Scotts

Some people like to find the positive in any situation.  No matter how bad things might be they would be able to spin it and make those around them feel inspired.  If they were trapped in an elevator with 20 others that person is able to overcome it by keeping their chin up, smiling, having a good attitude, not complaining.  That person would probably start singing and leading others to sing too.  Before they knew it, the elevator would be moving again and the other passengers might even be sad that the ordeal was over, because that person would no longer be part of their lives in such an intimate setting.

While I certainly admire that person for their courage in insurmountable situations such as this, I do not think I am typically that guy.  It is not that I do not want to be that guy.  Being a hero is fundamentally our greatest goal.  

I think my role is typically to find the humour in situations such as this and sort of snicker to myself about it.  If my buddies from high school were there, we could make snide and sarcastic remarks to each other about the elevator, those in the elevator and anything else we could think of.  But since they are now very far away, I would not be able to count on that ever really occurring.   Perhaps my buddies do not enjoy the same level of wit and immaturity we once did as we poked fun at everything we possibly could.

And I suppose I always have that as a memory to fall back on.  No matter what situation, I am in, it can be funny thinking about myself and my high school buddies being at that age where we think we are so dang funny that nothing escapes us.  Everything gets a comment.

I am sure those guys have all moved on.  They are still funny, but they do not have the same goal to try to outdo others in being the funniest guy in the room.  We did have a sort of competition at the time.  Scott 1 had the most pure humour.  He operated from a real great observation point.  We all looked up to Scott 1 as the leader of the group.  He had the most genuine approach to funny situations.  He rarely offended people and was just really cool.

Scott 2 was really funny also, but he had a much more negative approach.  Sometimes, it would get a little daunting.  His humour was so spot-on though that as long as one didn't take oneself too seriously, one would be okay.

Scott 3a was not funny per se, but every once in awhile he would get there.  Kind of a normal friend.  

Scott 3b on the other hand brought a very intellectual humour to the group.  I think that sort of evolution helped us to keep things rolling, so it was not just about tearing people down anymore.  Or if we were, the subtlety of doing it could be communicated through lifted eyebrows or other gestures which may not have been noticed.

These guys had great delivery, but they would write humour really well too.  Being able to express themselves really well was easy for them.

People talk about being in the presence of greatness when they speak of past presidents or celebrities or business people.  But I have to say that I got really lucky in being in the midst of such clever, witty, and funny guys.  It really set the bar high and I am still trying to get there.

But back to the elevator.  Probably the funniest part would be that everyone would all still be stuck looking in the same direction not speaking to each other.  Maybe it would be best to start singing something.  Humming the tune to Elevator Man by Oingo Boingo.  I doubt anyone else would know it though...  Who's going down?