Oh, it's you!
On my way in earlier, I had seen the lot where the buses were parked, so after the show I decided to go hang out by the gate to wave goodbye. I was surprised that I was the only one there. Do they not hang out at the buses at 11:30 at night in 20 degree weather in North Dakota? No one told me, so I waited on the sidewalk by the gate. It was worth it, too! After a while, Lawrence walked by and looked over, so I waved at him. He waved back, got on his bus, then got back off the bus and came over to talk, or maybe to see if I was frozen in place and needed help. When he got about ten feet from me, he said, "Oh, it's you!" He actually recognized me from when we met in Reno in September! He gave me a hug and we started talking, then he said, "Remind me, where are you from again?" I said, "New Hampshire," and he gave me a funny look - I think he was trying to decide if he had heard me wrong, or had just forgotten where New Hampshire was. After a few seconds, he asked, totally amazed, "What are you doing here?" I said, "You're here!" And he said, "Wow!" I have to say, he's the nicest guy. Say something nice to him, and he acts like it's the first compliment he ever got in his life. He saw that I was wearing my JY gloves, and he made me show him the front and the back. I don't usually wear them except during the show, but I had forgotten my "regular" gloves, and it was cold! Lawrence just laughed and shook his head. We talked for a few more minutes, then said goodnight and he went back to his bus.
Not long after that, I saw two people come out from between the buses. One was Jason, George Packer's assistant, and he and another guy who was wearing a jacket with a hood were heading straight for me. I figured it was time to go, and Jason was coming to get me out of the way so the buses wouldn't run over me. When they got closer, I looked at the other guy and saw those EYES peeping out at me - it was Glen! I did the same thing Lawrence did when he recognized me - said, "Oh, it's you!" He smiled, and I told him I didn't recognize him with the hood on. He's so sweet - he started to take the hood off! I told him not to - it was cold, and besides, now I knew it was him! It's not my fault I didn't recognize him; for some reason, Glen makes me stupid. I can't have a conversation with him, I suddenly am only able to state fairly inane facts. So I said, "You lost the green hair," and he said, "Yeah, I used to have green hair." Fascinating, huh? I told him I was at his Christmas shows this past year and really enjoyed them, and we talked about that and at last I relaxed a little! We talked about the show that night, and I think he recognized me as a face he sees over and over. He asked my name, then asked, "Where are you from?" Did I have a sign on that said "I'm not from here" or something? Everyone was asking me that! So I told him "New Hampshire," and he was just speechless. Finally he said, "Wow... so I guess you flew in?" I told him I'd be in Fargo the next night too, and slipped back into "inane fact" mode to tell him that North Dakota is the twelfth state I've seen Styx in. Again he was just blown away, and he said, "Wow, you win!" After a few more words, he and Jason went back to the bus, and a few minutes later both buses pulled away. What an evening! How often do you get to talk to two members of Styx, and have them both say "wow" at you? I also got to talk to a fellow traveling fan in the parking lot - nice to meet you, Driver!