The Invisible Women

It's time again to link up with Rachel and Mr. Daddy and share our "I can't believe that happened!" stories with the world.  We've all got 'em, so step out of the box a little and click on over to Once Upon A Miracle to join in the fun.

My dear friend Tara and I went to SHOT Show in Las Vegas last week.  We met up with three guys from the gun shop: Boss Man, Army Guy, and the Original Bad Boy.  Boss Man is the owner and gunsmith at the gun shop, who had coordinated our registration for the show. 

Army Guy is Boss Man's best friend who has had a "crush" on me for years.  According to Tara, he can't keep his eyes off of me and every move he makes is in my direction (pay attention to that, it will be important later).  I kind of shrugged it off when she said it, but then realized it was true. 

The Original Bad Boy has been there, done that.  Let's just say I'm glad I'm on his good side and that he's a friend of the U.S.; he's the one and only person I've seen with the ability to completely disappear in a crowded room.  He just becomes so still that he disappears, I kid you not.  It's crazy.

Boss Man's cousin (or cousin-in-law, I can't keep it straight) is a former Border Patrol Agent with tales as tall as Paul Bunyan.  I've never met the famous (or infamous) JT, but I've heard stories about him for years.  Apparently, this was going to be the year to meet JT, as he was going to be in Las Vegas the same time we were and also had registered for SHOT Show.  The Original Bad Boy told us that you didn't "meet" JT as much as you "experienced" him and they all assured us that we'd have a blast getting to meet him and listen to his stories. The boys were so excited they couldn't hardly stand themselves.  Boss Man must have called JT a million times to make sure we were going to meet up and to coordinate when and where. 

Tara and I tagged along with the boys, pausing when Boss Man stopped to talk shop with people in the booth.  The problem is that Boss Man can talk like a girl, so sometimes his quick stops ended up being a half hour or more.  When that happened, we'd just wander off for a bit and keep checking back later until he was ready to move on.

At one booth, Boss Man was busy talking up the owner when the infamous JT showed up with his buddy, Primitive Boy.  Army Guy and Original Bad Boy immediately fell into an animated conversation with them.  Tara and I would have introduced ourselves to JT, but we ceased to exist.  We had been standing off to the side about two feet when JT and Primitive Boy made their appearance.  Army Guy and Original Bad Boy closed ranks, making it impossible for us to join in.  Not a big deal; Tara and I just looked at each other and decided to wander off on our own.

We took in three or four aisles, stopped at the bathroom (no lines!), got something to eat and meandered back to the gathering of JT, which was just breaking up.  Again, no offers to introduce us and no opportunity to introduce ourselves.  After JT and Primitive Boy took their leave, Army Guy noticed that we'd been gone, but only because we came back with food in our hands.  Boss Man asked if we'd been introduced to JT and apologized for being busy with the owner of the booth.  Not a problem, we were going to meet them for dinner anyway.  Plenty of time to get to meet them.

Dinner time comes, the boys arrive at our door to gather us up for dinner with the Great JT and we head to their favorite restaurant.

The Great JT and his posse had gotten to the restaurant first and gotten us a table.  We walked up to join them and realized that they were two chairs short - one for Tara and one for me.  The boys had completely forgotten that we were going to be joining them for dinner and hadn't told the Great JT to include us in the count.

Two of the guys in JT's posse were appropriately horrified at the oversight. 

Our guys? 

Didn't even notice. 

We ceased to exist the minute they set eyes on the Great and Powerful JT.  Tara offered for us to sit at the counter and they could all go do their dinner.  J and K, with the Great JT's posse, wouldn't hear of it and immediately re-located to a table that would seat all of us. 

Our guys? 

Didn't even notice. 

We no longer existed in the shadow of their Messiah, the Great and Powerful JT.  We had become... *insert deep, thunderous voice here* ...The Invisible Women.

Remember, way back at the beginning, when I said Army Boy has had a crush on me for years?  Remember that Tara said that he couldn't take his eyes off of me and that every move he made was in my direction?

Yeah, not so much when the Great and Powerful JT is involved.

At the new table, Tara and I expected that we'd be sitting at one end by ourselves, the boys were so enamoured of JT.  It was amusing to see all of the boys (with the exception of J and K, who chose to sit at our end of the table) fall all over JT and Primitive Boy and fairly scramble to get a seat next to him.  Of all of the boys, I was most disconcerted to see the Original Bad Boy fall under the Great and Powerful JT's spell.

In the end, Tara and I had an absolutely wonderful time with J and K.  I'm betting we had more fun listening to their stories than we would have listening to the Great and Powerful JT's stories - simply because we hadn't had the chance to fall under his spell.

Speaking of Tara - click on over to Girls With Guns for our Q&A with her and a chance to win an autographed copy of LOOSE ENDS.