March 2026 Bamboo Shoots Writing Contest Prompts

One night when I was walking around San Francisco, I ran into drummer Buddy Rich. Even though he was only a couple feet away, waiting to cross the street, I shouted, “Buddy Rich!”  The man has a black belt in Karate, but for some reason he flinched, gave me a startled look, and then dashed across the street.  It’s a kind of brush with greatness.  One of them.

Last year, when I was flying from Paris to Dulles, we were all lined up, you know, the first class guys, in Zone 1, we mileage people in Zone 2.  But there was a big holdup.  We all had to wait to board while Jason Momoa got the star treatment of parading ahead of us all.

Although we were a little bit ticked by this delay, on top of our already being delayed, the folks around me all agreed that we felt safer on the flight knowing he was on it : )

When I was working for Aloha Airlines — remember them? — I and a couple other employees got to escort Bob Denver and his current wife from the plane to the baggage claim area.  His Gilligan’s Island fame was fading at that point, but I still thought of him as a “star.”  He was chatting with all of us in general, a very nice, very pleasant guy, but not to any of us in particular.

Once while I was semi-conscious in O’Hare, waiting for my flight to Madison, trumpeter Doc Severinsen and his band were waiting at the same gate.  Apparently I appeared so out of it that he was moved to come over and ask me if I was all right.  Now that is the truest kind of brush with greatness.

But my most memorable encounter was running — literally — into Shelley Fabares at Ala Moana Beach.  We bumped into each other while we were swimming, and we both apologized to each other.  She’s a babe in person as well.  In shock, I treaded water for a good while watching her swim off.

How about you?  Any sort-of brushes with greatness?  Any really good ones?

Or just go ahead and write about anything you’d like.  Let’s write.

By participating in the Bamboo Shoots community, you agree to the following rules:

1. We reserve the right to remove content that promotes hate or gratuitous violence. Be respectful and courteous to others.
2. All contest challenge entries must be submitted by the designated
3. Enter as many times as you like using a trigger/prompt (this page).
4. Contest Challenge entries can be prose (including short stories, nonfiction essays, or whatever you write), poetry, or plays -- or any type of hybrid writing you dream up.
5. Every entry must have a title -- unless you choose to enter a haiku, in which case you can simply enter the word haiku in the title section.
6. All content/entries should be original work. You retain ownership of your entries; however, we may ask to use them elsewhere on the site or on social media to help promote Bamboo Ridge and/or the Bamboo Shoots online writing community.
7. Winners will be announced with all possible speed after the end of each month. Winners receive 10 Bamboo Bucks credit to spend in the BRP online bookstore. Bamboo Bucks have no monetary value outside of the online store.
8. Entries may also be selected for publication in the regular Bamboo Ridge Journal. If your piece is chosen, the editors will contact you via the email address on file.
9. Please note that you need not enter the contest challenge in order to post on Bamboo Shoots. You may post other writing if you choose. We welcome that here:  Click this link to go to Shoot da Breeze.