Host: Rob Prince (00:03)
Coming up in this episode of My Michigan Story, Life in the Great Lakes State.
Meredith Prince (00:08)
And he pretty much went straight up in flame. And this was in front of a group of probably twenty kids and their parents.
Host: Rob Prince (00:15)
How old are these kids?
Meredith Prince (00:16)
Baby to ten.
Host: Rob Prince (00:19)
My sister Meredith watches as my father makes quite an impression on a group of small children. Kinshiro Akahi accidentally sends his best friend flying off the roof of a two-story home.
Kenshiro Akehi (00:29)
And all of a sudden all I see is this giant man disappear from the roof line. He’s down, the stack of shingles are down. I’m like, not only am I on fire, I just killed my best friend.
Host: Rob Prince (00:43)
And Wesley Patton’s brother’s birthday is ruined by the apocalypse.
Wesley Patton (00:47)
So it was actually technically his birthday. wow. So he’s telling him to open up your presence because you’re not gonna have a chance to play with the
Host: Rob Prince (00:57)
Those stories and more up next on My Michigan Story: Life in the Great Lakes State, the Worst Case Scenario episode. I’m Rob Prince.
So maybe you know one of those people who always seems afraid to do anything remotely risky because of the what if element. What if the house we buy gets a crack foundation? What if flights are delayed and we miss our cruise? What if, what if, what if? And as someone who has known people like that, it’s tough to argue with them because, yes, anything is possible. Life is full of risk. Well, if you are that type of person, this episode of My Michigan Story may not be for you because in today’s episode, Michigander’s
Redefine the meaning of worst case scenario. For example, imagine someone asks you to play Moses at a church Christmas event for little kids. What do you think is the worst that could happen? Maybe the kids are unruly, maybe the fake beard itches? Well, if you said you could burst into flames in front of a group of little kids, then you win the first round of this episode. My sister Meredith Prince was there to witness this story about the time our father made a memorable impression.
and a group of little kids at a church event in East Lansing. She shared this story at our April 6, 2026 open mic storytelling event at The Fledge in Lansing. Here’s Meredith.
Meredith Prince (02:25)
Well, this is back when I was around sixteen. The church I go to used to do this event at Christmas time called The Joy of Sharing Christmas and they would decorate different rooms in the church, for example in different Bible scenes, and then groups of kids would come through and volunteers would act out scenes and interact with the kids and it was it was really fun, actually. Everyone really liked it.
Host: Rob Prince (02:49)
Are we leaving out the name of the church to avoid prevent
Meredith Prince (02:53)
Yeah.
Host: Rob Prince (02:53)
lawsuit? The church shall not be named, but it’s a church and he’s lancing.
Meredith Prince (03:00)
so I was around my dad and I always volunteered for it. Once I was too old to go through as a child, I started to volunteer because I liked it so much. So I was around sixteen and that year we were assigned to be in the Moses room. So my dad was starring as Moses and I was Moses little helper. so I would help the kids come in and out and you know, get everyone seated because they’d go from room to room. We were on a schedule. So as Moses he wore like a
a long robe and the room was decorated like beautifully. There was like cloth hanging off the walls and like there were candles everywhere, like on tables and on the floor and
Host: Rob Prince (03:41)
Like legit candles? Like not the not the fake ones.
Meredith Prince (03:47)
so you know, we we get like six groups of kids a night that come through. So the first few groups are all fine. But I am keeping an eye on the candles because the kids are sitting on the floor and the candles are, you know, all around and I’m I’m the helper and watching out for safety. So my dad is like the orator, he’s Moses, like the kids are just wrapped.
Host: Rob Prince (04:10)
Like it really is more.
Meredith Prince (04:11)
And he’s just walking around the room, just talking about
You know, God’s love and then his robe got a little too close to one of the candles. And it was like a polyester robe, and I didn’t know this before that, I know it now. That it’s very flammable. And he pretty much went straight up and flame. And this was in front of a group of probably twenty kids and their parents.
Host: Rob Prince (04:36)
How old are these kids?
