I almost have a theatre minor. I never really planned on pursuing it in college, but just before I was about to graduate, the chair of the theatre department informed me that I was probably eligable. So we counted up my credits and I was one credit short of a minor. If I wanted to, I could have paid the college $250 for an additional credit* so that I could officially say that I had a minor. I chose to keep my money and use it to go to the Grand Canyon instead.

In plays, I got a lot of positive reviews and a lot of negative reviews. When the local paper reviewed the first college play I was in, A Doll's House, I got the best review out of anyone in the cast -- "barely worth listening to." I think the best review I ever received from the newspaper in my entire college career was "able." Yes, he is technically capable of acting. But that's about it.

The best critique of my work I ever receieved from anyone, however, came from another student. He was very intelligent, and very sincere. And here is what he said to me:

"You're a really, really good actor. You could be the next John Ritter."

I laughed, of course. But then I realized that he was completely serious. "John Ritter is incredibly talented," he said, and he meant it.

Ever since he said that, I've kind of kept it in my head, and whenever I see reruns of Three's Company on TV Land, I try to imagine myself falling over that living room couch. Sometimes I see it, sometimes I don't.

When I told Christa the story about the John Ritter statement, she didn't even laugh. "You could be the next John Ritter," she said. "You're a great physical comedian."

I suppose that if this is my unrealized potential, that I'm at peace with it. Most people spend their lives thinking about what they could have been, what might have happened if they'd gone for the gold and struck it big. If what I could have been was Jack Freaking Tripper, then I'm perfectly OK with living the normal-life alternative.

* I realize I'm dating myself when I admit that a credit cost only $250 when I went to college.