Throwback To My Fairfield Debut - Community Matters and a Totally Crandall Faux Pas! Yup.

Every once in a while this photograph is resurrected in the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions. When I see it, I have to laugh. It was a typical BRC story and what makes me crack up more is that my colleagues new little about me and my sense of humor and they truly were afraid I would be horrified by my actions.

Nope. I'm my Uncle Dick's nephew and I learned from him as a youngster the power of humor, especially when presenting to strangers and having a bathroom mishap. For him, he was getting ready to keynote and visited the loo right before. When he stood up from the toilet, he hit his head on the coat rack and passed out. The assembly at the conference found their keynote with his pants around his ankle in the stall.

My mistake wasn't that severe. In my first year (2nd year) I was invited to present my dissertation research to the advisory board of our faculty and members of the community. It was at Brooklyn Country Club and will most likely be the nicest place I'll ever ask to present. It was a full house and I was excited to share my research with a few powerhouses at the University and in Fairfield County. Right before going on, I said I should wash up and Janine Huber, assigned to assist me for the event, pointed to the bathrooms. I didn't hear her scream when she said, "Bryan, that's the women's bathroom."

When I came out, I already had a tampon in my hand because there were no urinals, and all the toilets had a beautiful flower garden of tampons in every stall. Yes, they were arranged in a bouquet of Kotex and were wrapped in silk cloth and ribbons. Fancy. I had to bring one out to show Janine my mistake, but when I came out of the bathroom, a team was waiting there trying to protect me from the crowd. I'm not sure who snapped this photograph, but I love it! It says, "Ladies and Gentleman, Bryan Ripley Crandall is now a part of your Fairfield team."

I can't imagine any other debut.

Douglas Coupland calls such moments for males a tamponic occurrence. Usually, it is conjugated with conversations women have about menstruation and female functions in the presence of men. I grew up with sisters so have always been accustomed to the dialogue. I was not, however, used to the fanciness of country club feminine hygiene.

To this day, when I walk by individuals in the Graduate School they instantly start laughing because they remember that their first impression of me was my exiting of a women's bathroom straight to the microphone. I can handle it though, because I remain jealous of my Uncle Dick's story. Even if mine is quite interesting, he will always win the prize for the Keynote he was never able to give.