Fortune Favors the Brave

I viscerally hate rope bridges.  They terrify me.  Many years ago, I took my friend, Annie, to a charity event in Hollywood to benefit outdoor youth education programs through Outward Bound.  The dress code for the evening was “Black Tie & Sneakers,” so we knew it was gonna be silly good fun.  The Outward Bound volunteers had set up a “Level 1” ropes course inside the atrium of a giant mall, and our job was to make a charitable donation, drink a lot of free alcohol and play around on the gigantic jungle gym the college kids had built.  I mostly stuck to the bar and the create-some-nature-art station, but Fearless Annie stepped right out onto the makeshift rope bridge, hanging 30 feet in the air.  I believe she was still carrying her cocktail when, halfway across, she sat down, put her hand in the air and called out “Yoohoo!  Rescue me!”  An extremely good-looking, fit 18-year-old in a tight Outward Bound t-shirt made his way to the middle of the bridge and lifted Annie into his arms.  He heroically delivered her to solid ground, for which she thanked him with a batting of her eyelashes and a passionate smooch, right on the lips. 

To be clear, I have always had mad respect for Annie’s bold approach to romance.  During our junior year at Stanford, we were sitting outside the Student Union, studying, when suddenly, she jutted her chin out and announced, “I’m thinking of taking a lover.” But seriously, Ann Marie, stepping out onto that rickety rope contraption that had been rigged up by children was a literal bridge too far.  As I chastised her nonstop about how she risked her life just for a little lip-action, Annie smiled contentedly and said two words — “Worth it.”