For the Love of Service

It was a TV interview. We sat on two seats with the interviewer in front of us and the camera behind the interviewer. Our PR people standing behind the camera. The opening line to Linda and I was ‘how did it happen?’ We were taking it in turns to answer when the interviewer got onto wounds and burns. My motor mouth erupted and my head was down so that the camera could see the burns to my scalp, my face and then, omg, it was the jeans that saved me from having third degree burns on my legs because of the strong material. My hands were as un-coordinated as my mouth and both were flapping and waving wildly. The interviewer looked at me. "You are very animated aren't you Juttee?" "No, I'm Australian," I replied in quick retort which had the whole room breaking up with laughter. “But yes, if you cut my hands off I might be speechless,” I said trying to save myself from a gaff. Why I used that as my retort I will never know, but it was about to stay with me for years to come.