Ralph’s Shorts
Don’t judge a book by its cover. All that glitters is not gold. The cowl does not make the monk.
We all grew up hearing these sayings and know what they mean. (Well, not that last one; I looked it up, but I like it.) Don’t judge someone by how they look, judge them by who they are.
My personal version of this is Ralph's shorts.
Ralph is a friend, and one of the best dolly grips in the entire business. He’s talented, smart, quick, has a ton of experience, and, because he’s so good, I rarely get to work with him, because he’s always busy on some huge show. Simply put, Ralph is the bee's knees.
But the first time you meet Ralph on set, unless it’s 60 below zero, he will be wearing the most outlandishly loud, colorful, long, somewhat-ugly-but-he-pulls-it-off-every-time, shorts that he will proudly tell you his mother makes for him. And I'm not talking Hawaiian style shorts. I’m talking about kids' bedroom comic book curtain style shorts. I have never seen Ralph without a huge smile on his face and a pair of those crazy shorts. He must have 1000s of them. In fact, when someone texts me that they are working with Ralph and the two of them say hi, I always text back something like “How loud are the shorts today?” and I instantly get back a goofy picture of Ralph in some outfit that may in fact be adding lumens to the set.
It's an odd thing for a dolly grip to dress that way, and Ralph is one of a kind. Someone who doesn’t know him might think he was a bit ‘off’, and certainly wouldn’t peg him as one of the finest dolly grips and storytellers out there, but they would be wrong. And they’d be missing out.
And that’s the problem with judging people before you get to know them, judging them by their appearance or quirks alone. We work in a business of carnies who are odd in all sorts of ways. That’s what makes the whole business interesting. If you don't open yourself to the idea that we are all a bit ‘off’ in order to be a part of this business, and accept people for who they are, you will miss working with the Ralphs of the world and you will deprive yourself of enjoying some of the finest people on the planet adn working with some of the best storytellers out there.
Look past the shorts, and get to know the people inside. You will rarely be sorry you did. And if you see Ralph on set (oh, you’ll know) tell him hey from me.