Meredith Prince (04:38)
Baby to ten. And so like the kids start screaming
I’m frozen. So I’m no help. And one of the parents just shouts out, Stop dropping roll stop dropping roll. I’m like, I should’ve known that. They taught us that all the time. So he’d stopped dropping rolls. Luckily under the robe he had on Cheetos, the cotton pants. So I learned that cotton is not flammable. So those were actually just singed.
But yeah, he was legit on fire in front of me. But he stopped dropping rolled and it did go out. The the robe was destroyed. The p like I said, the pants were singed. And yeah, it was like Moses and the burning bush, although my dad said Moses and the burning tush. That’s what ended up happening. But the next day at school there was a girl there who also went to the church and she she came up to me and she said, I heard about what happened and I was just stone faced.
Like I I was still in shock, but he was fine. He just got like some of his leg hairs burned off a little bit. But that’s your warning about polyester and open flame.
Host: Rob Prince (05:56)
And if I recall correctly, mom washed the pants and got the the singe out and the pants were fine. Yeah. Can you confirm that, Mom? Were the pants fine after you washed them? that’s bad. That’s a legendary family story. Thank you very much, Meredith, for finally getting that one on the record. That was my sister, Meredith Prince.
She shared that story at our April 6, 2026 Open Mic storytelling event at the Fledge in Lansing. This is My Michigan Story, Life in the Great Lakes State, the worst case scenario episode. I’m Rob Prince.
While playing Moses in a church Christmas event may seem relatively low risk, trying to shingle a house in the middle of winter does sound pretty dangerous. So what do you think is the worst that could happen? If you said fall off the two story roof, you’d be half right with our next story. The full correct answer would be fall off the roof and light yourself on fire. Kenshiro Akahi shared this worst case scenario story at our April seventeenth, two thousand twenty six
Open Mike storytelling event at the Lit in downtown Grand Rapids. Here’s Kenshiro.
Kenshiro Akehi (07:18)
Winter of 2002. I just had my birthday and we were out. a a friend of mine, I I was newly married, and a friend of mine was like, Hey, my mom has this property out in the country. all you have to do is get together with my my eldest son, who was my best friend at the time, and and shingle the roof, and it’ll be all dried in and you guys can live there as long as like we come up with some financial situations. And I was like, Cool. So
Host: Rob Prince (07:46)
Where
were you living at the time?
Kenshiro Akehi (07:48)
I was living with my parents. deal.
Host: Rob Prince (07:50)
So you’re like this is a good
Kenshiro Akehi (07:51)
Exactly. I was like, okay, so me and my all of my years of zero construction experience. I was like I mean, how hard can it be? I mean I’ve seen shingles. I mean I there’s YouTube video now for literally anything that you need to know. Hey chat, please tell me how. And there you go, I’m a so I’m I’m a competent person, I figured it out.
And I’m out there with with my best friend and he says, Okay, I’m going to do the shingles. All I need you to do is be the runner, grab the shingles, which are by the way frozen because as I mentioned, it’s winter. Grab the shingles, haul them up the ladder. This was like two two stories high. and then get on the peak, and then you’re going to angle the shingles on the peak of the roof.
so that they don’t like accidentally slide off and like take me off the roof. ‘Cause that’d be really bad as my best
Host: Rob Prince (08:52)
Almost like Frogger or something.
Kenshiro Akehi (08:55)
So he goes and if you’ve ever done roofing or seen roofing, they they tack a two by four up as a toe guard so that they can just put their knees down on the roof because a lot of times the pitch, which is the slant of the roof, is like very high. This one happened to be a little bit lower of an angle, so it was easier for him. He’s a big dude. Okay, so he’s up there and he’s like, Okay, I said
My guy, I don’t know how to get these to you one at a time. He’s Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just you just take the torch and you defrost them. Then
Host: Rob Prince (09:29)
Ha ha ha.
Kenshiro Akehi (09:31)
you peel one on and then you put just that one on and then and then you just slide it right down because obviously there’s some like ice on the roof to make all this process easier. And I’m like, but yeah. No, no problem.
Host: Rob Prince (09:48)
Now why not wait till summer? Were you so desperate to get out of your parents’ house that you could not wait five months to do this when the wet weather was better?
Kenshiro Akehi (09:59)
I was a newlywed bro.
