer gave him the part of "Shifty the snakeoil salesman" and slapped the script into his hand. On the way back to Portland, Sharon slugged Ed in the arm and said "Ed, you got the part of Shifty"! Ed says "yeah,... so"? "Well Ed" Sharon related "it just so happens that my part in the play is Shifty's assistant, and you have the longest monologue of the whole play!" That was one fun summer for Ed. Although there was no pay involved, he had fun. Three months of playing Shifty, getting outdoors, and working with his friend Sharon again!
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