That Was Fun

On Thursday, the people I spend most of my day with and I spent most of the day sitting or standing around at the Winter Garden Theatre in downtown Toronto. This was the location for the Amethyst Awards, the Ontario Public Service's ceremony for recognizing outstanding service to the people of Ontario.

This is me, all dolled up for the Amethyst Awards, in front of the Winter Garden Theatre,
which was also all dolled up for the Amethyst Awards.

The day was everything: thrilling, boring, engaging, dull, entertaining, hot and rainy - it just depended on when you were looking. 

This is show biz, so they needed to herd us all in like cattle several hours before the show so we could sit around and worry about creasing our fancy clothes and the men could get uncomfortably hot in their suit jackets. They also made us wait until 2:00 before we could eat anything, so we were, circa 1:45 p.m. collectively hot, bored, hungry, crabby, dehydrated outstanding public servants.

All part of the magic.

As for me, my goal for the day was not to fall out of my shoes. And I'm proud to say I reached my goal.

Solid in my shoes.

In retrospect, the tedium of the dress rehearsal and the long wait served to make the event that much more spectacular. And it really was a spectacle. The Premier - Kathleen Wynne - arrived in person and spoke to the assembled crowd. She was warm, funny and appreciative of the public servants she was addressing. Were I not doing it already, after that speech, I'd have quit my job to go work for her. 

The entertainment for the day included two amazing performances of an Indian dance company, songs by a  beautiful young man billed as "the talented tenor" and three rock covers performed so fabulously by a band comprised entirely of public servants that we all wondered what the hell they were doing working for government. 

Another great thing about the day was how many people's families got into the act. Just about everybody had their mom, dad, partner, sister, kids, friend or somebody in the audience to cheer loudly when they came on stage. 

The truth for me was that I had both looked forward to and dreaded the day. I'm part of the 10% of the population that suffers genuine discomfort at the thought of that much attention. But, the time on stage was brief, as noted I managed to keep my shoes on my feet and, when a three-second clip of my red carpet interview played for the assembled crowd at the start of the ceremony, I was proud and grateful for the fact - because my face was eighteen feet high and filled the stage - that Jane Saracino had done my hair and make up.

Have a great week!

Karen