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August 25, 2007
It's a Small World - Posting from England
Guys and Gals, I've fallen a bit behind in posting. I'd hoped to post daily or to at least post several entries every several days so that I'd have one entry per day and create the illusion, for future generations digging through the archives, that I kept up with things. While I fully intend to still try to pull that off over the next couple of days I thought I'd make a quick entry about something that happened to me this past Saturday night.
That would be Saturday night in London, England.
As a birthday present Lady Penelope took me to see Spamalot at The Palace Theater in London.
Spamalot was incredible. Very good. I can't begin to describe just how good it was. You should see it if you can.
Lady P had hired a car to take us to the theater and our driver arrived promptly at the arranged time.
Wait, no. Lady P's father drove us to the theater following a meal prepared by Lady P's mother. (Lady P's parents are incredible. Very good. I can't begin to describe just how nice they were. You should see them if you can. I'll provide their address at the bottom of this post.)
Anyway, we took our seats a short while before the show started. We had seats one and two (at the aisle) in a row that was entirely empty and Lady P commented that we shouldn't get too comfortable as we'd likely have to get up a few times to let people by.
As it happens, we had to stand but once.
As the group of six-or-so people passed by us I caught ear of their conversation (and accents) and asked where they were from. "Cleveland," said one of the women,
"I'm from Columbus," I replied.
And there you have it. I'd traveled all the way from Columbus, Ohio to London, England to sit and watch a play next to people I live two hours from (give or take).
At the intermission (or interval, as they say here) Lady Penelope and I went to the bar to collect drinks we'd pre-ordered. As we returned to the theater one of the men from the Ohio group was just leaving and said, "Can you believe it? Intermission is almost over and my wife just now decided she's thirsty."
Having been married before, I believed it.
When the gentleman returned he commented that the line at the bar had been too long and that he'd given up. He also mentioned that he and his wife weren't actually from Cleveland, but from Norwalk, Ohio. While I was very tempted to say, "The home of the Norwalk virus," I instead went with, "Do you know any Smiths?"
("Smith," of course, is not the real name and is used in place of a rather uncommon (to me, anyway) last name.)
"I know a John Smith," he said. "My wife and I work with him," and he continued and mentioned the place the John Smith I know works.
"I know his son, John Jr." I said. "As a matter of fact, John Jr. and his wife are the godparents of my oldest child."
And there you have it. I'd traveled all the way from Columbus, Ohio to London, England to sit and watch a play next to people I live two hours from (give or take) and who work with the father of my oldest child's godfather (whose wife I'd gone to high school with).
[Ah. This is the part where Lady P's parent's contact info should be. I know you knew I was kidding.]
Posted by delmer at August 25, 2007 7:25 AM
Comments
Sounds like a good time. My London-Ohio story: Mom, Dad, and my two youngest sisters traveled to merry old England on vacation to visit another of my sisters and they brought back lovely souvenirs. Mine was a shirt that had something distinctly British on it, I'm sure, but I don't remember what it was. When I looked at the tag, it said "Made in Cincinnati".
Posted by: Rob at August 29, 2007 5:24 PM
At least you're not dead! Your previous entry made it sound as if you would be following up on the trip over the Atlantic... then nothin'!!
Oh well, glad you arrived safely and are having a good time! :-)
Posted by: Dave2 at August 29, 2007 8:53 PM
Was this part send to us through the Red Cross? You must have a restraining order placed on you when entering Great Brittain. I dont wonder, tell us more about how the private prison system is for an american in Wells Bay...
Posted by: Jack at August 30, 2007 2:15 AM
Rob: Could it have said, "My parent's visited London and all I got was this bollocksy shirt."
Probably not, I guess. I was in Missouri (about 20 years ago) at a college football game and bought a water bottle with the name of the college on it. As I looked it over I noticed it had been made about 15 miles from where I lived.
Now, of course, the bottle (and your shirt) would have come from a land far, far, away.
Dave: I'm well, having fun, and neither work nor blog fans are calling me at early hours.
Jack: I don't know much about the prision system yet, BUT -- on my first night in London I did get to give a witness statement to a Bobby.
Posted by: delmer at August 30, 2007 8:09 AM