Weighty Decisions…
Today’s strip is amply titled as I want to talk about something today – something that concerns a “weighty decision” I had to make earlier this week – and one I’m still feeling terrible about because it’s one of those decisions where you have to make a choice between two things in which you don’t want to choose one over the other.
The last two years, I have participated in Free Comic Book Day at Little Fish Comics in Fredericksburgh, Virginia. Mike and CJ Porter are fantastic people and run a great comic book shop. And the last two years have been a world of fun – heck, they have even splurged for dinner for me both years. I would do anything for them. In fact, the last two years, I have ALSO gone to Heroes Con with Mike and my good friend, Ed (you’ve seen him in the strip from time to time).
So, it was a no-brainer that I’d be doing the same thing THIS year as well. In fact, I think I’ve even mentioned it several times here, on Facebook and on Twitter. Needless to say, I was really looking forward to Free Comic Book Day at Little Fish Comics.
For the last three years, I’ve also been very involved in Challenger Little League. The last two years, I’ve run a summer and fall Challenger team. There’s not much work involved in running a team – it’s completely different than, say, a “regular” little league team – but it’s a TON of fun getting out there and helping kids like my son enjoy a game I grew up with and still play.
And every year, on Mother’s Day Weekend, the Dale City Little League sends all the Challengers who want to go to an all-expense paid trip to Virginia Beach for the annual Little League Challenger baseball jamboree/World Series. It’s a great time and serves as a little mini-vacation to all the folks that otherwise don’t always get to go on big trips or vacations due to a kid’s particular “disability” or “handicap”. Just for the record, I have both of those words in quotation marks because, if you ever saw what some of these kids can do with a bat and a ball, you would not call them either “disabled” or “handicapped”.
Anyway, Sunday was the Challenger’s pre-season meeting where the schedule was handed out and we talked a great deal about the Jamboree trip. And somewhere during that conversation, a rotten feeling hit my gut as only then did I realize the jamboree fell on the exact same weekend as Free Comic Book Day.
For a brief moment, I went through about a dozen or so fantasy scenarios that would enable me to do maybe a little bit of both… Maybe I could do half a day at Virginia Beach, travel back to Fredericksburg, do a half day of Free Comic Book Day and then drive back to Virginia Beach that night for one last game on Sunday… but that just didn’t seem realistic or even humanly possible. I knew I would have to choose and I knew either way, it was gong to suck because I really want to do both events – but obviously I cant.
So, for all of you in the Northern Virginia / Fredericksburg area who were looking forward to seeing me on Free Comic Book Day, I have to regretfully and sadly decline that appearance. I’m going to work hard with Mike and CJ to see if we can work out another day where I can be at Little Fish Comics.
Granted, it may not have all the hoopla that Free Comic Book Day does but that still doesn’t mean it can’t be just as fun, right?
Once I have more details, I will give everyone an update. And again, I sincerely and regretfully apologize about not being able to share an entire Saturday with Mike and CJ again.
Sincerely,
Chris Flick
