GinnyT11
Well-known member
I volunteer 2 or 3 times a month at the USO Center at our airport. It's a very nice lounge for traveling military personnel (staffed 24/7 by volunteers). Mostly I wipe counters and make sandwiches. I also take along a concert uke and leave it out with a "Play me" sign on it. So far, no one has been a uke player, but each time I'm there, someone is interested and enjoys fooling around with it after I've shown him how.
Today, a couple young soldiers in civvies were there on their way back to Ft. Bragg. One, with a fascinating array of tattoos on all limbs, was extremely interested. When I played You Are My Sunshine, he was as amazed as if I were Bonnie Raitt in concert. I showed him how to play C, F and G7 and gave him a tab sheet to play Camptown Races. With my uke in his lap, he said, "Where can I get one of these? Can I get one today?"
We went to a computer station in the Center and I showed him the UU forum and how to search for uke tabs. And I looked up North Carolina Ukulele Academy, which is near Ft. Bragg. He was wowed by the photo of a wall of ukes. He called to confirm that it would be open long enough (it would take two hours to drive there), and the two soldiers dashed off for Kent's store.
Uke love is a serious thing, but I'd never seen it hit someone so hard so quickly. I do hope they'll have ukes of their own soon--they wanted them to take to Afghanistan next month.
Today, a couple young soldiers in civvies were there on their way back to Ft. Bragg. One, with a fascinating array of tattoos on all limbs, was extremely interested. When I played You Are My Sunshine, he was as amazed as if I were Bonnie Raitt in concert. I showed him how to play C, F and G7 and gave him a tab sheet to play Camptown Races. With my uke in his lap, he said, "Where can I get one of these? Can I get one today?"
We went to a computer station in the Center and I showed him the UU forum and how to search for uke tabs. And I looked up North Carolina Ukulele Academy, which is near Ft. Bragg. He was wowed by the photo of a wall of ukes. He called to confirm that it would be open long enough (it would take two hours to drive there), and the two soldiers dashed off for Kent's store.
Uke love is a serious thing, but I'd never seen it hit someone so hard so quickly. I do hope they'll have ukes of their own soon--they wanted them to take to Afghanistan next month.