Just Another 'Parents Night' in New York

I rushed into the school cafeteria, late, scanning the heads of the seated parents for Oodgie.  It was our first "parent night" at Cheeky's new school, and work had kept me later than I'd planned.  It was an important milestone and I wanted to be there for it.

"Behind you!"

It's Oodgie, who I had nearly decapitated with my laptop bag mere moments before.  She was already sitting at a table with parents from Cheeky's class.

"It's OK...we'll make room," everyone says, as chairs slide apart to expose a corner of the table.

"Hi everyone.  Sorry I'm late"

Instinctually I reach across the table to the nearest mother to introduce myself.  There's a strange sense of familiarity to her.

"Hi, I'm Tony."

"Hi, I'm Hope."

That's what her name tag said.  "Hope"  Plus the names of her two kids, one of whom is in Cheeky's class this fall.

I can't decide if that means we've inadvertently put Cheeky into a fancy school, or if that's just New York for you.  After all, we did pass Sigourney Weaver on the street last week, and I just happened to walk past a meeting with George Pataki just hours before.  But I also heard a rumor that "Bob" sent his kids to Cheeky's school, too.

No wonder we feel poor, if that's the local crowd we compete against...

Anyway, she's super nice and totally normal.  We talked about the school, the success of our diet, and growing up in New Jersey.  But before I got there, Oodgie (who hated American Splendor but neglected to mention this to Hope) got to witness a funnier and more awkward conversational moment:

Guy sitting next to Hope:  "Do I know you from somewhere?"
Hope:  "Um, I don't know"
Guy sitting next to Hope:  "Really, I'm sure I know you from somewhere."
Hope:  Long pause.  Shrug.
Guy sitting next to Hope: Struggling to think of where he's seen her before
Hope:  Leaning forward, in almost a whisper, "I'm an actress."
Guy sitting next to Hope:  Pause.  Quizzical look.  "No, that's not it.  Where did you go to high school?"

Comments

[Jonathon]

Whoa. And I thought it was exciting when the mayor walked past us in a park one time. PS to Oodgie -- what's the deal with American Splendor? That is down-on-your-luck Cleveland at its finest!

[Arwen]

Next Stop Wonderland is one of my all time favorite movies. When we come to NYC this summer (oh yes, 2 days in the last week in July), can I have permission to stalk her using Cheeky as a front? We are staying in the city, not Plainview (where? it's in plain view!)

[Kara]

That's like my mom visiting my pervious school, bumping into Harrison Ford, and saying "wow, that guy looks just like Harrison Ford, only shorter."

[Kara]

should I ammend that comment to point out that I typed pervious when I meant previous? Because I kind of like pervious better.

[Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah]

Man. Nobody famous goes to our preschool.

Bummer.

[MetroDad]

Reminds me of the time that a friend of mine was dating Liev Schreiber. She called me to tell me to meet up with he at a bar. I'd had a few drinks so when she introduced me to Liev, I told him it was good to see him again and that we'd met before. He (very) politely told me that he's really good with names/faces and he was pretty sure that this was the first time we'd met. Naturally I insisted he was wrong and he dropped the matter.

It was only later in the night that I'd realized that I had "met" him before...the night before when I was really high and watched "Daytrippers" on cable.

[Jason]

I was gonna say, "Dude, that sounds like a MetroDad story."

[~JJ!]

Ha! I love it.

I used to see Sigourney in a play area with her kids all the time in chelsea.

That's as close as I've gotten. My kid goes to a LI school.

[ilinap]

You are so New York. And to think I knew you when you were so Spokane!

The only famous kid at our school is the son of the head of urology at a local hospital. And man, he's a real dick.

[the weirdgirl]

Oh man, that would be the sort of lame conversation I'd have with a celebrity.

[thordora]

Wow. She's awesome.

There's always that guy though isn't there.

[Chris]

On my way flight back to the US from my visit to Korea I sat next to Bolo Yeung from Enter the Dragon. He wasn't much of a conversationalist. A lot of grunting and nodding was the extent of our conversation. He was however able to string a couple of sentences when he asked me to help him fill out his immigration entry forms.

BTW, if I sat next to someone that pretty, I'd probably get reprimanded for staring too much.

[Chris]

I just got done reading your About Me page and I agree with the best place to have a beer is at the University of Wisconsin.

[misfithausfrau]

Hmmm, I wonder if this is what we will encounter this fall when we move to Franklin, TN. I have been recently made aware that is where all of the country stars live. Unfortunately, I don't know what any of them look like, except Dolly and the Dixie Chicks.

[William]

Did he know her from Highschool? That would be funnier.