Just In Case

It's good to teach our kids to develop a backup plan in case their dream job doesn't work out. It might not be a bad idea to even give them a little push toward multiple backup plans. Just In Case.

I recognized this even as a young boy and came up with a laundry list of backup plans - Just In Case. I figured there was an outside chance that I was not going to be able to play for the St. Louis Blues. After all, I would have to leave hockey forever if the Chicago Blackhawks decided to draft me. So I had a backup plan - Just In Case.

Assuming my primary option didn't work out; I was going to roam the outfield for the St. Louis Cardinals. I would be the World Series hero; hitting a walkoff home run in extra innings of game seven against the hated Yankees; but only if I couldn't be the goal scoring hero when the Blues beat the Canadiens in overtime of game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, of course.

There was a very slight outside chance, though, that I would be drafted by both the Blackhawks and the Cubs. Although I would certainly become an instant hero to Nancy Sauerman, the prettiest eight year old girl on the planet, it just wouldn't work to be a Blackhawk or a Cub. I decided I had better come up with a non-sports related option - Just In Case.

Now there were lots of doctors, policemen, firemen and pilots; and lots of kids wanting to grow up to be those things. One of many just wasn't going to cut it for me. No, if I couldn't win the World Series or hoist the Stanley Cup - I would walk on the moon! My third level backup plan was to be an astronaut!

I'm sure I drove everyone in the family nuts with my love for anything to do with NASA and the space program. Maybe I just drove them nuts; period. I knew the names and crew pairings of all of our astronauts. I watched rocket launches, in-mission updates and splash downs. I was preparing to be an astronaut - Just In Case the Blues and Cardinals didn't work out.

Our family had one of those monstrous Chevrolet station wagons; the kind with a rear-facing back seat. That was an aspiring astronaut's dream! I could lie on my back on the seat with my legs sticking up the seat back using the back window as my capsule's window to the heavens. Driving at night was the best because I could actually watch the stars as we drove. I was officially in training to be an astronaut and I didn't care if my feet stuck out over the top of the seat back and bumped Kim in the head! She would just have to sacrifice for the betterment of all mankind.

Mom didn't see it the same way, I'm afraid, and threatened me with all sorts of cruel and unusual punishment if I "accidentally" bumped Kim's head any more.

I'm pretty sure she always liked Kim best, anyway.

Although the odds of me becoming an astronaut were somewhere between slim and none; I actually took the first steps toward pursuing that dream. All of our early astronauts came from the military so I met with the Commandant of the US Air Force Academy during my junior year of high school. I had a US Senator willing to consider my appointment. That dream came crashing down when the Air Force informed me that my color vision would prevent me from ever being considered for their flight program or the astronaut program.

Now what!?!?!?!? I had pretty much ruled out the Blues and the Cardinals by then. Now the astronaut dream was disappearing, too. My options were rapidly being limited by circumstances. All of my Just In Case options were gone.

So I did what every other hockey player/baseball player/astronaut does when they realize their dreams have been crushed.

I came up with a new Just In Case...

I became a geek.

I still watch the NASA channel once in a while to see ISS Mission Coverage now that we are no longer launching shuttles. Many of our greatest scientific and materials engineering discoveries came about because of our space program. I hope, someday, we resume the manned exploration of our solar system. In the meantime; I'll keep up on all that's going on.

I guess that's what geeks do - Just In Case.