Her skills under pressure blew me away.
Last Thursday evening was a big night for the daughter of good friends. We’ll refer to her as Amy. That’s probably appropriate since Amy is her name.
In less than a half hour when you throw in breaks for commercials, she scored a close to $38,000 windfall on the national network show Wheel of Fortune. She will quickly find she has friends she never knew before as well-meaning volunteers step forward to tell Amy they would be glad to help her spend her windfall. I’m one of those well-meaning friends.
She competed against another woman, as well as a man – both good contestants, but no match for her on that night. Amy was smart, quick and gutsy as time-after-time she was the first one to solve the puzzle. To put it mildly, she was in control and spot-on with the right answers.
I confess I’m not a regular Wheel of Fortune viewer, but this was must-see TV for me if only for one night. Amy’s father, Steve, has been a best friend for 65+ years when we joined up in high school and roamed all over central Jersey. To this day, we think of ourselves as the original Jersey Boys. I was in Steve’s wedding party. Today, Steve and Gail live in Ohio near us and remain great friends.
Steve and I each graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Small world. Guess what? So did Amy. Trust me when I tell you that Amy’s big win this week proves once again that girls are smarter than boys, especially when boys major in beer drinking. Amy’s transcript would blow either of ours away. Her father and I are lucky we were not competing against her on Wheel of Fortune. It would not have been pretty.
Lots of people experience 15 minutes of fame. Amy, smart and nice girl that she is, got a well-deserved 30 minutes of fame. Good for you, Amy. I'm sure your family basks in your reflected glory today and every day.
Good for you, too, Gail and Steve. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
DY: In Just a Few Words is a blog that comes out when something needs to be said or every Tuesday - whichever comes first. Davis Young is a communications professional who adds 50+ years of experience and perspective to issues of the day. His emphasis in DY: In Just a Few Words will be humor (a touch of sarcasm here, a pinch of facetiousness there...). Once in a while, he will touch on something a bit more serious - but hopefully not too deep or depressing.
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