Those of you that know Joe, the content to follow will not sound new. He loves surprises….and is good at them.
The remainder of this post is intended to help me remember the details of yet another amazing feat of Joe Wall. If you are so intrigued to join me, than Willkommen!
A bit of context first. At this time in March, I was traveling to over 15 different schools throughout the city of Philadelphia, usually multiple in a day. We had been waiting on word from the Foundation, which was scheduled to come down on March 8th (Tuesday). I scheduled myself a free day to be with Joe…and support him through whatever decision was made. There was no news on Tuesday…or Wednesday….I couldn’t keep waiting….I had to work.
On Wednesday of that week Joe asked me to start telling him where I was going in Philly. I figured it was out of concern for safety, since I am “geographically challenged”, was driving a vehicle with 265,000+ miles on it, and frequenting the shadier sides of Philly. I said I would start writing my locations on the calendar, but ultimately forgot to. However, what I did do was complain about one of the teachers I was going to visit on Friday.
So, Friday (March 11th) comes and I am finishing up with my last teacher. I got into the car and found a note from Joe. Confused, I opened it and began reading. It was an invitation to hang out and join him at a specific address. I found out later that Joe had (of course) been listening intently to my complaining and snooped through my work papers to find the school names and addresses of the teachers I was seeing on Friday. What is really weird is that he had dropped the letter in the car just minutes before I found it. I had simultaneously been looking out the window at the parking lot with the teacher I was visiting, trying to determine the best back-door to use to get to my car, which I could see from the window. Yet, I never saw Joe.
As any good husband who truly knows the idiosyncrasies and skill deficiencies of his wife would do, Joe had included directions for parking in the note with the address. When I got to the parking lot I found out that it would cost $25, which I was not willing to pay. I pulled out and pulled over to another spot on the street, which did not have a meter. However, the three other spots in front of me did have one. I called Joe to let him know my status, and my concerns about leaving the car in this particular spot. He said, “Move it if you are concerned. Just turn left at the next street, left again, and then around the block. You will be on South Street. There is plenty of parking.”
Too concerned about the parking, it didn’t phase me that I had not told him the exact intersection where I was. Yet, he gave very specific directions for finding a better spot. I drove around to South Street and found a new spot. (Side Note: For those of you who I have deceived all these years, here is a hidden truth about me- I don’t like parking, I am not good at it, and I am paranoid about it.) So…I parked the car…got out…checked both bumpers…walked down the street to check the signage…paid…collected the receipt…and then got back in the car… and closed the door. Little did I know Joe was watching me from across the street the entire time…and getting frustrated. He had seen me pull into the other spot a block away, hence his ability to give such specific directions!
Having the parking situation figured out, I sat in the car and got out the MapQuest map he gave me with the specific location for meeting and got my bearings for where I had to go. (Another Side Note: I don’t like directions, I am not good at them, and getting lost gives me anxiety). I finally got out of the car and crossed the street. Joe was suddenly there, walking towards me. Standing on the street, he gave me a card that had all different words for “home” on it. Inside he wrote the word “Haus” and “That’s what they call it in….Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.” I had to ask him for sure if that meant he had been accepted and assigned his 1st choice location. Indeed it did!
Walking down the street, I didn’t even notice the Brauhaus Schmitz. The only German restaurant in Philadelphia. Needless to say, we enjoyed some beers and Jägerschnitzel. Over dinner Joe also revealed that he had found out about the assignment “unofficially” on Wednesday, planning and masterfully maintaining composure for 48 hours.
Oh, Joe Wall. What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? Orlando.