Lesson #9: Never Let an Opportunity Pass You By

As a college student, I find that opportunities tend to present themselves left and right, you just have to keep your eyes open for them. There is pretty much a club for anything you can think of that interests you, and if you can't find specifically what you're looking for, you always have the option to make it happen yourself. There are also countless internships and research opportunities available for students pursuing all kinds of career paths. The only hard part is seizing the moment and taking advantage of that opportunity.

There are then, of course, the once in a lifetime opportunities that you just so happen to stumble upon by chance. One of those such opportunities might be, for example, being "locked in an ATM vestibule with Jill. Goodacre."

Chandler finds himself presented with this very opportunity during a blackout in New York City. When he discovers that the blackout has caused the doors to lock from the inside, he turns around to complain to the woman trapped there with him, only to realize that it's Victoria Secret model Jill Goodacre. 

In a true testament to his own awkwardness, Chandler spends the first fourteen minutes of his time having an inner monologue with himself, thinking of something to say to her. Jill finally breaks the ice and asks if he'd like to use her cell phone to call someone. Chandler calls Joey and alerts him to the fact that he has been presented with this once in a lifetime opportunity. After he hangs up, Jill offers him a piece of gum. His response?

Clearly Chandler has never been in this type of situation before (or perhaps any situation that was one-on-one with a woman), but he is determined to take advantage of this opportunity. He decides to impress her by blowing a bubble, something that he thinks has a "boyish charm" to it. However, he accidentally spits the gum out instead of blowing a bubble. In an attempt to recover, he quickly shoves the piece of gum back in his mouth, only to realize that it's not his gum. He subsequently begins to choke on it.

Now I know what you're thinking. Chandler has definitely blown this crazy, once in a lifetime chance to impress this model. His awkwardness has definitely gotten the best of him here, and he's just going to have to let this one go, right? I mean, if you're like me, you kind of lost hope after the whole "gum would be perfection" thing anyway. But maybe Chandler can still salvage this.

Jill rushes to his aid and performs the Heimlich on him. He tries to thank her, saying "That was... That was..." She smiles at him and offers, "...Perfection?" Chandler's luck takes a turn here and by the end of the episode, he and Jill are talking and joking around with each other. When the power finally comes back on, Jill tells Chandler that she "had a great blackout" with him and kisses him on the cheek. The episode ends with Chandler looking up at the security camera in the vestibule and asking for a copy of the tape.

So, Chandler didn't end up blowing his opportunity after all! It might have taken him some time to get things going, but in the end I'd say he has a pretty successful blackout after all.

Images and video courtesy of (in order of appearance):

• Huffington Post
• Friends Season 1
• hellowonderland
• Buzzfeed
• Head Over Feels