CONNECTIONS

I was editing a manuscript while waiting for The Moody Blues concert to begin at Britt Festivals when the guy sitting next to me asked if I was a student. At first, I was pretty delighted to be mistaken for a college student, especially after having recently endured a birthday. Then I realized I was wearing a University of Gallifrey T-shirt. It’s a fictional place from the television show “Doctor Who.“

I bought the shirt a few years ago, having longed for one when I watched it in high school but didn’t have the money to contribute to the PBS fund drive. A necklace with a replica of a key to the TARDIS required an even bigger donation. I was going through some old videotapes and came across the episodes I’d recorded. I tried to hunt down a shirt to buy, something that looked like it could belong to a regular university. I wanted a subtle way of paying tribute to the show, like the Thor’s Hammer necklace a friend gave me that’s a reference to our mutual Stargate SG-1 appreciation. This was before the new version of Doctor Who inspired a fresh supply of merchandise, and I couldn’t find one I wanted. However, a company I contacted liked the idea and designed the one I own.

On my way to the bathroom, shortly before the concert began, I passed a guy who spotted the T-shirt and gave me a knowing nod and smile. I liked that brief connection, that tapping into a communal fictional experience. I’d like to be able to create that sort of platform for people. Inspire connections, invisible links drawn by shared enjoyment. Like singing along with others at a concert under the stars.