Robin's Bloggin'

People Magazine this week yielded a nice surprise for me. My friend John Bryant, CEO of Operation Hope was listed under HEROS. John has been the major player to rebuild South Central Los Angeles since the 92' riots and has been receiving a lot of recognition for this feat. John is a great ROLE MODEL for blacks AND whites, alike. Kim and I are very proud of John and his accomplishments.

People Magazine, Issue for April 29, 2002
Heroes
A decade after the riots, John Bryant helps L.A. rebuild -- and teaches inner-city residents financial savvy...
People Mag online

And now a funny story about John... What's the fun of having famous friends if you can't razz them?

Timeline: Late 80's.

My husband, Kim Olson, was a member of the NFIB Foundation's "Council of 100". [The NFIB is the National Federation of Independent Business]

Kim met John through some business function in Santa Barbara and then Kim took John under his wing and introduced him to all kinds of people. John was in his early 20's, but we knew he was very serious about making an impact with his life. Kim eventually got John invited to participate at the annual Council of 100 Convention at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO.

My husband arrived a day early to settle in before the early morning meetings which were to take place.
John took the red eye from LA and arrived at the Broadmoor on the day of the meetings--at 4:30am.

Before they left, Kim made the mistake of telling John that he had booked a suite, as opposed to just a room. So, at 4:30 am there was a knock at the door. (My husband absolutely hates being woken up in the middle of the night.) "John, what are you doing here?" John explains that the meetings start in three hours so is it all right if he crashes on the sofa until the meetings begin? (As opposed to checking into his room and paying an extra day for only three hours.)

The incident was so insignifcant that when my husband returned three days later, he didn't mention it to me.

The next day, my husband went to work and I picked up his suitcase and started unpacking it. I have never been jealous or or even suspected my husband once of cheating on me. But at this moment I had my doubts. I pulled from his bag, a brightly colored, silk Kimono. From memory, it was mostly black and red with swirls of other colors. I held it up and it was really large and um.... ahem, "pungent", with a strange perfume I could not identify. I am immediately imagining my husband rolling around with some large, exotic, amazonian woman.

I immediately called his office and said "You need to get your ass home, right now!!!!" and I hung up. The office was only a few minutes away and shortly thereafter my husband came flying through the door. "What's wrong? Are the kids all right?!?"
"The kids are fine, what the hell is THIS?" I pull the Kimono out from my behind my back and held it up to him. He was soooo BUSTED!!!!

My husband's eyes get wide and he says "Is that the reason you called me home?" He quickly puts 2+2 together and realizes that I think he had an affair... and that I was furious!

Then he starts laughing... and laughing and then he fell on the floor, still laughing, gasping for air, wiping the tears from his eyes from laughing so hard.

"What the hell is so funny?"

"That's Bryant's! The SOB was so cheap that he woke me up in the middle of the night to sleep on the couch, so he wouldn't have to check in until after the morning meetings!"

We then called John to tell him we had his Kimono. John was beside himself with relief as he thought he had lost it at the Broadmoor. The Kimono was very special to him, he had gotten it when he was in Japan.

Now you know the rest of the story.

Paybacks baby!

--------------------------------------------------------


	Tuesday, April 23, 2002 People Magazine this week yielded a nice surprise for me. My friend John Bryant, CEO of Operation Hope was listed under HEROS. John has been the major player to rebuild South Central Los Angeles since the 92' riots and has been receiving a lot of recognition for this feat. John is a great ROLE MODEL for blacks AND whites, alike. Kim and I are very proud of John and his accomplishments. People Magazine, Issue for April 29, 2002 Heroes A decade after the riots, John Bryant helps L.A. rebuild -- and teaches inner-city residents financial savvy... People Mag online And now a funny story about John... What's the fun of having famous friends if you can't razz them? Timeline: Late 80's. My husband, Kim Olson, was a member of the NFIB Foundation's "Council of 100". [The NFIB is the National Federation of Independent Business] Kim met John through some business function in Santa Barbara and then Kim took John under his wing and introduced him to all kinds of people. John was in his early 20's, but we knew he was very serious about making an impact with his life. Kim eventually got John invited to participate at the annual Council of 100 Convention at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO. My husband arrived a day early to settle in before the early morning meetings which were to take place. John took the red eye from LA and arrived at the Broadmoor on the day of the meetings--at 4:30am. Before they left, Kim made the mistake of telling John that he had booked a suite, as opposed to just a room. So, at 4:30 am there was a knock at the door. (My husband absolutely hates being woken up in the middle of the night.) "John, what are you doing here?" John explains that the meetings start in three hours so is it all right if he crashes on the sofa until the meetings begin? (As opposed to checking into his room and paying an extra day for only three hours.) The incident was so insignifcant that when my husband returned three days later, he didn't mention it to me. The next day, my husband went to work and I picked up his suitcase and started unpacking it. I have never been jealous or or even suspected my husband once of cheating on me. But at this moment I had my doubts. I pulled from his bag, a brightly colored, silk Kimono. From memory, it was mostly black and red with swirls of other colors. I held it up and it was really large and um.... ahem, "pungent", with a strange perfume I could not identify. I am immediately imagining my husband rolling around with some large, exotic, amazonian woman. I immediately called his office and said "You need to get your ass home, right now!!!!" and I hung up. The office was only a few minutes away and shortly thereafter my husband came flying through the door. "What's wrong? Are the kids all right?!?" "The kids are fine, what the hell is THIS?" I pull the Kimono out from my behind my back and held it up to him. He was soooo BUSTED!!!! My husband's eyes get wide and he says "Is that the reason you called me home?" He quickly puts 2+2 together and realizes that I think he had an affair... and that I was furious! Then he starts laughing... and laughing and then he fell on the floor, still laughing, gasping for air, wiping the tears from his eyes from laughing so hard. "What the hell is so funny?" "That's Bryant's! The SOB was so cheap that he woke me up in the middle of the night to sleep on the couch, so he wouldn't have to check in until after the morning meetings!" We then called John to tell him we had his Kimono. John was beside himself with relief as he thought he had lost it at the Broadmoor. The Kimono was very special to him, he had gotten it when he was in Japan. Now you know the rest of the story. Paybacks baby! --------------------------------------------------------