Host: Rob Prince (10:01)
Alright. that makes You could wait five minutes let alone
Kenshiro Akehi (10:07)
I was like, I will I will I will put whatever I need to do on that house in order to make it livable. I don’t even care if there was like furniture really. Just like give me a dried-in space, I’ll give you rent, and then I’m not in my parents’ house. My parents are lovely people, by the way, so it’s not like anything bad. But anyway. So there I was on the peak, freezing my tail off and
And I’m like, I don’t understand how this torch things work. I w I was so new to all of this. but I was determined to figure it out. So he’s like, Yeah, you just crank it and then you light it. Okay, so I lit the torch. I don’t know if any of you have ever used a torch before, but when you use a butane torch, if you flip it upside down
That’s a really bad situation because then the butane actually goes out of the flame where it is, and it could potentially, let’s just say, get all on your arm, on your jacket, and then you’re and then it looks like you’re on fire. It looks like you’re it like like you’re not on fire. The butane is on fire. And the butane will eventually burn itself off, but that’s not what your brain tells you. Your brain tells you I’m on fire. So I start to panic.
And as I’m panicking, my foot accidentally kicks the entire stack. We’re talking fifty to seventy-five pounds, probably more than that, of shingles that are still on there that have not been defrosted yet. And because the pitch is icy, as I mentioned before, it starts its little track down to exactly where my friend was.
Now, first of all, right, you gotta think about his viewpoint. His advantage is he’s here on the pitch. He’s here on the pitch and he sees his best friend and his arm is on fire and he’s flapping like a like a chicken, right? And then all of a sudden he sees he sees what’s coming. There is a seventy-five pound
a stack of shingles that is covered right so there’s no stopping it there’s no anyway he he can’t go left he can’t go right I asked him afterwards I was like bro what were you even thinking he was like what else could I think I was like this is going to kill me so it comes down straight at him and all of a sudden all I see is this giant man disappear from the roof line. He’s down the stack of shingles are down. I’m like not only am I on fire, I just killed my best friend
This is what do I tell my best friend’s mom? You know, like all these thoughts are chucking through my head, and I’m just like, Are you okay? He goes, Yeah, the snow, thank God we did it in the winter time. The snow actually, there was a bank there, and it was it it had just fallen, so it was soft enough to like break the fall. Two stories though, just poof. And I was like, my lord. So after that point, he goes, Okay, so.
Well you need to know about the torch.
And he’s and he’s Eddie Eddie Eddie breaks it down for me and he’s like, Okay, so you do this. Don’t turn it upside down, otherwise you’ll catch yourself on fire again. No big deal. Here, you know what? Here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m I’m gonna defrost him, and then I’m gonna set him all on the pitch or the roof, and then all you have to do is just kick him down to me one at a time. But we’ll get this thing dried in. And we did. And we not bad you best friends to the end, man.
Host: Rob Prince (13:40)
was not on with
Kenshiro Akehi (13:51)
We at at that point he had been my best friend. Well, geez. Like he knew me when I was probably like this tall. Like we were best friends all through our childhood. And he was in he he was a he was a part of my life all the way up until probably about like ten years ago. huh. so so just really best friends forever kind of vibe. And he is an incredibly competent human being and he knows just a lot about everything.
Anytime something like that would happen, because he has more knowledge than I do in pretty much all of life, he would just kinda take a step back, explain everything, and then just be like, Okay, now try it again. It was great.
Host: Rob Prince (14:34)
So he was absolutely unflapable. Yeah. He comes back up on the roof like like it was nothing like, Okay, here’s a tip.
Kenshiro Akehi (14:42)
Yep. Right.
He’s like he’s like, no big deal. I know that it wasn’t intentional. I’m really glad that there was snow down there. Otherwise this might be a different conversation. we didn’t have to have EMS out today, so cool. You’re not on fire. It’s just the butane. Now you know and understand that. Just just just like I don’t know, an older mentor type of vibe would would would have with their Mentee.
Host: Rob Prince (15:05)
And what are you doing? I mean, what is what’s going through your mind when he comes back up?
