by Vikki Anderson
I rarely take gigs in NYC, however, if they are early enough in the afternoon or evening, I can take a bus to Port Authority and a cab to the destination and it has seemed to work out. This is what I had done just a few weeks ago when I did tarot reading for The New School in NYC.
I always arrive approximately 2 hours ahead of time in case of traffic or some mishap, but this time the bus driver must have tried out for the role on the movie SPEED since we were almost falling out of our seats and purses and brief cases were flying all over the place. So in essence, I was so early, I called my fiance to chat and ate a bagel at Port Authority and then looked around for awhile before getting into a cab.
Upon getting there, I was told that this particular party was a block party about two blocks away. That would be all right normally but I have a fractured bone in my right foot so I wasn’t that happy with walking the distance, but managed nicely.
I waited and waited for the person organizing the gig and 50 minutes later, the New School’s representative arrived. She found me a table and had to find a few chairs, but then the astrologer came and she asked if we could share. I don’t like sharing tables, but I agreed. I didn’t know her but it only took me a few minutes to realize what kind of reader she was.
I asked if she had a computer for charts, she said no. I asked if she brought an ephemeris, she replied no again. She said she had a good grasp on sun signs and that she could bluff her way through it and brought tarot cards in case I needed help! Why, thank you. I told her why didn’t she just use the July 21st eclipse and give the effects of that eclipse to each sign and she said she didn’t know how to do that — so here we are, on the same table with someone (myself) who has taught metaphysics and parapsychology for over 38 years and someone who didn’t know as much as my students who had taken a 6 minute lesson with me. I was furious.
The readings were loud (and I constantly tried to quiet her down to no avail) and awful. She had astrology cards and was asking her guests to shuffle the cards and then she READ right off of the cards. She asked if I knew of these cards and I said that my friends designed them. Yes, I think I knew them, but they are mostly for individual guidance, not for a big event where you are getting paid big bucks for your expertise.
She left to get water (I brought mine as any event reader would), she had to get a cookie, then she had to make an important phone call. My opinion of this reader that she didn’t know what the hell she was doing and was doing everything in her power to waste time. Why would I say that? Well, people sign up for readings, but sometimes they leave to see what else is going on and come back. Then you just have them cross off their name no matter where it is on the list. She kept calling out names in order and wasting 5 – 10 minutes waiting to see if that person was in the area. I told her several times how to do it, but now my line was growing to over 50 people standing in line and she had 7. I asked people to go over to her and have an astrology reading, but no one moved from my line.
This reader told me her life story (not a good time to tell me when I am working, nor did I care) and I could tell she has many issues – doing astrology is just one of them. I complained to the event planner’s rep and she understood, but said it was just for fun anyway. Well, I know that many people take readings for granted so if you give them bullshit information, what do they have to make positive decisions with? I complained to the event planner when I called in after the gig, but haven’t heard from them. Maybe I was being too sensitive; however, I heard her say to these talented writers, musicians and dancers that within 5 years they would all be famous. I hope it is true; however, what are the odds that a 20 year old will be famous at 25 – and almost all of them at that?
I read the card she gave me when she said she would call me (I can’t wait!) and found out the reason that she was such a bullshitter. She does music, singing, dancing, DJ, emcee, karaoke, tarot, psychic, fortunes, magic, games, stories, character telegrams, balloons, face painting, arts and crafts, puppet shows and get this – she’s also a clown. Somehow being a clown and doing tarot readings just doesn’t work for me, but that’s the difference between someone who does this for a living and loves helping people and others who are charlatans and just want to make money, give bad advice and move on to their next victim. Clown and tarot readings! That’s a new one for me, but with that said, I guess I don’t have to say anything else. LOL
