By
Daris Howard
I had recently arrived in New York and met the group of young men I was going to be working with. I had heard that they often played tricks on the new arrivals, so I was wary.
We had a regional meeting coming up, and the more experienced young men gathered around to give me some advice.
John, the one that I would be working most closely with, started off. “When we go to the conference, there is a young lady that will be there that you definitely must meet. Look at the girls’ name tags, and if the last name is ‘Brown’, you will know she is the one. ” “And why do I need to meet her? ” I asked.
“Oh, it’s just that every young man that comes out here needs to meet her, ” he replied innocently.
I could tell by his smug demeanor, and the grins on the faces of the other young men, that they were up to something.
Fred slapped me on the back as he chimed in. “And you don’t want to just meet her. Make sure you give her a business card. ”
“Oh, absolutely, ” Steve added. “She will definitely need that. ”
John jumped back into the conversation. “Not only that, but you will want to take plenty of time to visit with her and get to know her. ”
Again I asked why, but they brushed off my question. They wanted me to promise that I would do as they told me, and persisted until I did.
The day of the regional conference arrived, and there were lots of new people to meet. All of the young men were milling around in the foyer, visiting before the main meeting was to start, when they almost instantly disappeared. I turned to follow them, and saw a girl approaching me.
Realizing this must be the young lady they were talking about, I prepared myself. She stopped in front of me, smiling pleasantly, and I immediately noticed that the last name on her name tag was Brown. I watched as she glanced at the one I was wearing.
I kept my promise and visited with her for some time, talking about the work John and I were doing. I asked her about herself and learned where she was from, how long she had been in New York, and many other things. By the time the main meeting had started, I knew quite a bit about her.
As I slid into my seat by John, all of the young men in our group were grinning. “Did you have a nice visit? ” John asked with a smirk.
I answered in the affirmative, and the group all laughed. We couldn’t talk about anything more, for the meeting was starting.
When the conference was over, we crammed into our little car for the trip back to Buffalo. The other young men couldn’t contain their glee. They told me that Miss Brown had declared it to be her main goal to find a husband while she was in New York, and by talking to her, I had surely put myself at the top of her prospective list.
John asked if I had given her a business card like I had promised, and I assured him that I had.
He laughed. “She will surely be in contact with you again. ”
“I’m not worried about it, ” I replied.
Suddenly the laughter stopped. “Why not? ” John asked.
Reaching in my pocket, I pulled out his extra name tag and handed it to him.
“Because I was wearing this when I gave her your business card, and during the whole time I visited with her. ”
The shocked look on John’s face was priceless. When he finally recovered, he only spoke four words. “You are so dead! ”
“Why? ” I asked innocently. “I kept my promise and gave her a business card. ”