Wheel of Fortune Wheelmobile Adventure
Posted by Amy Evelyn Oden , Sunday, August 26, 2012 10:29 AM
Patrick, Vianne & I had a fun adventure yesterday! Being a big Wheel of Fortune fan and a Wheel Watchers Club member, I had gotten an email several days ago saying that the Wheelmobile was coming to Mathis Brothers Furniture in Ontario, CA, to find contestants for the show.
Since I moved to California 3 1/2 years ago, I had been applying online to be a constestant with no luck. I had gotten other notices about the Wheelmobile during that time, but it was always a long drive or inconvenient times. This was on a Saturday afternoon, only 20 min. away, so seemed like the perfect occasion to try it.
The day (well, week) before, however, had been wrought with misadventures: I woke to ants in our bed (one crawling on my face :/), we had to empty the bedroom & bathroom (which we had finally begun to make progress on unpacking) to set off some bug bombs, I had to drive an hour to get a birth certificate for Vianne, which actually went really smoothly until I came out to find a $63 parking ticket on my car even though I had paid for an hour & had 13 min. left on the meter. I went immediately to the ticket office to contest & started crying at the ticket window. Not pretty.
I was in a foul mood and woke Saturday still struggling with my attitude, going back and forth about the Wheelmobile event. The chances of getting picked were so slim, it seemed like a big hassle for nothing, and I was certain my "bad luck" would continue. But at the last minute, I decided to trade in foul for fun and go anyway.
We got into the first game round with a few hundred others. Everyone has to fill out a small application form and put in a big box. (I used my mom's trick of folding the application in an asymmetrical way in hopes that it sticks out among the flat sheets. My mom often wins drawings, you see. I never do, though.) Names were then drawn for a series of truncated rounds of the Wheel of Fortune game, which was to last about an hour.
The whole thing was being taped, to be reviewed by the show's producers, for them to pick out appealing candidates, but with no guarantee that anyone would actually become a contestant. It seemed pretty obvious that the most important part was a brief interview by the host with each contestant before each round where you were supposed to sell yourself as a candidate, with outstanding enthusiasm for the game and preferably interesting and unique details about yourself.
We watched the whole "show" and with five minutes left 'til the end of the hour, we were pretty sure neither of us were getting picked and we were going home empty-handed. They went for one last draw of five names, and we were absolutely stunned to hear them call out "Amy Oden". I floated up to the front & was in utter bliss as I waited for my turn, practicing my interview answers over in my head.
I think the interview went well - I tried to be as charming as possible ;-). I played up my French speaking, which no one else had mentioned, and as I guessed, was asked to speak a little. The actual game play was very quick; I didn't solve the puzzle, but I picked two good letters & did my best to be articulate and enthusiastic.
There are slim chances that a Wheelmobile contestant will make it on to the show, but even still, the whole experience was such a blast!! After 30 years of watching the show, playing the board game with my siblings and most recently the computer game with Patrick, it was such a rush to be that close to the real thing. That day, my spirit was really needing a lift, and this proved to be the perfect turn of events, so I'm thrilled to just have gotten to play!
I came home with a few prizes, too - a Wheel of Fortune duffel bag, hat, magnet, minipack, T-shirt, and keychain - and a huge smile!!
I bet you will be called! You ARE charming and they would be crazy not to call you! So happy you got to play:)