He's So Decent

After the show, we waited around with another group of 20 or so people wanting to meet John and within 10 minutes or so, one of the usher ladies came over and said "C'mon folks, I don't know what you are waiting for, no one is going to come out" and she stood and looked at all of us like we were nuts. 

We wandered out, people were still hanging around debating if John would come out like Todd did during the break. Outside, they were hoping they would catch him leaving.

Meagan is a young, 20-something Chicago girl who remembers peeking over fences and climbing through gates to see John play back in the old neighborhood. Her mother had a birthday party or two for Steve Goodman in those days, too. I ask her if she had ever met him without diapers on - she said "no". I was crushed for her... I didn't think there was any magic I could pull out of my hat ... I was going to make some up real quick. I headed down the sidewalk to a familiar face, stuck my face in an open door crack and waited to use a line that John told had told me to use. I always laugh, because it really couldn't work, it's just too corny... 

But it did.

Meagan, I, her husband Eric and Crusher were led into a room and told to wait there, we eyed the chocolate cake, I gave her a "Red Stripe" lid that we suspected came from Todd's beer and John joined us in just a few moments. Meagan and Eric are pretty cool young people... they seem like they have it all together, but the moment that John came in, she looked kind of white and flushed... all aflutter. I introduced her the best I could and she took it from there. They talked of stuff from the old days in Chicago... he corrected her memory - which totally floored her. I was so excited for her... it felt good to have something good happen at a concert that didn't involve stupid human tricks or reciting the alphabet backwards. 

I thanked John for the song, shoot, in my excitement at witnessing Meagan's excitement, I almost forgot about the very cool thing that had happened earlier. He just grinned and before I got out the "and you told the story, sang the extra verse" he said, "I told the whole story and sang the extra verse too"! I just love that guy - he's so decent, it's just not normal anymore.

I bugged him some more, and as usual, he was being warned that it was time to go. I had to kicked it into higher gear - talking fast, asking faster and he was answering, writing and looking in the air  "John, can you write and listen and talk to me at the same time?" - he was writing, listening, and  looking at me with that "shut up so I can think" look. Deep breath.... sigh.... and I continued to rattle on. 

We took a few photos and hugs, and left... of course I couldn't shut up as the subject turned to Davenport and the river boats and my husband who was waiting all this time had watched Meagan, Eric, and Crusher all come out... and he was wondering if I had finally done it - turned into that fly on the wall... 

All in all in all in all it was a wonderfully crooked piece of time.

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