Kenshiro Akehi (15:09)
I’m like, okay, so he’s I I am incredibly good and skilled at mirroring the energy that is being brought. So he’s bringing me this energy. I know I don’t have to freak out about it. I can understand that he’s cool and that he’s not hurt. And that was my primary that was like number one. And so as long as he’s good, you tell me what to do and I can do it. Just show me how to do it.
Host: Rob Prince (15:37)
How long did it take you to actually finish roofing the house then?
Kenshiro Akehi (15:40)
Not very long. Once w once we had a pattern going, it was just like clockwork. Click click click click click. It just was that that that first initial gears needing to come and mesh together and we did we did burn through a couple of those gears but
Host: Rob Prince (15:55)
Did you ever tell his mom what happened?
Kenshiro Akehi (15:58)
He told his mom what happened. Okay. Yeah, and she and she was like, Kenny, that is the only person on the planet who was allowed to call me that name. Kenny she was like, yeah, just be careful with my voice.
Host: Rob Prince (16:14)
So what was it like when you finally got to move in with your new
Kenshiro Akehi (16:17)
No. Yeah, that never happened.
Host: Rob Prince (16:20)
all right. Well Okay.
Kenshiro Akehi (16:22)
And not because we were divorced. We are divorced now, but that that that that that went south because his mom went crazy.
Host: Rob Prince (16:29)
Okay,
all right. Well that’s unfortunate. Kenshiro Akahi. He shared that story at our April 17, 2026 open mic storytelling event at the Lit in downtown Grand Rapids. This is my Michigan story, Life in the Great Lakes State, the worst case scenario episode. I’m Rob Prince.
Would you like to see MyMichigan Story live and in person? Well, you’re in luck because we will be hosting a free open mic storytelling event at Schuler Books in Okemos on September 10th at 6 p.m. Come hear awesome true stories from Michigan and then share your own for a chance to get it on the radio. For more information about that event and future My Michigan Story events, you can subscribe to our e newsletter at my MichiganStory.com. That’s mi MichiganStory.com.
Welcome back to My Michigan Story, Life in the Great Lakes State, the worst case scenario episode. So imagine you’re a kid and it’s your birthday. Seems like an awesome thing. What’s the worst thing that could happen? I’d understand if you said that you could start yourself on fire, since that’s been part of the theme in this show so far, and there are birthday candles after all. But that would be child’s play compared to what happened to Wesley Patton’s brother on his birthday. On his birthday, the worst case scenario was pretty much the ultimate.
worst case scenario, the world ended. Well, at least that’s what they thought. Wesley shared this story at our Juneteenth open mic storytelling event at Michigan State University in East Lansing on june sixteenth, two thousand twenty six.
Wesley Patton (18:32)
Think I was like eleven years old. Let’s just say this was in the late ninety. I would say ninety-eight. where did it It was in Flint, Michigan.
Host: Rob Prince (18:36)
Late nineties. All right. And where? Michigan. Perfect. Okay. And I was
Wesley Patton (18:43)
A a kid and I lived with my mother and her boyfriend and it was I had five siblings. Wow. So yep. it was the day before my brother’s birthday, actually. March twenty third. We’re
Host: Rob Prince (18:56)
Nice.
Wesley Patton (18:57)
sound asleep and we were waking up suddenly.
by our mother who was frantic and her boyfriend who was also frantic. Yeah,
Host: Rob Prince (19:06)
Okay.
Wesley Patton (19:07)
so as you can n now you hear the the traumatic part. Yeah. You’re waking up all the kids, yelling like, get up, get up.
Host: Rob Prince (19:16)
Are they saying anything or like why? Yeah.
Wesley Patton (19:19)
What they’re saying why. They’re definitely saying why.
Host: Rob Prince (19:24)
Okay.
Wesley Patton (19:25)
But that’s the part that’s traumatic. So
Host: Rob Prince (19:27)
Okay, what happens?
Wesley Patton (19:29)
apparently they were watching some infomercial or some after dark paid programming and an apocalyptic theme was going on. Like it was like showing maybe some meteors colliding and
New York, while the T V reporter was saying, This is the end of the world, like get the people you love closest to you.
Host: Rob Prince (19:56)
And they thought it was real?
Wesley Patton (19:58)
They thought it was real.
