During busy weeks and months on the road - eating crap, loading junk, getting one’s knickers in a twist, making heinous sounds - it is amazing what a little VIP treatment can do for the nerves. And UMS in Ann Arbor MI have treated us like visiting royalty during our first three visits.
When in town we have our own personal chauffeur, the unimaginably, inconceivably tolerant MR. She seemed wary of us during our first visit, clearly not sure whether we were for real. (”Surely they can’t possibly be like this. How can human beings function at this level of hysteria?”) Just 24, MR possesses a level of savvy that leaves us older, more naive souls far behind. As UMS Residency Coordinator, she has had to deal with many demanding, artistic prima donnas: desperate to be loved and showered with attention but without the ability to cope with either.
MR’s strategy with us tragic primas? “Give them what they want, but make sure they earn it.” She’ll listen to our bad jokes, but will tell us exactly how awful they are; she’ll sit quietly, ignoring our most filthy rants, but then suddenly surprise us with a reference to one later on; and, most importantly, she’ll tell us when we are bloody wrong.
Her gastronomic recommendations have been particularly useful, and we have enjoyed Ann Arbor’s great Japanese, Ethiopian, Syrian, Indian and even brew-pub cuisine.
Most endearingly, for me, she’s taken on my Aussie pronunciation of “awesome” into her daily lingo, and chides the Mac for what she calls his “Mock-stralian” accent.
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