Lets Make A Deal, Mid-America Style

Is it just in Atlanta or do rainy days always seem to fall on the weekend everywhere else too? Not that I can be knocking any of the wet stuff here in the south since we get it rarely and have been in a drought since...oh, the summer of '62. So beggars can't be choosers, I realize. After all, it wasn't so long ago that Georgians and our southern neighbors had adopted the island philosophy of "If it's yellow, let it mellow..." Oh yes, the water shortage has gotten that bad.

But when it does rain, it never seems to fail that it's on the weekend. And today is one of those weekends. This morning, as I meticulously mapped out the details of my two week grocery shopping excursion (it takes a ton of planning to make a two week meal plan fly when you don't plan to return for any oops-forgotten items), my mother in law was perusing the channels looking for anything entertaining. A non-NASCAR weekend leaves our usual must-see TV open for alternatives. There isn't much. What she did stumble on was the Game Show network. Have you seen this thing? Lotta entertainment here.

And the show of the moment was Lets Make a Deal! This puppy brought back some serious memories. And before you go getting wise and making some crack about me attending this show in some ridiculous Little Bo Peep costume, you're wrong. I wasn't old enough to have attended the show when it was on; I was only preschool age. Me and my Little Bo Peep costume watched from home.

But what it really brings back memories of is the years at the Mid-America Trucking Show that we played Lets Make a Deal with attendees. As you likely know, the Mid-America Trucking Show is the granddaddy of all trucking shows--held each March in Louisville, Kentucky. It's three chrome-filled days with over 1,000 exhibitors showing off everything from shiny new trucks to small, fit-in-your-cab products, services, a truck beauty contest, media (magazines, satellite radio, WBAP), and a ton more. If you like trucking, your eyes will pop to see all that's squished into one convention center for three days in March. Just be ready to face thousands and thousands of folks who attend this thing. Between exhibitors and attendees, you literally cannot squeeze through the aisles to get anywhere with a purpose. I used to make it a game to see just how creative I could get to move from one end of the hall to the other. I may have ticked off a few exhibitors as I strolled through, feigning interest when really all I wanted was to take advantage of the vast open space of their booths to progress farther, quicker than the aisle would allow. My best time might have been 14.5 minutes to get from one end of the South hall to the far end of the west hall. My calves were screaming and I was wishing folks would throw out cups of water like they do marathon runners but that was damn good time to cover that kind of space with those kinds of obstacles. Thank you very much.

Anyway, one year, we came up with the idea to do a big giveaway sweepstakes at the show offering all sorts of products and items that had been donated to attendees at the show. We started by getting folks to register and then return at a set time for the drawings we scheduled throughout each day of the show. Too tough--no one, I mean no one returned. The show is just too big to have to plan to be back at a certain point by a particular time. We bagged that concept in a hurry. And I thought up my "Lets Make a Deal" scheme. Up I climbed onto a tall chair we had and used my gift of gab and a loud mouth to draw the folks over. I felt like a circus hawker calling over the rubes.

Once we had a fair amount of attention, I'd begin the whole who has a safety pin? First person to show me a safety pin will get this tshirt/coffee cup/satellite radio. Alright, now who has a photo of their child or grandchild? Or, who has the most children and grandchildren? Who can tell me Tony Stewart's nickname, or who the 1998 NASCAR Cup champion was. We had an absolute blast doing this periodically throughout the days of the show. The years we held this giveaway are just a few of the past 15 years worth of Mid-America's that I've attended and remember best.

Are you going to the show? It's next week. Same place--March 19-21. We're not playing Lets Make a Deal this year, but there is a concert by Aaron Tippin and the show will still offer all the gadgets, products, services and companies you could hope to check out in the span of three days. Be sure to come by and say hello to me @ Booth #69076. See you next week!