I’m doing my best to ignore him but he’s making me nervous. I am in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania giving a talk for continuing education (CE) credits for chiropractors in a hotel.
It’s a nice sized class but it’s a continuing education (CE) credit crowd meaning that most of the people here don’t want to be here but they gotta be – they need their credits.
Fortunately, there are always a few doctors who enjoy my presentations and show it – they make my speaking experience worthwhile.
But what’s this? A doctor is staring at me.
Not a usual stare but a blank stare, unblinking, no emotion. I’m not used to this; it feels threatening. To get him to react I break into some of my best jokes, my most interesting anecdotes and stories. The audience is laughing, applauding, even the dead ones (I mean the ones here for CE credits). But I look his way, no reaction.
This is weird, I’m getting a little more nervous. Maybe he hates me. Maybe I dated his wife in a past life. Maybe he wants to kill me. Maybe I’m getting a little paranoid.
So, in the tradition of speakers everywhere who need a break I send everyone to bathroom, or at least for a potty check. “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em,” I say. That usually gets a laugh. But not from Doctor X.