Unplanned speech events

Friday morning we headed over to the Purdue box office to buy tickets to see His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet when he visits to Purdue in October. After we bought our tickets a friendly WLFI (channel 18) cameraman stopped us and asked if we cared to talk to him. I suggested that Buffy would be the best on camera.

This is what you'd want to see on camera.









Not this. Am I right?



But Buffy can be timid and I'm always a fool so I agreed to speak to the camera to prove it.

If I would have made sure to relax before answering the questions I could have come up with something better than How often do you get a chance to hear something different? or why not take any opportunity to hear his message and learn from his wisdom?

What do I think he's going to tutor me? Sheesh.

I remember two of the questions I was asked.

1. Why do you want to see the Dalai Lama?
2. What is the cultural significance of this type of event?

In normal comfortable conversation this is how I would have answered those questions.

1. Jim Gaffigan was sold out so I thought I might as well.---Then I would crack up laughing and I would say---What do you think? He's the Dalai Lama. He's put more time into understanding and sharing a philosophy of charity and peace than I've been alive. It'd be arrogant of me not to try to go.

2. Cultural significance? I don't care if this is going to be a Big Event. Let's not try to predict the effect of his visit on anything but the individual. OK?

But instead I'm sure I came across like Beavis.