By: Ashley Feinstein
With the very sad news that B.B. King, the king of blues, passed away I was reminded of a pretty epic story where my dad taught me a hugely important life lesson. Way back when, when my dad and I were on the college tour driving from school to school, a B.B. King song came on the radio and they announced he was performing at a sold out concert that night in Richmond which happened to be our next stop. My dad said, "Do you know who B.B. King is? He's a legend. The king of blues. We have to go to that concert!" I honestly had no idea who he was but I got excited because my dad was so excited! When we got to our hotel, the Jefferson, there was B.B. King's giant tour bus. He was staying our hotel! My dad asked the receptionist about tickets and she pointed us to a man who was walking through the lobby, which turned out to be B.B.'s manager. He said there were no tickets left, that the show was completely sold out and then scurried away in a hurry.
Later that night, we were sitting in the beautiful hotel bar (I was drinking a soda of course!) and B.B.s manager walked past us to head out of the hotel. My dad looked up, waved and looked back to me. Then something incredible happened.... The manager walked over and said, "there will be tickets waiting for you at will call." What?! My dad didn't want to get my hopes up too much so he warned that it might not be real and who knows, maybe the man wasn't even B.B.'s manager. When we got to will call at the theater, the woman at the counter shuffled around a bit and then pull out a white envelope. In it were two tickets for seats front and center and also backstage passes to meet B.B. King. After the incredible show, where B.B. had people dancing and screaming in the aisles, my dad and I were of the lucky few who got to go hang out with B.B. in his tour bus. I got to hold Lucille, his guitar, sat by his side and we chatted about life.
What I learned from my dad on that trip has been one of the most valuable lessons of my life. Always ask. When's the last time you asked for a raise or promotion? When's the last time you asked for help when you needed something? What's one thing you've been wanting to ask for but couldn't bring yourself to bring it up? In honor of B.B. King and my dad, let's ask for one thing this week -- it can be big or small. Yes, it might feel uncomfortable or awkward but really what's the worst that can happen? Maybe they'll say "no." So what? More often than you may think, you'll get a big huge "YES" and will find yourself sitting on a tour bus next to the king of blues himself.