Little Shows: Big Impressions

People like to ask about gigs, especially ones with famous people or high-profile gigs.  “What was that like?” often gets asked of shows involving the President or television.  The answer is usually along the lines of how while that particular gig was a lot of fun and it was an honor to be a part of it, it was also very work intensive and usually in those types of situations one isn’t really afforded the opportunity to be “star-struck.”  You might have fifty songs to learn and you are very much focused on playing or singing your parts correctly and not so much on the fact that Stevie Wonder is standing in front you.  I mean, if Stevie Wonder is standing in front of you – you’d better be singing his song correctly right?  You might feel the same way if your boss’s boss’s boss, or the president of your company, was going to be evaluating you at work to see if you were working effectively, and your performance might mean a very big promotion for you.  It wouldn’t be anything at all like running into J-Lo or Prince at the supermarket.  (Did I just use J-Lo and Prince in the same sentence?)

That being said, there may be some moments when you can step back and appreciate the significance of the job at hand.  Maybe it’s a pause at rehearsal on stage underneath the Presidential emblem – or when you first set foot on the lighted American Idol set.  You may look around for a moment, taking it all in, and think “wow.”  Then it’s back to work, “pencils ready” or “eyes on your own paper” or something like that.

More often though, those special and most meaningful moments take place when people don’t often expect.  “Regular” or smaller shows could have just as much, if not more, of an impact.  Anything could happen at any point in time.  Suddenly, I am reminded of that song, “What If God Were One of Us.”  (Which Cheryl Pepsii Riley sings the CRAP out of BTW – but I digress.)  In it, the singer asks the question and probes the idea that God himself might be a stranger sitting next to us on the bus.  What if the single most significant thing we do in our whole life is to comfort a crying child who might be lost, or help an elderly woman across the street?  Or actually dial the number and become a sponsor when that “Feed the Children” infomercial comes on?

Last week, Russell and I played at a holiday party and I was blown away by a story I heard there.  It was for TSO (Transplant Support Organization) and it was just Russell and me with an amp and a keyboard (plus a guest guitarist and accordionist for a few songs).  The crowd consisted of about 90 people who had in some way been affected by organ donation.  Some were organ recipients and their family members.  Some were living donors.  Some were health care professionals and some had lost a loved one who had become an organ donor.  All were celebrating life and were joined by the common purpose of promoting donation awareness.  There were even a few politicians in attendance.  The organization’s president conveyed a story about one family’s experience.

In the story, two parents had been regularly bringing their daughter (we’ll call her Katie) to the hospital for kidney dialysis.  Often times, they would drop her off then go to the diner across the street for some lunch during their wait.  Eventually, they came to know the waitress and staff there at that little diner.  One day their waitress asked why it was that they came in so regularly.  After explaining that their daughter was at the hospital for dialysis and that only death or a kidney transplant would make her need for that treatment change – the waitress immediately said that she would be happy to give their daughter one of her kidneys!!!  After being tested and discovering that she was in fact a match, that is EXACTLY what she did!  Katie now sat at a table before us at the holiday party, nodding at the truth of how she received her new kidney.  It was unbelievable.  The speaker went on to say that the waitress had been here in the U.S. because her husband had to travel here for work.  She had never really wanted to leave her home in South America and had sometimes wondered what she was doing here at all.  After donating one of her kidneys to Katie, she felt her sense of purpose become clear.  She was here in the U.S. just so that she would meet them and help save Katie’s life.  She moved back to South America shortly thereafter, satisfied that she had accomplished her previously unknown task.

Take a deep breath in… exhale, OK.  HOW AMAZING IS THAT!?  Furthermore, if that waitress can donate one of her kidneys to a complete stranger without hesitation, why do we find it too much of a burden to donate our extra change to the guy ringing the bell outside the supermarket?  Why do we never seem to be able to find the time to spend a couple of hours volunteering for a cause that we think is important or spend quality time with a child we might know who could use some practice catching a baseball or some help with their homework?  Why do we hardly ever donate that dollar to the Make-a-Wish table at the mall or put that extra five bucks in with our heating bill to help someone cold?  Why do we just write a check for ten bucks two times a year when we attend church at Christmas and Easter?  (You know you do that…)

At the VERY least… why don’t we sign the back of our driver’s license and tell our family that in the event we or they (on our behalf) have the opportunity to save someone’s life through organ donation (after we are already gone), that we would like to do so???  Isn’t that the very LEAST we could do (I mean, we’re dead right?) and yet isn’t it also the very MOST we could do for someone else?

I have an idea… Let’s all find a New Year’s resolution this year that makes sense.  Maybe we can all try to be at least a little bit like our favorite South American waitress.  How about if we find SOMETHING to do for someone else – and actually DO IT, even if it’s as simple as signing our driver's license?

P.S.

That little show was a good one.  J

More info:

http://www.transplantsupport.org/faqs.html

cake photo by Danielle Graham

UPDATE 12-12-11:

I have just learned that signing the back of your driver's license is no longer the most up-to-date or efficient way to indicate your desire to be an organ donor.  The Transplant Support Organization is encouraging people to enroll in their state's "Donate Life Registry."  Click here: http://donatelife.net/ to find simple, easy ways to register in your state.