Lights Camera, Action

I was contacted last Thursday by a Communications student from the local university. The student needed to get some information regarding accessibility (disabled) in the 1940’s here in Salt Lake City. I am the main guy for accessibility questions in this town. I don’t know if this is good or bad because I am sure others in this area know more then I on general access but I can sure tell folks where to go to find this information if not be able to answer it myself.

During this phone interview I must have said a number of things which impressed this student because the next thing she indicated was that she would like to interview me for a documentary she Is doing for her class. I have to admit I was a bit flattered, as old guys like myself tend to be after such requests, and thought listening to myself talk for a bit might be fun. I envisioned a four eyed academic with a reporter’s notebook, a cassette recorder and possibly a digital camera. Imagine my surprise when the 20 something student showed up this morning with two bags of equipment containing sound equipment, four high-intensity lamps and a professional digital cam corder I would almost die for. It took her twenty minutes just to set up the lights and then she actually “microphoned” me with the lapel microphone I ran under my sweater. And then we interviewed for 90 minutes. I am sometimes shocked at what comes out of my mouth at times like these.. I am shocked that people tend to believe me when I am yammering on. The wheelchair gives me all kinds of validity. I try to cover myself by constantly justifying my comments as “this is me talking here” “that was how I saw what was happening when I was experiencing this or that event”. And as fair and impartial as I strived to be I know I slipped a couple of zingers here and there to the local establishment, bus company or housing authority. I don’t know what kind of distribution this documentary will have or how this student will use the interview and you know what: I do not care the event was fun and broke up the care some times that is as good as it gets for a Monday