Robb & Marie asked me a couple of months ago to come out and help cover a show for them in Phoenix while they were away in Missouri at another show. I pretty much jump at every chance to help them do a show since I really do enjoy the work. It's hard physical work, but I love it. Anyway, the show was slated for Saturday...just a one day show. That gave me plenty of down time to work on their website and some of my pictures that I need to get ordered.
After I got settled in at Robb & Marie's house Friday afternoon, I tackled the website. I'd like to say that I got a lot done, but I didn't. This PHP language is not as straightforward as HTML. And I hate coming in and editing something that I didn't write myself. It's almost easier to just start from scratch, which is the idea that I'm toying with right now. Anyway, my intentions of knocking out a lot of work on the website didn't come to pass as I had hoped they would. I spent much of Friday afternoon and evening taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back. But hey, it was still productive considering the learning experience.
Saturday was the day of the show. Considering that I was in Phoenix, I was prepared for the heat. I knew it would be a scorcher. I had heard earlier that they were expecting triple digits. So I was very pleased to find that the pop up tents that we brought along provided much more shade than the flimsy tents that the show's promoter had offered. Score one for us....not only would we benefit personally by having extra shade, it would most likely bring in more customers as the heat drove them to find refuge.
After laboring for 3 short hours to get our store set up, DJ and I patted ourselves on the back for a job well done. It actually looked like we knew what we were doing. And so, right on time, the gates opened and the concert-goers began to populate the stadium. We were expecting about 3,500 people; a small show by some standards, but more than enough to hopefully clear out the inventory so as to make room for the new line.
Traffic into our booth seemed pretty steady. As DJ began airbrushing tatoos onto young kids, I manned the register and helped out on the floor. It appeared as though the day would be seamless...until.
One of our customers had mentioned that it looked like rain was heading our way. So, I poked my head out of the tent to take a look at what was behind us. I was not expecting what I saw.
It was almost as if there was a was a distinct line that seperated the blue sky from the black clouds that were heading our way. There was no transitional grey color....just blue sky and then black sky.
I pulled DJ out so that he could see what I was looking at and we both decided that the best thing to do would be to bring the outside gear inside the tents to protect them from the inevitable rain. Just as we got that completed, we glanced again at the sky only to find that the black color had turned to brown and we were in the direct path of a dust storm.
No sooner had that realization hit us when the actual dust storm did too.
Along with DJ and several customers, I grabbed a tent support pole hoping that the strength of the storm was not greater than ours. However, once the aluminum support poles on the roof began to twist and rip apart, I knew that we would lose the battle.
At one point, the torn aluminum poles came very close to impaling our customers. That was quickly followed by grid panel lined with clothes falling at the legs of another customer who was desperately trying to help us keep everything together. It was then that we told everyone to drop their poles and let the storm have its way. There was absolutely no sense in taking the risk of injury for articles of clothes.
Yet, those who helped us did not abandon us at all. Instead, everyone teamed up to pile the clothing in the center of what use to be our store while others broke down the remaining support poles and gathered the tent material. I was moved by the amount of help that we received. People were getting sand blasted by the 51 mph winds, yet still determined to not abandon us.
After the dust settled, no pun intended, I chuckled to myself at the thought of what it must have looked like from the outside. Here were several of us, basically holding onto a parachute hoping beyond hope that the wind would not move us or destroy anything. That obviously wasn't meant to be.
While other vendors packed up and went home, we decided to stick it out. We no longer had tents or anything that resembled a store front. But we made do with what we had.
I wish I could say that business wise, it was a good day....but I don't believe that to be true. Out of the 3,500 expected concert-goers, I'd be surprised if there were more than 500 total.
However, deep down I know that the gear that we sold is bound to speak volumes to people. And even if one person has their life altered even in the slightest after wearing or reading an article of clothing that we sold on Saturday, it will all have been worth it.
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