A co-worker asked me for a favor one day. There was going to be a special evening event at the museum and she needed help at the “will call “. Now, a “will call” is a place where people can pick up pre-purchased tickets. The night of the upcoming event, there was a “will call” set up at the museum’s visitors services desk, and my co-worker asked if I could man it. I was free the evening of the event, so I told her that I’d love to help out.

The evening of the event, I was at the visitors services desk, handing out tickets as people came up to me. Everything was going smoothly and then this elderly gentleman approached. He wore a powder-blue suit, and the fingers on his hands were adorned with large gold rings. He told me he was there to pick up tickets, so I asked him what name they were under, as I looked down at my list. There was a very long pause, so I looked back up at him and he fixed me with the most incredulous look. Then he dropped his voice and spat his name out at me.

I recognized the name immediately. He was a famous astronaut….and he was pissed.

His heyday was in his late 30s, and my not recognizing him in his 70s was not sitting well with him. I’ll admit I didn’t review my elderly astronaut flashcards that day (Note: There are no elderly astronaut flashcards). I refused to get flustered and simply handed him his tickets and wished him a good evening. He gave me a final glare and then walked off muttering.

And that was the time I met a famous astronaut.

-Jen, aka. “Power Chair Dorothy”