After a long day of exhibits and sessions at the Energy Marketing Conference in New York, see our Blog “TMI attends the Energy Marketing Conference,”dated 3/6/14 my co-attendee, Tom Forte, and I left for JFK Airport on the afternoon of February 27th feeling tired, but thoroughly enthused by our participation in the Energy Marketing Conference. Our cab ride to the airport was filled with conversations about the innovative companies we had learned about and the entrepreneurial spirit we had witnessed among the Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) in attendance.
Cut to JFK Airport . . . While waiting for our flight back to Orlando, Tom and I were jolted back to reality by a tapestry of profanity, rivaling that of Ralphie’s father in “A Christmas Story,” that was unleashed by a young couple (infant in tow) in the waiting area. The discourse led my co-traveler to utter, “Oh no, I hope they are not on our Orlando flight.” I laughed and said, “Sure they are, and they’ll be sitting by me,” thinking that the likelihood of that was in the millions to one. I was doomed.
As we boarded the plane and stowed bags, I saw that this battling couple was sitting in the row in front of me, of course. They continued to ladle from their #$!%ing bucket of joy while the infant slept in his mother’s arms, oblivious to the ongoing argument about who will hold him for the duration of the flight, and who is the most !&#* up of the two. Really, which one was more !&#* up? Other passengers scrambled to find those ear plugs, ear buds, wadded up tissue, anything to muffle the verbal avalanche.
Can it get better than this, you ask? Yes. Yes it can. 
Even as the plane took off and we continued to be buffeted by profanity, the young woman of this descriptive duo announced to the other gentleman sitting next to her that she, her young man, and the baby were just on the Maury Show to determine who was actually this baby’s father. How delightful. Now a minimum of 10 rows of this aircraft are being enthralled by the expletive riddled step-by-step process of the DNA gathering, testing, and audience participation of the “Who’s Your Daddy” Maury Show (hosted by Maury Povich). Imagine listening to two people with the vocal qualities of Andrew Dice Clay and Snooki fighting about this sleeping infant’s paternity? And, that the father was proven to really BE the young man in question – – by the Maury Show. Perhaps the most definitive experts in the field of determining paternity! (Like you couldn’t tell the baby’s father was indeed that young man because he, and the child, had identical hair). Despite ear plugs, we learned more than we ever wanted to know about this subject on our flight back to Orlando, the happiest place on earth. I knew this would be possibly the longest 2 hours of my life.
My memories of the successful Energy Marketing Conference faded with the vapor trail of the airplane along with the concerns over energy costs, severe weather impacts on consumers, and whether they will continue to have demonstrable energy supplier choices. I clutched the small stack of business cards collected and clung to the hopes of being able to make a difference in the world of compliance reporting and regulatory support for the Energy Entrepreneurs who’s cards I held.
Maybe the Maury Show could help us determine that, too?