Thursday, March 28, 2019
There are no photos for today’s post, so it is likely to be more for capturing my personal memory rather than entertaining you. Sorry if that’s the way it comes off.
Where am I?
SO, WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING
There is an Assistant Cruise Director aboard, and her name is Amanda. Amanda has taken on the lead role to raise money for a charity in Mumbai that she (and the senior officers) support. The name of the charity is Vision Rescue.
There are/were two fundraising events planned with a goal to raise $10,000, all coming from the passengers of this ship. The first fundraising event was today. It involved a makeshift dunk tank set up at the Lido pool, midship. This was the same pool used for the Neptune Ceremony. Selected members of the crew were placed on a chair beneath a contraption that held a large water balloon. The contraption had a target extended to the side that locked an arm in place. When the target was hit, that arm swung down and a nail attached to the end of the arm would break the water balloon, immersing the crew member below in cold water.
Each participating crew member took their turn to sit in the hot seat and then a bidding process began. Starting at $5, passengers had a chance to soak the crew member in the chair but only if they were the highest bidder.
The first few crew members were not people with which we, the passengers, had had much contact. As a result, they didn’t garner very high bids from the crowd. The first guy, an officer cadet, brought in $30.
As we worked our way through the line of crew volunteers dunking them one at a time, we began to see faces that were more familiar. Amanda, the organizer of this event is a very visible member of the crew, and she drew $100, which was the highest bid so far
The fifth crew member to step up was our America’s Test Kitchen hostess, Abby. Do you remember abby?
At this point, I got involved in the auction. Because I want to see Amanda’s project exceed its financial goal, and because I have so much respect for Abby, her cooking skills, and her charming personality, I sincerely wanted to be the one to dunk her. Bidding opened at $20 and my had was in the air.
Several people were involved in the bidding at the beginning as the price to dunk Abby rose $5 at a time. At about $60, there was just me and one other person in the bidding, and a bidding war broke out.
Of course, I was not to be outbid for this most excellent opportunity and I also wanted the winning bid to dunk Abby to come in higher than the big for Amanda. You know, like a knight protecting a lady’s honor.
I did win the bid and Amanda’s then record bid of $100 had been beaten.
Now, a little about logistics and psychology. The high bidder was given up to five heavy bean bags to use to hit the target that would release the arm that would plunge the nail into the water balloon filled with cold water that would cascade from above and douse the crew member in the chair. Got it? OK, then. The first guy to win an auction (for that officer cadet) hit the target on the first throw, soaking the cadet immediately. The guy throwing the bag looked pretty macho with that move. But, wait! There’s more.
The next auction winner was a little old lady who had a lot of trouble hitting the target. In fact, with each miss they moved her a couple of steps closer to the target so that she could eventually hit it. Now, while most eyes were on the lady throwing the bean bags and missing the target, I was watching the victim in the chair. As the lady prepared each pitch, the crew member in the chair would tighten up and wince in anticipation of getting their cold shower. I was so happy that I noticed that.
Back to my winning bid. So, I stepped up to the contraption and was handed my first bean bag. Abby was in the hot seat, encouraging me to “bring it on!” I cocked back my arm and released a mighty thrown as I watched Abby tense up. Oh, no, it flew over the top of the target! A miss! Darn. 😉
I was handed a second bean bag which caused the crowd to yell some encouragement my way. Abby also continued to tell me to “bring it on!” though I thought I could read some uncomfortable anticipation on her face. Only one way to find out: another throw with all my strength and…
…another miss! This time, too low! Poor Abby would just have to endure any and all of that anticipation once more. Several times more, in fact.
I waited until I was holding the last bean bag and standing no more than two yards away from the target. At this point, I had no choice but to put Abby out of her misery. The wind up, and the pitch! Bullseye! Abby was immediately showered with about a gallon of water, right over her head, drenching her hair and her clothes. The crowd applauded with glee and, no doubt, with some wonder about my pitching skills. I had chosen to pass on appearing “macho” and, instead, had a good time with my devilish behavior and all of those missed throws. Fun!
But, that’s not the end of the story.
A very wet Abby stood up from the chair and walked directly over to me. She opened her arms to give me a big hug. I returned the hug thinking I was being thanked for my generous donation to the event. It took me a few seconds to realize that the hug I was receiving was not a “thank you” hug but more like a “screw you” hug: Abby was actually using me as a pool towel and by the time I fully realized that, I, too, was standing there with a dripping wet shirt!
Well played, Abby!
When asked, Amanda later told me that she had hoped to raise $1000 from the dunking event. In fact, at the end of the event she (and all of the other crew members who participated) had pulled in $3,550. The event was lots of fun, a financial success, and a great chance for the passengers to interact with the crew and get to know some of them better.
What is it?
A couple of days ago, I asked you what animal you thought this was:
Most of you guessed what I guessed and what my stateroom steward, Wayan, confirmed: it is a sea turtle.
However, my favorite suggestion was that it must be a bed pan! Ha ha! Guess what? It did not function well as a bed pan at all!
What’s coming up?
Tomorrow, I’m in Cochin, India, also known as Kochi.
🤔 😈