So now.
Bill had run off to take care of 'business'.
I was now in charge of the Estes booth.
What should I do?
"Catalogs! Get your free 1992 Estes model rocket catalogs", I called out to the crowd.
People would stop to pick up a catalog, ask questions about Estes products, etc.
At no time did anyone say anything about the fact I was wearing AeroTech clothing.
I had been helping out in the Estes booth for about ten minutes when Bob Parks came by. He, also, was out of the AeroTech booth walking around the exhibit hall looking at the exhibits and taking pictures.
I explained to Parky what had happened and why I was in the Estes booth. He wanted in to the booth to get a close-up look at the Estes products so I let him in. Both of us were very interested in the AstroBlaster R/C glider which had yet to hit the store shelves. We decided to remove the glider from it's mounting and look it over. The two of us spent several minutes inspecting the AstroBlaster and determined it was just a mockup/prototype and re-mounted it.
Parky walked out in front of the booth and said, "Bob, how about I get a few pictures of you in the Estes booth?"
Why not?
Parky then proceeded to take pictures of me in the booth, holding an Impulse rocket display model and handing out catalogs to Show attendees. After that, Parky moved on.
Bill was gone 20-25 minutes before he returned. He seemed much more relaxed, less stressed.
I told him what had happened while he had been gone (I left out the part about Parky). He thanked me for watching the booth and I returned to my exploration of the other exhibits.
A few weeks later, Parky sent me copies of the pictures he had taken of me in the Estes booth. These pictures have never been seen outside of my picture album.
Until now.
(Stay tuned for the Estes reaction to AeroTech).