You get to ride six or seven floors in an elevator with someone you admire.
What do you say?
I said: “I don’t want to gush or impose, but I am very much an admirer.”
He said: “That’s okay, darling, just keep doing what you do.”
Pick your person, pick your bon mots. Be realistic about what you might really say, on the spot, and what you would love to say if you had time to think about it. For example, I should have said, after I held the elevator for this gentleman and he thanked me: “That’s okay — if I don’t do it, somebody else will.”
Any guesses as to my traveling companion?
Roth IS still Alive.
El Syd (Goldfield)
Oscar Wilde. Oh wait, Damn…..
The “darling” really throws me off, I admit.
As for the guy i stood an hour to see? I think I said “thank you” but probably nothing very original. i’m always torn between “let her shop for sheets for godsake” to “oh, I so need to say something clever!” But it would never occur to me to come up with something so smart like lyrics that would show i really knew my stuff.
I had a really cool Joan Baez meet-up years ago in Harvard Square which led to a really cool book inscription.
Barack Obama � I�d whisper to him �pssst � I can�t wait to vote for you in the Indiana primary, even though I�ve always been a Republican up to now�
And I�d expect him to whisper back �Thanks! And � why are we whispering?�
And THEN � I�d whisper �Well, my theory is that the whispers of millions of middle-aged white guys like me will drown out Rev Wright�s ravings, eh?�
(to be honest, I probably wouldn�t make that last remark, but I certainly WOULD do the whispering expression of support, since it is a part of his stump speech, and it really reflects my own opinion)
I’d have to go with Kinky Friedman as well. I heard him in Nashville, and we talked a bit while crossing the street together.
I did get to ride an elevator with an author I admire recently and said to her, “I just want you to know, when I’m having a really bad day and need to read something that inspires me, yours is one of my favorites to pick up.”
I’m a lot better at the quick, don’t think too much about it, comment, rather than the think about it and get freaky nervous and then blow it stage.
“Pick your person, pick your bon mots.”
Kurt Russell: “I thought you were dead!”
This also works for Kurt Vonnegut.
James Lee Burke is my guess as to the traveling companion.
As for my imaginary elevator encounter–
Stephen King: “I’m your number one fan.”
If it is Dr. John, now I have this quote in my head, which makes me laugh on several dated and outmoded levels:
“Elton John’s got two fine ladies
And Dr. John’s got three
But I’m still seeing the same old sleazoes
That I used to see.”
— “Everybody’s Makin’ It Big But Me” as sung by Rik Elswit of Dr. Hook
Martin Amis. What do I win?
Colin Firth?- he was in DC last week. I met Hugh Jackman- I wanted to tell him he has incredible thighs but I couldn’t talk- probably for the best. He does call women “darling” like Laura’s meet-up. Note I am thinking of a different sort of admiration.
Jon Lee Hooker? Uh…Brad Pitt?
I’m not making much of my locational advantage here.
I stood in line for 45 minutes to get a book signed by an admired author and still didn’t come up with anything scintillating.
Phillip Roth?
Doctor John. “If I don’t do it, somebody else will” is a line from a song I associate with him, SUCH A NIGHT.
And, he most definitely would have called you darling.
Also, did you see the nice article on BERGER COOKIES in the lastest Saveur magazine?
It sounds like you shared an elevator with either Elvis or Johnny Bravo.
Is Roth still alive?
Christopher Hitchens?
I’d like to think that I would say something witty and intelligent, but in reality I’d probably be tongue tied or babble inchoerently.
The “darling” sounds southern, I’m going with Kinky Friedman.
It sounds like he might know what you do (since you’re supposed to keep doing what you do). So is he maybe an admirer of you as well?
Leonard Cohen?
I think Roth is still alive.
Dr. John, indeed.
You need to be in the famous fans section of the Wikipedia page about him
Will Ferrel.
VG
I know what I said the time I was with someone I admire near an elevator:
“Oh my God! Look at that! It’s a fake elevator! That’s so cool!”
Once I scared Marvin Hamlisch in an elevator! I mean, I thought he was going to claw his way out.
I met Liam Clancy, who Bob Dylan called the best ballad singer he ever heard, in an elevator, and I know I said something to him, but I cannot remember what it was.
Also, Judy Collins. We actually had a conversation. I told her how I had been listening to her music my whole life (not realizing that would emphasize how we are all getting older), and she asked me which of her recordings was my favorite. I told her Who Knows Where the Time Goes. She said, “Ahhhhhhhhh,” in a knowing way, and that’s when the elevator door pinged open.
Witty elevator encounters are for pikers! A REAL challenge is � what to say in a rope-line encounter? I had such an opportunity (amidst a crush of people and many Ben Affleck-looking security guys) with the Obamas this past weekend. A very tall gentleman slipped in front of me and engaged Senator Obama in a 45 second discussion (grrr!) – so I sidled over in time to shake Michelle’s hand….and say something entirely stupid! (I said something like “You have a lovely family” – which drew a big smile and a ‘thanks!’ – and that was it!) On reflection, I think Michelle woulda� been my first choice to talk to, anyway!
I met Hillary Clinton in a rope-line encounter. It was during Bill’s first campaign. She was shaking hands, and I said “Mrs. Clinton, may we have a picture” and she said yes. It turned out great and had the place of honor on my desk for years.
ahh! such a night! if i met joyce carol oates in an elevator i’d smile, try to say ‘hello’ and be lucky to get that much out. if it was after a few vodkas
and lime i might ask if it was her or an identical twin, and immediately regret it.