So not only did they wake up the kids, my like I said, it was my brother’s birthday the next day. So it was actually technically his birthday. wow. So they’re telling him to open up your presents because you’re not gonna have a chance to play with them.
Host: Rob Prince (20:17)
Yeah.
Wesley Patton (20:19)
This
was probably like two, three in the morning. Yeah.
Host: Rob Prince (20:25)
What happened next? So so what are you all doing, like crying?
Wesley Patton (20:28)
So we so I was talking to my brother other day. I don’t remember this part, that’s how you know it’s traumatic. But he was like, Yeah, we were all in there crying. And I just remember my mom being on the phone, talking to my aunt who’s in Chicago, like, the world is gonna end, like, I love you You know, and calling other people, like the pastor.
Host: Rob Prince (20:51)
Seriously, at like two in the morning?
Wesley Patton (20:52)
Yes,
called the pastor. At two in the morning, three in the morning, calling to Chicago, calling our family that was in Flint. So yeah, that was the sh probably the strangest thing that that happened to me as a kid in Michigan, in Flint, Michigan. And
Host: Rob Prince (21:09)
What what was your brother whose birthday it was? Is he trying to like have fun opening presents? Like were you all sitting around watching him open presents or what? Yeah.
Wesley Patton (21:18)
Yeah,
I guess that’s what that’s what the vibe was. Like I said, I don’t exactly remember that part. maybe my eyes were like full of tears.
Host: Rob Prince (21:27)
Were you like down in did you have a basement? Were you down in the basement or you just didn’t even bother?
Wesley Patton (21:32)
No,
we weren’t it we weren’t in the basement. We were in our mom’s room. crawled in front of the T V, crouched down, that’s what I remember.
Host: Rob Prince (21:40)
But there was nothing on the TV that would have been little
Wesley Patton (21:42)
So
Host: Rob Prince (21:48)
When did they when did it finally dawn on them that it was gonna be okay?
Wesley Patton (21:52)
And that’s the part that we were discussing the the other day, like man, like that was such a traumatic moment as a kid. I don’t know when we were okay, when we were like, Okay, the world is not gonna end, like we’re okay, like we’re not gonna die.
Host: Rob Prince (22:06)
And this is the late nineties so y you can’t really jump on the internet and
Wesley Patton (22:10)
You can’t Google it or use chat GPT like, hey, what’s going on?
Host: Rob Prince (22:14)
Yeah. So it’s probably just about at the end of the time where you could be fooled by something like that and not be able to verify it right away. So Yeah and
Wesley Patton (22:26)
Yeah, and you never know what else was involved, you know. you catch my dreams.
Host: Rob Prince (22:31)
Ha ha ha!
Wesley Patton (22:32)
Some alcohol
Host: Rob Prince (22:33)
Mm-hmm.
Wesley Patton (22:34)
or something like that. I don’t know. it was it was definitely a funny moment now that I look back at it, but when I was a kid, I think it was kind of like scary.
Host: Rob Prince (22:43)
yeah. So it was yeah.
Wesley Patton (22:44)
Probably like a weird a weird moment where you actually thought your the world was coming to an end. You know, remember Y2K? yeah. It was before Y2K. So when Y2K came, we weren’t even scared.
Host: Rob Prince (22:55)
You’re like, we’ve been through this before.
Wesley Patton (22:58)
Yeah.
Host: Rob Prince (22:58)
Open your presence now. my gosh, that is incredible. So how did going through the end of the world change you? Do you feel like you can tackle anything now because you’ve been through the end of the world? man.
Wesley Patton (23:13)
So what a question.
Host: Rob Prince (23:14)
How are you different having lived through the apocalypse?
Wesley Patton (23:18)
Man, I think once you go through that type of trauma is no no trauma that can really shake
Host: Rob Prince (23:22)
Yeah. A broken down car isn’t really gonna ruin your day.
Wesley Patton (23:25)
Flat tire. man, I remember when the meteors were coming.
Host: Rob Prince (23:31)
my gosh, that’s wonderful. You seem extremely cheerful and pleasant for someone who grew up in a lot of trauma. How did you manage to become such a cheerful person? or are you just putting on a show? No.
