by Casey Schneider

Dear Casey is a satirical twist on the advice columns found in news media. Send your questions to casey@lindybloggers.com

Dear Casey,

I am very fond of swing dance events, whether it be exchanges, workshops or camps,unfortunately my bank account is not! Do you know a way to make some cash to go to the gazillions of events throughout North America and why not the world.

Thanks
Lindy-Globe-trotter-wannabe.

Dear Hot to Trot,

Well, isn’t that the case for nearly all of us? Too many events, and too little money (and time). The easiest cost saver is volunteering. I do this all the time at events in my hometown. Sure, you sacrifice some of your hours, but there’s nothing like hearing five great bands in three days for nothin’ (plug: Seattle Lindy Exchange). Several events accept volunteers from outside of the city in which they’re located, especially if you’ve come in the past as a paying registrant and show some loyalty to the event. Get in touch with the volunteer organizer and see what you can do.

That won’t cover your travel costs, so for that I suggest looking to other dancers for examples:

• Become a decently well-paid consultant for one of the big national firms. You have to be willing to live in the city where they assign you, but then you can usually use your ticket “back home” at the end of the week to get to the next big event. I’ve known two people that do this quite successfully. Of course, it also means that you probably have no time during the week for anything other than work, and it could backfire if you get assigned to say, Elbow Bend, North Dakota (OK, I made that name up). It also assumes that you’re fairly bright and skilled at the topic of your employment. (Surprisingly few and far between.)
• Become a commercial long-haul pilot. You have to be willing to go through years of training and making your way up the industry ladder, but you then get flights for free wherever your airline goes. The downsides are flying in hostile airspace and hoping that 97 year-old man in seat 29F doesn’t go into cardiac arrest, but that also keeps things interesting. You should also be willing to become Scottish and adopt an sexy accent, because let’s face it, that will get you further in life in general. I know one person that meets these qualifications, and dare I say that it also pays to be his girlfriend.
• Be willing to be poor and sacrifice your future financial stability. This is the route that most lindy hoppers seem to take. I’d advise against this, because, well, I’d rather stab myself in the forward with a giant fork than to live hand-to-mouth and risk living off of the federal government when I’m seventy. (Oh yeah, if you’re not American, then this issue may not exist for you, since you’re government probably cares about your long-term well being.) Hey, but that’s just me. I like stability and security, and would rather not hit up some lindy hop event if it meant paying my bills and meeting my monthly savings goal. Call me old fashioned.

The reality is that, unless you luck out on the lotto, you won’t get to go to every event you want to. That’s cool though, because it means that you’ll more acutely appreciate the ones you do attend. AND, there’s ALWAYS another lindy hop event. Ahem, I remember the days when having one event a month was pretty busy, and now we’re lucky to find a weekend that doesn’t have 2-3 events. If one feels badly about missing event, then one feels badly all the time.

Choose wisely,
Casey

Send your questions to casey@lindybloggers.com and read her previous post Dear Casey: Are choreographed sequences acceptable during a dance contest to live music?

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