At the Screening Room, first thing I do when I open up is take care of the mail and any flyers from community groups put through the transit for us to post in our window for public display.
Today I picked up one that began, “On Christmas Night,” by far the largest line on the 8.5 x 11 sheet. Next line, half that size, says, “Immerse yourself in seasonal favorites.” Wonderful! We can tell that it’s a concert. So far, so good.
Next line begins, “Friday, December 8…”
Cut! I read these three lines more times than I care to admit, wiping my glasses once and wiping my eyes twice or thrice. I even turned it over and looked closely at the back side. The rest of the flyer was clear enough. It was also inviting enough to make me consider buying a ticket—for what, I will not say because I do not want to embarrass these good people.
Nothing like this has ever happened before. Only two items that come to mind are barely related:
Years ago, one local arts organization prepared an elegant flyer, luscious in color, dynamic in design. The dark blue print was gorgeous against the coffee-colored background, and delightful to read when I put it on the counter. In the window, it might as well have been a wet brown paper bag.
Then there was the woman who showed up an hour late because she forgot to set her clock forward for Daylight Saving. Sounds like a minor oversight, but the fact that it happened on a Wednesday made her the woman of my dreams. Unfortunately, that didn’t occur to me until I had laughed long enough for her to turn around, walk down the street, and disappear around the corner.
Today, while making popcorn and getting the projector ready, I spent the next 15 minutes wracking the muscle-memory of my Yankee ingenuity for a way to alter the Christmas Day, Dec. 8 flyer with a sharpie and/or a pair of scissors without making a mess, but thought better to just let pedestrians on State Street figure it out as they walk by.
I suppose that changing “On” to “Before” would not have been too ugly, but I was reluctant to mess with anyone’s preferred prepositions. Then it occurred to me to write a little ditty I could post on social media and that would eventually gain their attention–as well as the attention of anyone who looks at posts on walls of numerous Newburyport businesses.
Of course, on November 29 as I write, it’s too late for them to change the present poster, but in the future, they might make the conversion from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. As we often hear:
Better 441 years late than never!
-30-
Mouth of the River 