Wesley Patton (23:46)
Perseverance builds character. Yeah. and I think part of my purpose, I believe, you know, since I have such an easy time being happy, since that’s my baseline, since I have a optimistic outlook, to give that to other people.
Host: Rob Prince (24:03)
Wesley Patton. He shared that story at our Juneteenth Open Mic storytelling event at Michigan State University in East Lansing on June 16, 2026.
Okay, for our final story, imagine you’re a major gift officer at a museum and your job is to entertain donors and try to get them to give a bunch of money to your museum. One day you’re put in charge of driving around some very wealthy potential donors to show them around, schmooze them, and try to persuade them to donate some of their hordes of cash. What’s the worst thing that could happen, do you think? If you said running over one of them with your car, then you’re the winner.
Elisa Hunta shared this story at our January sixteenth, two thousand twenty six Open Mic storytelling event at the Lit in downtown Grand Rapids. Here’s Elisa.
speaker-4 (25:01)
So it’s 2013. I am living in Bloomfield Hills, but I am working at the Arab American National Museum, which is in Dearborn. It’s a beautiful museum. So my job there was a major gift officer. So for any of you who work or are not in the nonprofit world, but someone like me as a major gift officer, I am asking people for money and entertaining donors and talking to them and getting them on the phone. So
Our executive director decided, you know what we’re going to do? We are going to have they have an annual gala where people get dressed up and they pay a lot of money for tickets. we’re gonna invite all the wealthy people all across the nation to come for the day. And then we’re gonna take them to all the different bakeries and restaurants and stuff. So I I’m a good driver. I am a good driver. I am.
But I’m used to being in my car alone. So my job that day was I have three other people in my car and I’m taking them to the bakery. Then I’m nervous about it, okay? So
Host: Rob Prince (26:10)
Ha
speaker-4 (26:11)
So anyway, so you I took these three people to the the bakery and I’m trying to make conversation and stuff. And so we get back in the car and then all of a sudden you know I start the car and I hear this
My third passenger in the back wasn’t completely in the car and I ran over his foot.
And I wanted to die. I wanted to die. And I mean he’s my god, he’s I’m my god, do you want to go to urgent care? Should we you know, should we go to the emergency room? What what no no no so I just and so I still have to continue with the the day. All
Meredith Prince (26:51)
Yeah.
speaker-4 (26:52)
right. So he said he didn’t want to go.
So then I had to go so then I I drop them off and I’m I’m flipping out and you know I’m just like I don’t know I it’s going to get around at the office, of course it is. So then that night it’s still the gala, so I go home and I get all dressed up and I have to sit next to him. So but he was so nice. He didn’t s appear to be hurt, he told me I looked really nice, he liked my dress and everything. So so anyway, that that was it. He didn’t go to the I don’t know if he made a gift or whatever, I didn’t get fired.
But my father, who’s a really funny guy, had tons of funny expressions, and one of his expressions was twenty years from now, we’re gonna laugh at this. He says that about everything. So it has not been twenty years, but I s I do laugh at I di I did not laugh at it for many, many years when I thought about it. But yeah, now I’ll tell like my sister and you know, girlfriends like, Do you remember when you ran over that guy’s foot? So that’s my story.
Host: Rob Prince (27:47)
Awesome,
thank you. Alisa Hunta. She shared that story at our January 16, 2026, Open Mic storytelling event at the Lit in downtown Grand Rapids. Thanks so much for listening to this edition of My Michigan Story, Life in the Great Lakes State, the Worst Case Scenario episode. Today’s episode was edited by myself, Rob Prince. Our associate producer is Mary Beth Lee.
MyMichigan Story is presented by WKR Anise Lansing. Would you like to see MyMichigan Story live and in person? Well, you’re in luck because we’ll be hosting a free open mic storytelling event at Schuler Books in Okemos on September 10th at 6 p.m. Come hear awesome true stories from Michigan and then share your own for a chance to get it on the radio. For more information on that event and future events, you can subscribe to our e-newsletter at MI Michigan Story.com. That’s michiganstory.com.
Remember, I can’t make my Michigan story without your Michigan story. So send me your story today at MI Michigan Story.com. Thanks.