The Tiki Barber Chicken Story
by Rubber Chicken Recruiter Eric Bernhardt.
So, there I was at the 2008 National Book Festival in Washington, DC -
mostly because my girlfriend was volunteering there. Scads of famous
authors, and in some cases infamous authors (ex: Salman Rushdie), were
there speaking and signing books. My 90 pound girlfriend worked as a
bouncer for the three mile long Sandra Brown line, not an easy task
because authors could only stay at a signing booth for so long before
another author was scheduled to take over - and if you stood too far
back in the line, you might just miss your chance. Me, I was just
along for the ride, content to just mill around in shorter lines for
authors I like, but who aren't as well read (like my journalistic
hero, 92 year old Daniel Schorr). Or at least I would have been. But
the day before, when I sent Hans a list of the authors to see if he
wanted me to have any books signed for him, Hans said - "Hey, get Tiki
Barber to sign a rubber chicken for Justin."
DUH! I hadn't even noticed Tiki Barber on the list! And thus I showed
up at the National Book Festival with rubber chicken and Sharpie in
hand. There was only one problem - well, two problems really. First
was that we were all specifically told that Tiki would ONLY sign
books, NOT personal items. This was because of the second problem: WAY
more people were gonna pile into Tiki's line than he would be able to
get to, so they had to keep the line moving. Thus, with only a glimmer
of hope, I arrived for the Tiki Barber line 1 1/2 hours early. Good
idea too, because there were already about 80 people ahead of me. When
the line finally moved, new people were still arriving. Ooooh, I
thought, they're never gonna make it to see Tiki...
But I did! Maybe 30-40 minutes after Tiki started signing I found
myself standing before him with book in hand and rubber chicken in
pocket. I crossed my fingers, handed him the book and said, "Tikki, I
have this really amazing friend... " Within 15 seconds I told Justin's
story, in the most abbreviated fashion I could muster, then blurted
out, "Would you sign this rubber chicken?" I produced the rubber
chicken from my pocket. With no hesitation Tiki reached for the
chicken. "Certainly," he said, obviously pleased, "and God bless."
"Thank you, thank you!" I replied. And from there I ran off to find my
bouncer girlfriend to tell her the news. September 26th, 2008 was a
good day in Washington, DC on the National Mall, in front of the
nations Capitol. Even during the contentious Presidential election
season, people smiled and got along. How often does that happen in
Washington, DC?!
Thanks Tiki!