This was a quote by my daughter, Alyssia when we arrived at our second event, the Breast Cancer Awareness Ride at the Victory Biker Church in Lennon, MI. We pulled in the lot and there were a few biker types, guiding people where to park. We pulled up and spoke with one of the guys that was volunteering. I told him that I was a vendor and wanted to know where to park. He showed me where and we pulled in. For the briefest moment, I felt like we were “cupcakes”, but I forged ahead and walked right into the church and just acted as if I belong.
As I figured I caught the attention of a couple people. Why not? At the moment, I’m the only black fellow in the whole building and I don’t in any way look like a biker. That doesn’t really bother me. In my job as a police officer, I’m quite accustomed to going into places where I stand out and am stared at.
It doesn’t take long to be directed to the Pastor of the church, who we met at the Bikes on the Bricks event. I ask him about where we should setup. He directs me to a spot outside next to another vendor who is setting up as well.
We take our place and it’s freezing. Temperature in the low 50’s and a brisk 17-22 mph wind. What are you gonna do, right. Well we hunker down and make the best of it. While we were setting up; a guy comes up and asks if we made any bracelets in the orange and black Harley Davidson color motif. He must have been one of the people that suggested it to me while we were at the Bikes on the Bricks event. I told him that I did make a few of them and he promises to come back and purchase one. Before he left he helps us set up our canopy which I thought was incredibly generous.
When we pulled up we were parked directly next to a man and woman setting up their stand. They had a much bigger setup than we. They had 5 or 6 tables. Oooooh boy. I’m starting to feel that twinge of inadequate. I tell myself to ignore that and keep moving on with our plan.
Next time Constant Reader, find out just what happened with the neighbors.
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