The Grunt

 18 – Switzerland, Paris, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Florida, Honduras, Haiti

I turned eighteen and now I could drive in Switzerland. Most vehicles in Europe were manual and it was time to put my Florida overpass stick shift starting skills to the test. The Lausanne hill was a whole different experience but after some eventful practice, I eventually got somewhat competent.

After six months as duplicator, I was offered the opportunity to go on a video production trip. In those days, there were no in-camera recorders for portable professional video equipment. One person held the camera and a second person (sometimes called the grunt) carried the recorder and microphone attached to the camera with a thick wire. The person carrying the recorder had to anticipate the cameraman’s moves and move with him so that he didn’t get jerked back as he was trying to shoot.

You carried the recorder with a strap over your shoulder but the equipment was not light. As the newbie, I was the grunt. The YWAM base in Paris had asked us to come make a video of their ministry so Russ, his wife Kathy and I went to Paris. This was just the first trip we would all make together.

It was cool to see Paris but it wasn’t Kathy’s and my favorite place in the world. I always say the people make the place and we found the cliché about Parisians being rude to be true. That is a blanket statement. The people we were working with were very nice and I’m sure there are many kind Parisians but we just didn’t like the atmosphere. 

Because Russ spoke French, he had a better time of it. In general, the Parisians don’t like outsiders too well but if you at least try with a “Parlez vous Anglais?” (Do you speak English?), they will often warm up a bit at the attempt, even if they don’t actually speak English. Still, with some, you still get a curt “non” with a nose in the air.

We shot the YWAM teams in action and all the famous locations - Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph and the Centre Pompidou. Russ was gracious in not making me the grunt all the time. He also let me do some of the shooting. 

The driving in Paris was a bit stressful for us. Sometimes traffic laws and lanes seemed a bit too optional. We had a few taxi rides and from time to time, if the lane they were driving in stopped they just used a lane on the other side of the road. Nevertheless, the trip was fun, a good production experience and another opportunity to see a place that I had never been before.

Our next trip was to Denmark. YWAM was holding a big conference there and most of the Procla-Media staff went with several video production units. It was my first time in Denmark and on our way I got to drive through Germany for the first time. The autobahn has no speed limit for cars. We would be driving along and see some Porche or Mercedes come over a hill way back behind us when suddenly it would shoot past. I also got a good giggle out of the German name for exit – Ausfahrt. 

Back in Switzerland, I got to travel around a bit, visiting Zurich and the capitol of Berne. Further down Lake Geneva from Lausanne, the town of Montreaux has a cool medieval castle I got to explore. YWAM also joined in a big cross-walking event celebrating Christianity in Switzerland. It was held at the amazing Lake Lucerne, across which we got to traverse on a beautiful boat ride.


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