“Sunday Morning IHOP.”
I extended my Sunday check out time from the A-Loft hotel in Winchester VA till Two in the afternoon. My flight out of Dulles Airport wasn’t till early evening, plenty of time to find somewhere to exchange some twenty dollar bills for larger ones. I had just done my first Horror Con, The Four State Slasher Con, and I had a bunch of twenties. I ended up at a nearby IHOP. As I stood in front of the cashier at the hostess stand I was struck by how culturally diverse the clientele was, Latin families, white families, black families, it was a melting pot in the IHOP. Everyone was nice to each other, small talk and pleasantries exchanged. There was no food fight going on, no bigotry, ignorance, racism or intolerance being served with pancakes and scrabbled eggs. The alarmist media would have you believe other wise, that were all at each others throats. Anarchy in America. I have a hunch Winchester VA is like all small towns, and city neighborhoods, where the majority are decent hard working folks, who actually have to tolerate the fringe in their communities. Now I don’t know what people say in private. I do know the IHOP that Sunday Morning was packed. They had some fifties for my twenties. Why wouldn’t they, business was great.
“A Man Called Hoss Is Smarter Than The Studios Think”
Hoss told me he saw my movie, Creepshow 2 Sixty times. I was dumbfounded, and flattered beyond words. He quoted some lines. Hoss had a medical cane, stood around 6 feet, and had the build of a high school football linemen. He was missing a couple front teeth, and his eyes didn’t really make contact with you. He had on Cincinnati Bengals gear. “You a fan?” I pointed to his baseball cap.
“Nah, my wife is.”
He was so excited to meet me. I think I was just as excited to meet someone who saw my movie sixty times.
Later I did my first panel discussion. Hoss was really looking forward to being a part of it. The moderator skipped past him with his hand up for a question.
“Hold on a sec,” I pointed to Hoss. “Hoss, you have a question.”
He asked me one of those “How,” questions, “How did they, How did you do?” then he asked, why don’t they make movies with stories, and better characters? That was a question that was repeated through out the panel. I kept thinking that if a studio executive or an editor at a publishing house were sitting here they would judge Hoss and others by how they looked and talked. They would underestimate their intelligence. They pretty much underestimate everyone’s intelligence.
“They underestimate you Hoss,” I said. “And it takes more work to come up with great characters and stories.”
“I like the Walking Dead,” He said. Everyone’s head nodded, and here and there I heard an affirmative “yeah.”
“TV has become better than films,” I said.
Again I saw heads nod.
“The Panel Discussion Was More Than That. It Was Overcoming A Personal Obstacle.”
Early in my career I never wanted to do an interview, media or any of it. I made some excuses that sounded cool, and above it all. I was negative towards it, putting it all down. Really, I was terrified of the endeavor. Because when ever you are negative and put something down it is to overcompensate for your own insecurities, inadequacies, and fear. I’m not a good public speaker. For some reason I get emotional. I think that people can see through me right to my insecurities and etc….. After I began to speak into the microphone at the panel discussion, I felt that same old emotion. About a minute into it it all went away. I felt it drain from my head down through my shoes, through the floor. I waited for it to resurface. Nothing. It vanished. This is fun, I thought, I’m good at this. I prepared what I wanted to talk about. You got this, Daniel, you got this.
After the panel discussion people kept coming up to us, saying how much fun it was. It was more than that.
“Tail Gate Party AT Thirty Five Thousand Feet.”
On my flight home the woman sitting next to me switched seats with this other woman who had to take care of her ailing husband. When the woman sat between me and this other guy, she says let me buy you guys a round of drinks. Sure. Well row 12A turned into a tail gate party because of her. She was great. About an hour into the flight and a vodka tonic later-she was drinking me under the tray tables, I’m a light weight-she asked me,”are you single?”
She had told me she had a boyfriend.
“Yes, I am,” I answered.
“Are you dating now, I mean do you want to date?”
“No, not really.”
I knew where she was going with this.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” she said. ” I have a friend who’s super successful, and owns a couple of boutique clothing stores.”
She told me the name, and I’d heard of it. A really high end, hip store, the kind you’d find next door to The Ivy.
At that moment I realized I should have said, I don’t do blind dates, because I really don’t. Instead I said, “Well, I’m sure the women I work with would want me to go out with your friend so they could get discounts.”
By her response it was the better thing to say.
P.S. A big thank you to everyone who worked on The Four State Slasher Convention. You can find them on Facebook. It was their first Horror Con. They did a great job. And they are incredibly decent people, always doing the right thing. And thank you to the town of Winchester VA. I wrote a post on my fan page about the folks there. The post has gone viral in that region. I was so impressed with the hospitality. The whole experience was humbling.
Daniel Beer 