The Bastard in the Bow Tie

I wake up just about the same way every single day.  I hear my neighbor coughing and smoking on his porch, while I lie there warmly nurtured by my sheets.  I look at my alarm hoping I have more time to spare my tired eyes, but tragically I have merely a blink of a moment before Human by The Killers startles me into action. 

I basically except that my day is going to filled with the same landscape, the same rarely fulfilling interactions with people and the occasion faux laugh to help my "positive" nature to seem somewhat grounded.  There are no big surprises. I woke up today feeling that that was my horoscope, until I found a box on my porch.

The box was from FedEx and was addressed to Mr. C. Adam Camp. "That's me!", I thought to myself. But I wasn't expecting anything.  I take the box inside and it's three Ralph Lauren Polo bow ties.  The kind of bow ties that when worn properly transform you from geek-to-chic no matter how you wear them :)  There was a small letter explaining how they ended up at my house.  A member from the club I work at had overheard me clamoring on about my love for bow ties and the way they looked.  He found out my address and sent me them as a "pick me up present."  Could not have worked any better.

Do you even know how to tie a bow tie?  If not, let me assure you it can be one of the most frustrating things you will ever do.  I under estimated the power of a bow tie.  I looked up some videos on YouTube and checked out the Brooks Brothers website, but these places weren't getting it done for me.  I spent roughly 30 min trying to follow these guys from South Carolina, but every time he said the word "cinch" I was thinking, "cinch, like tighter, hold it, cross it again, simple, easy...I'm lost?", and I realized it was a lost cause.

Then it hit me, it's like riding a bike.  Most of the time that expression means; you just have to start doing something you have done before.  It just might take a minute to remember how.  I have always had a different take. Now in this case I had never tied a bow tie, so I wasn't remembering how to do something I had done before.  However, I taught myself how to ride a bike, that's where the saying has a different meaning.  The phrase is inspiring to me.  This is wear my day became fun again.  It's like opening up another present.  I started to think about it, with the limited information I had. I tried again...not quite there.  I tried and tried and triiii-I got it! I was so excited I didn't take it off for the next 3 hours.  I had no place to be and had no reason to keep it on, other than an outrageously long victory lap on my couch.

Sometimes the best gifts are unexpected; in this case both gifts were exactly that.  Now all that is left for this bastard in a bow tie is finding a place he can wear it.