(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 18 - March 4)
It was a
nice fall afternoon when the four of us made our videos. First would be Diann
and the kids and then another of just me. Each recording would be around two or
three minutes. Our daughter was five, in the first grade, and my stepson was
thirteen and in middle school. The three were on a swing in the back yard and I
was operating the camcorder originally purchased to document the renovating of
my “Hurricane House.”
Unexpected
was how me pressing the red button would flip a switch with the siblings. They
went wild, were far from shy as they talked over one another, getting up to be
the one in front of the camera, and wrestling out of their mom’s grasp. Diann
and I were also an issue, we were laughing too much and had to start from the
top.
We
explained to the kids how they needed to sit and take turns speaking before we
tried it again. They did better but were still rowdy. Next, during my turn, the
pair began playing in the background, throwing stuff out of the tree house. But
I powered through, answered questions from the programming director’s email,
and felt as if I’d covered bases as planned.
I watched the
recordings a few times. I had done okay and answered questions while including my
main points. However, the three of them did much better. My stepson has his
own form of communicating and I found how Diann and our daughter translated for
him endearing. I was used to seeing this in person, but on camera provided a different
level of appreciation. It was a sweet, proud moment for me.
However, the
recordings didn’t make the same impression for Diann and after dinner, baths,
and putting kids into their beds, she said something like, “I’m sorry that didn’t
go better. We can try again tomorrow.”
“That’s
alright.” Then I added, “I’m gonna send them in.”
She asked,
“Are you sure? We can redo ours.”
“No. It’s
fine,” I said. “They were funny. We don’t need to do it again.”
Neither
Diann nor I owned smartphones yet, and I had to figure out how to get the
videos into some sort of sharable format. But I managed it and watched the
videos once more before I attached them to the email going back to the
producer. Diann looked pretty. The kiddos were cute and comical. And in the
back of my mind, I had this thought that we had a real solid chance of getting
a little further down whatever road was unfolding.
But then I
wondered if the person on the other end would even be able to open what I’d
sent.
(Response to TV Show Viewers: Post 20 - Coming Soon)
