Dragon Con 2016: Cool Guys Don't Look At Explosions

Every Dragon Con something awesome happens. One year Leta and I met a 60 year old fan-boy priest waiting in line for a Firefly panel. (For the uninitiated, Firefly is a show that while little known outside the geek world, is huge within it.) The line was long and we got to chat with him for a long while waiting. No surprise, the line cut-off immediately after the priest got into the panel. Leta and I did not. Coincidence or divine favor? Think what you will, I figure God takes care of those who dedicate the main part of their lives to Him.

Believe it or not, that was not the only time we met a priest at Dragon Con. I have a picture of Leta with another young clergyman a couple of years later. It is so cool to me that these men of the cloth have a heart for fantasy or science fiction. God loves the Geeks!

This year I got to experience something else awesome. It happened while I was in line to have Jim Butcher sign a book. I’m not really much on celebrity signatures, but Jim is a NYT bestselling author many times over and he’s a really nice, funny guy. I decided to get one of the hard cover copies I had signed. I left the dust cover in the car and stuck the book in my backpack.

The line was long and conversations started. I am not chatty, but I struck up a conversation with the guy behind me. This fellow was curious about some of the lesser known books Butcher had written. As always, I can’t really shut up about the things I know about. I told the guy about how cool Jim’s other books were. The guy let me know that he was really glad to be here and that he was going to have Jim sign a program because he had no book for Jim to sign. All of the guy’s books had been burned up in a house fire 2 weeks before. I was thunderstruck. We chatted more and he let me know that his wife had encouraged him to come despite the recent disaster. She said that he deserved a chance to get away. There was a break in conversation and the guy started to chat with a lady nearby.

As I waited, I was intrigued. My mind kept going back to the poor fellow behind me and a plan developed.

I got to Jim and thanked him for his wonderful writing. He took my book and looked at me expectantly. I leaned forward and said, “Hey Jim, this guy behind just lost all of his books in a house fire. Could you sign mine and give it to him.”

“Sure,” He said. “What’s his name?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “You’ll have to ask him.”

Jim nodded. I thanked him again and turned and walked quickly away, not looking back.

Now, I hope you aren’t thinking that I’m sharing this with you because I want accolades from you. I am sharing this with you because, WOW! That was awesomely cool! I mean I don’t really know what happened. I wasn’t there. Maybe the guy and Jim just exchanged items and nothing significant happened. But in my head, the guy tears up and Jim smiles. The exchange makes the guy’s con. It’s memorable. A story he will tell forever. And maybe it affected Jim too. Gave him a joyful lift in the middle of a busy con. And neither of them knew or know who I am. From their perspective I’m just an angel who showed up and vanished away after creating an explosion of joy. It’s like the whole pay for the guy behind you at a fast food drive-through gig, on steroids!

Why did I do it? I can think of a few reasons.

First, I thrive on impact. Impacting people’s lives is what does it for me. More than success, or money, or fame, I like to think that I move people’s lives in a positive way.
Second, it was cool. I mean it was like the cool guys in movies who walk away from the explosion they just set off and don’t look back. Like the song Cool Guys Don’t Look At Explosions. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqz5dbs5zmo). It’s a trope and it’s funny. The awesome superheroes in movies light the fuse and walk away, not looking back. I suppose it’s because they know what to expect. They’ve seen explosions before and it’s no big deal.

I could have offered the guy the book. Told him who I was and he would have either rejected the charity or thanked me. But the meaning would have been less. The surprise is what creates the explosion. I got to light that fuse and walk away like I knew what I just set off. I don’t, not really. But because I didn’t look, I get to imagine what it was. And hope that it went as well as I thought. That the explosion lit up the room and the con for those two men.

Opportunities like that don’t come every day. But when the spirit prompts you, light the fuse and walk away. It’s God’s secret way of lighting up people’s lives. And in His eyes, you look cool as you don’t look back. In the end, that’s all that matters.