The Rebounder Story

1987

A True Story

Written 9/14/2012* 1,013 Words*

#148 By Howard Yasgar

I first met Neil Metcalf through my friend Barney Kaplan.

Neil Metcalf was from Brisbane Australia, and he was a manufacturer and a rebuilder of automotive electrical parts.

Neil had started doing business with Barney around 1985, and eventually Barney had introduced him to me.

It was hard for anyone not to immediately fall in love with a guy like Neil.

He was short, fat, jovial, and could play almost any kind of musical instrument.

When Neil lay down on the bed, he looked like a Volkswagen.

Neil would call me up from his office in Brisbane a couple times every week.

He would always start his conversation the same way.

In his Aussie accent, he would say, “Gday mate, it’s a good day for chasing women”.

When we eventually visited Neil in Australia, he told me all about his former life when he was working as a musician.

Neil said he had grown up as a musician, but due to a hard drinking musicians’ lifestyle, he became an alcoholic, and his wife became an alcoholic as well.

Neil said that the turning point in his life was when his wife died of alcoholism.

Neil then joined AA, quit drinking, and then he bought a small auto electric business in Brisbane.

By the time my wife and I visited Neil in Australia, his business had grown substantially. He had built a new building in Brisbane and he and his new wife Ros had

expanded the business’s sales, and now they are even servicing customers in Figi.

Neil had totally given up on drinking, but he always continued his membership in AA and when we visited him, he was taking the time to mentor 5 or 6 other former alcoholics.

In the lobby of his new building, Neil had a large sign that said, “No telling of yarns (Jokes), unless you tell them to the boss first”. Neil had a good sense of humor.

In June of 1987, Neil and Ros said that they were coming to visit us in Miami.

As we were living only about fifteen minutes from Miami Airport, we instructed them to call us after they picked up their luggage and we would drive by the airport terminal door and pick them up.

The next day, Neil called about seven in the evening to tell us they had just landed at Miami airport.

When Katherine and I arrived at the airport Neil and Ros were not outside waiting for us as we had instructed them to do.

So, we parked our Astro Van in short term parking lot, and we went inside the airport baggage area to find them.

In the baggage area we found both Neil and Ros.

Ros was lying on a row of seats, and she was in the fetal position.

Her eyes were closed, and she looked like she was in real pain.

Neil said, “Ros was very sick”. He told us that she had some kind of stomach problem that was very painful, but he also assured us that she would eventually be OK.

Both my wife Katherine and I were extremely concerned, Ros appeared to really be in a lot of pain. She couldn’t even stand up by herself.

We wanted to take her to the hospital, but Neil said, “No”.

We all helped carry Ros to the short-term parking area, and as we were driving a van, and we were able to lay Ros down in the fetal position in the back.

Katherine and I became very concerned as we thought it was possible Ros might die on us.

When we got to our house, we all helped carry Ros inside, and we laid her down on the sofa in our living room.

It appeared to us that this was a really bad situation.

Then Neil asked me, “Do you have a rebounder” I asked, what the hell is a rebounder?

Neil looked at me like I was an idiot and said, “A rebounder is simply a rebounder, you jump on it”.

I said, “You mean a trampoline? “Yes” Neil said, “In Australia it’s called a rebounder, and Ros needs one to fix her problem”.

It was already eight in the evening, and I wondered where in the world we could ever find a small trampoline in Miami at that hour.

My wife Katherine said, “Hurry up and go to Sears Roebuck, they close at nine.”

Neil and I jumped into the van, and I quickly drove to the closest Sears Roebuck store. It was located at Miami International Mall, only about ten blocks from our home.

I had never heard of a small trampoline before, I was thinking we would have to buy a big one to set up in our backyard.

What a surprise, the people at Sears Roebuck knew exactly what Neil wanted, and I brought a small personal trampoline that was about 24 inches in diameter.

We immediately rushed home and assembled the trampoline on the living room floor.

Neil assisted Ros who was still very unsteady, but she got on the trampoline and started bouncing up and down.

At first, it was just a small little bounce, and then she bounced much higher.

After about twenty big bounces, Ros was smiling, she got off the trampoline and said, “Hello everyone, I’m sorry about that”.

Katherine and I were mystified as to what had happened.

Ros simply said “sometimes her stomach went inside out, like when she had been sitting on an airplane for a long flight. But after a few jumps on a rebounder, it put her stomach back in position.”

I really didn’t know what had happened, or how the trampoline had fixed Ros, but now we had learned what a rebounder was.

Ros was perfect for the rest of their stay in Miami.