Rudy And Me (A Guest Post From Will)

Greetings, folks. Our gracious host, Tvindy, is taking a sick day today, so you’re reading words from Will from Youngest of One. For those who didn’t hear about it already, Tvindy recently won a contest I held, and this is his prize. So let’s get the ball rolling:

Yesterday afternoon I attended my high school’s production of Romeo and Juliet. On my own blog yesterday I gave you all the boring, mundane details, but I saved the best part for this post. I showed up with a few of my friends quite early so we could get our pick of the seats. We sat down on a few chairs set up on the top tier of the auditorium. There was quite a variety of seating positions, including the balcony and even some on stage, because the play mostly took place in the center of the auditorium. One of my friends was reconsidering our seating choice, suggesting that we perhaps move to the balcony, when in walked former mayor of New York City, Rudolf Giuliani, who happened to sit down just four or five seats apart from mine. 

I think it’s safe to assume that you are probably thinking, “What would Rudy Giuliani be doing at a high school play?” Well, since my school is a boys-only one, for the productions, we cast girls from other affiliated schools. One such girl was Caroline Giuliani, daughter of Rudy Giuliani, who played the lead role (and very, very well, I might add). Needless to say, I was a bit taken aback when I first saw the former mayor. Counting my sighting of Jason Bateman at Shea Stadium, this was only my second famous-person sighting ever. Mind you, I’m not one to follow politics, especially considering that I’m fifteen (and was even younger when he was mayor), but to see in person someone you’ve seen on television so much is a somewhat surreal experience.

Not surprisingly, I wanted proof that I had seen the man himself in person. So during intermission I explained my plan to a friend, as follows, “I’m going to get the camera phone out of my back pack, jump in front of Giuliani, snap the picture, e-mail it to my Yahoo account, use the wonders of Photoshop to crop myself into the picture, and then finally sell t-shirts with the picture in addition to the phrase ‘I Met The Rudy.’” My buddy then suggested that as I jump out to take the picture, I yell “Peek-a-boo!” Then I asked him what sort of cool codename I should give my plan. He suggested “Operation Rudy Tootie.” I, of course, loved the idea.

So, in the end, I did attempt to snap a few photos using my cellular phone, but without the courage to jump out in front of him and capture his expression of shock, the pictures came out looking mediocre at best. The best one I could get was this. That said, it was still an experience I won’t forget for a long while. In fact, I couldn’t help but turn to my friend during intermission and say, “And to think you wanted to sit in the balcony.”

End Guest Post.