FROM SHOW BIZ TO SUNDAY SCHOOL
Sharon Leann Wyatt’s autobiography
SUMMER IS WINTER, WINTER IS SUMMER part 4
My arms met it with stinging accuracy, and the whites sphere tore away from me with blinding speed, as it headed back over the net, to an astonished competitor.
“Cut, print!” The elated director shouted over the exuberant applause from the crowd of astonished onlookers. I was so pleased with my efforts being successful, and that most of all, I didn’t ruin the scene. I truly would have been mortified if I had failed…the embarrassment, the humiliation, and the plight! By this time I was surrounded by my teammates, who congratulated me in that way that only athletes can. I really felt special, yet humbled by the adulation. This would have been one of my most rewarding experiences of life, had it not been for the fact that the director had come over to me and said, “Sharon’s not only sexy, she’s talented.”
What had been a very accelerating occurrence was suddenly turned into fragmented emotions, the greatest of them being embarrassment. Timidity welled up inside me, and my face flushed with chagrin. “Look at her blush.” my intimidator implored. I felt like two cents standing there on the cold sand in my bikini…so vulnerable and exposed, humiliated and victimized. How could he be so insensitive? I thought to myself. But when it was clear to me that no one was amused by his brashness, I felt somewhat better. And when one of the other players came by, and so tenderly spoke words of praise for my playing, I was just about healed. What really made me feel quite good was being told that all of these volleyball players were a championship team.
By this time, someone was putting my terrycloth robe over my shoulders, most likely the wardrobe lady. I truly didn’t feel my presence was needed on the team, even though my unexpected feat did add a bit of excitement, if only for those immediately at hand. Nonetheless, it almost seemed contrived, and I have to put the blame on the director. Who when asked why I was the only women playing openly said loudly in my presence, “Because I haven’t seen her body yet, that’s why!” Hearing this I walked away disgusted, and he called out after me, “and I liked what I saw.” The man appalled me. His lewd manner and references to me were demeaning. What he obviously had on his mind only confirmed my opinion of him, which was not flattering.
Let me make this clear, there are some women that are flattered when a man behaves in such a way around them. Not me! All the rest of the women extras, on the set had worked with Don, and he had remarks to make to them as well, but they just laughed along with him, and twitter as though it were complementary to be spoken to in such a manner.
I found solace with my fellow teammates, and some of the male extras, but none of the women were the type I really care to associate with, nor did I really know them. It was my first job with a good number of them, and I could feel a certain amount of tension toward the new-kid-on-the-block. I’m not sure my éclat at volleyball impress them one bit. For a while I was out in the cold playing a game, with men, using my muscles in ways they would not recognize, quite blue with winter cold, all while these girls were keeping themselves warm in the ladies room still fully clothed.
Kathryn Hayse was the ingénue in this show, and bless her heart, the director wanted her and I to go wading in the water. We put one foot in the water and our ankles turned blue…. (Continued next month)
