Face Painter Phyllis and I (Tony the Balloon Guy) have been entertaining at Anthony’s Italian Restaurant (no relation) in Trinity, Florida, for more than two years now.
This really hit home last night when as we visited with a family who have been regulars from the beginning, and we realized how much the children had grown!!!
Makes me wanna break out into a folk song of some sort. Maybe a little “Cat’s In the Cradle.”
Have a fun day!
Last night, I (Tony the Balloon Guy) had an argument with a girl of about six years of age.
I said we eat butterflies. She insisted we do not. We went back and forth. These kinds of things happen in my line of work.
“Look,” I reasoned, “we eat butter, right?”
“Yes,” she said.
“So why do you think they call them BUTTERflies?” I knew I had her now.
Very patiently, she explained, “Because they FLY!”
Have a fun day!
Twin 3-year-old girls saw us (Tony the Balloon Guy and Face Painter Phyllis) at a party (magic, balloons, face painting), and then we did their birthday (balloons, face painting, pony rides).
Their family told us last night at a restaurant, “Now whenever we go to a party and you’re not there, they’re not happy. They think you sould be at EVERYONE’S birthday.”
We agree!
Have a fun day!
I (Tony the Balloon Guy) have a regular customer (birthday parties for the kids, and Chilli’s every Monday night) who runs a very successful photography business in our area. Talking about how he started working in restaurants at age 14, he said that the best employees he has ever had were people who had waited tables.
“Because they know how to work?” I asked.
“Well, because they know that how they treat the customer determines how much money they make.”
He explained that people from an hourly-pay or salary background don’t have that same way of thinking.
“To them, time is money. But time isn’t money. SERVICE is money.”
Have a fun day!
One of the junior members of our family business (the girl one) has loved horses since she was itty-bitty. She was always the cowgirl, never the princess. This suits us fine, as Face Painter Phyllis is also a cowgirl, and we have horses and ponies.
A while back, though, the girl one tumbled off a horse, and she was a bit skittish about them for a while. Still kept wearing the hat and the boots every chance she got, but was afraid to get back on. And even though Mom has been riding since she was itty-bitty herself, she couldn’t teach the girl one anything. (Which is weird, since we homeschool, and thus teach them about everything else!).
Anyway, so now the girl one is taking horseback riding lessons. With an experienced rider in the house and horses outside, Phyllis is driving the girl one to someone else’s property once a week to ride on someone else’s horses, first individually, and now in a group of girls.
And you know what? Somehow it’s worth every penny.
Have a fun day!
I (Tony the Balloon Guy) am in a store that has a local radio station as background music, and suddenly a commercial catches my ear, as the announcer says, “… by Tony the Balloon Guy…”
Have to stop in my tracks and listen to find out where I’m going to be and when!
Fun surprise – felt THIS CLOSE to being famous.
Have a fun day!
A little girl’s mom shared this story at one of my (Tony the Balloon Guy’s) weekly appearances:
“We were talking about something, and I said, ‘Nobody’s perfect.’ She said, ‘I know someone who’s perfect.’ I asked, ‘Who?’ She said, ‘Tony – the guy who makes the balloons!’”
Have a fun day!
Face Painter Phyllis is the official face painter of Minor League Baseball’s Tampa Yankees at Legends Field. She paints there about two Saturday evenings a month, into September. Tell her I said hi!
Have a fun day!
Don’t worry – I (Tony the Balloon Guy) was just WORKING in the hospital. Did balloon entertainment for Volunteer Appreciation Day at Pasco Regional Medical Center today.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it was neat to see how many hospital volunteers either are or used to be clowns. So I got to talk shop a little.
Very nice people, very nice time. I’m already looking forward to next year!
Have a fun day!
