Let's Go Home



 

“Look at this.” I thrust the paper into Henry’s hands.

          “Look at what?” he asked.

          “This,”my lacquered fingernail pointed to the Tribune article.

          Wheel mobile coming to Cal Poly

          “They’re looking for contestants for Wheel of Fortune,” I said. “Let’s go”

          After much coaxing, Henry agreed to come with me. The following Saturday, after driving the aisles of a zillion cars at Cal Poly, we found a parking space in the farthest lane of the farthest lot. Oceans of people walking in all directions gave no clue to where we had to sign up, but a line snaking around the campus indicated the way.

          “There are too many people here,” Henry said “Let’s go home.”

          “We’ve come this far, let’s stay,” I begged.

          We made our way to the end of the line. “Is this where you sign up for Wheel of Fortune?” I asked.

“Yup”.

          I noticed some people with yellow pieces of paper.

          “What’s that?”

“You have to fill out one of these forms.”

“Where do you get them?”

          “At the head of the line”

          “Let’s go home,” Henry said.

          “No, wait here, I’ll get us the forms to fill out.”

          Surprisingly, the line moved quickly. After filling out the forms and depositing them into a large drum, the crew led us to a building that looked like a warehouse; high ceiling, concrete floors, no furniture, not even a ledge to rest your butt against. 

          “Let’s go home,” Henry said.

          “Let’s stay. At least it’s cooler inside away from the eighty-five degree heat of the day,” I coaxed

          We stood around with hundreds of others waiting for someone to call our names for a chance to play a game and get interviewed by the contestant searchers. They called name after name and mostly Cal Poly students got to play a game. Fifteen minutes went by, then thirty. After an hour. Henry said.“Let’s go home.”

          “Okay,” I sighed. “We might as well. There are so many students here, we probably don’t stand a chance.” And so we left and forgot about Wheel of Fortune.    

          Two weeks later, I received a letter in the mail inviting me to try out again at an Avila Beach location. I arrived on time to see about one hundred other hopefuls waiting. The contestant searchers for Wheel of Fortune conducted tryouts all day and all week, one hundred people at a time. They ushered us into a room with tables and chairs and gave us a “fill in the blanks” test that looked like the game board on the show. We had 15 minutes to complete it. I thought I failed miserably. I only finished about half in the allotted time. The people in charge instructed us to have some refreshments and the crew would return shortly with results.

          When they returned, one announced “I will call twelve names who will stay and the rest can go home. Thank you for trying.”  I guess I can forget about Wheel of Fortune I said to myself. Much to my surprise, he called my name.

          They divided the twelve of us into groups of three to play mock games. I knew I had to project an enthusiastic demeanor, smile and clap a lot. After we all played a game the crew said that they  will interview three people and the rest can go home. Much to my surprised they called my name as one of the three. They interviewed us one by one, thanked us and told us to go home and wait for notification by mail.  I thought the other two looked much younger and more interesting. Again I guessed I had no chance and forgot about it. Two weeks later, I received a phone call inviting me to go down to the studio as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune.

          Henry, my son and my daughter accompanied me to Culver City the night before the taping. I had to show up at the studio by 9 AM with twenty other contestants plus two alternates. We had numerous papers to read and sign releasing the studio from liability, income tax forms in case I won and general rules and regulations. Every one treated us very well. We had coffee and pastries throughout the morning and they took us to the commissary for a complimentary lunch. The studio tapes seven shows in one day and they pick your name from a hat to determine the order of taping. Bad luck for me, they picked my name last. I didn’t get taped until 7 PM.

          They forbade us to communicate with family for the entire day. I guess they feared we could get answers to the puzzles. I felt happy with my incommunicado status because I didn’t want to hear Henry complain “Let’s go home,” since he had to wait all day in the audience through the taping of six other shows before my chance came. Finally I took my place in front of Pat Sajak and Vanna White. So tired by then, I felt brain dead, but I mustered my enthusiasm and played the game as best I could.

          I won $3,650. and with the money, took Henry on a cruise to celebrate his birthday.

While on the ship, he never once said “Let’s go home.”