Lunch with Superfoot

In 2003, I was fortunate enough to have lunch with Bill "Superfoot" Wallace.  How I came to this even was less fortunate, but nonetheless, getting to take him out to eat made it worth it.

As a second degree martial arts black belt, I wasn't going to miss the chance to attend a seminar where the legendary kick boxer would be instructing, especially since it was so close to home.  I arranged for childcare for my young son, as my husband was working the weekend, and off I went, despite being four months pregnant with my second child.

It started off great.  I owned a martial arts school at the time, so training was no big deal.  Heck, I'd been five months pregnant with my first kid when I opened the martial arts school.  Luck, however, was against me, or for me, depending how you look at it.  Only a few hours into the two-day event, I managed to fracture my left foot.  I spent an insanely long wait time in the local emergency room to find this out, and of course, I had the kind of fracture that I wasn't supposed to put any weight on whatsoever. 

I was bummed.  Though I was pretty broke at the time, I'd come up with the money to attend the seminar and I wasn't about to go home without getting something out of it.  While icing my foot, before deciding I really did need a doctor, I'd had plenty of time to observe those around me.  Mr. Wallace was a guest instructor at the seminar, and as such, wasn't really hanging out with the people who ran it.  This, gave me an idea.

The next morning, I hobbled in on crutches, enviously watched everyone else training, and waited for lunchtime.  Without missing a beat, I asked Mr. Wallace if I could take him to lunch.  At this point I looked like quite the sympathy case so, being a gracious person, he said yes.

I spent the next forty-five minutes at Wendy's with the martial arts legend eating burgers.  He'd been friends with Elvis, acted in movies, and won countless titles.  Had my brain functioned as I wish it had, I would have asked him about these things.  Did I though?  No, I didn't.  I got nervous.  You know how in movies you see girls get all weird with the movie star walks in?  Well, that seems to be what happens to my brain.  Every cell goes temporarily dormant. I didn't manage to say one intelligent thing or think of a single decent question.  Instead, I babbled nonstop, out of nervousness. 

While I wish I'd sounded more intelligent, the lunch was one I'll never forget, and an experience I'd gladly repeat.  Mr. Wallace is a really nice guy, and I'm glad I had the pleasure of meeting him.  So, I didn't appear to be very smart.  I'm sure it's not the first time someone has gotten star struck around him.  I'm just glad I had the opportunity.