Name Dropping: The TV Weatherman And The Septic Tank Guy
Earlier today I was stuck in an excruciating, marathon listening session on the phone. I barely knew this lady. We met at a funeral, and never dreamed we would connect again. She lives in Buckhead, probably the most wealthy neighborhood of Atlanta, and in every way far from where I reside. What brings us together is a common desire to be of help to a mutual friend.
She droned on and on for well over thirty minutes, and it seemed like hours. My part of the conversation was mostly grunts, affirmations, feigning of interest, and desperate hope that the subject at hand would somehow be invoked again. It was not all her fault. I am not a good phone conversationalist. I want to get right to the matter, reach conclusions, and hang up- five minutes is usually sufficient. But this dear lady just rambled, on and on and on. I zoned out, hearing just enough of the endless stream of words to be signaled should the subject ever again be of interest. And then it happened.
She dropped a name. My interest was instantly engaged.
Her good friend is wife of a local television weatherman! She mentioned his name, with a sound of great import. And indeed I know that person. Many times I have sat in my underwear and watched him give the evening forecast. He wears nice suits, and has big teeth. And he makes an exhorbitant amount of money to read a teleprompter.
As she continued to talk, I began to wonder what it would be like to be a TV weatherman. They all seem to have a characteristic persona: big hair, deep voice, bubbly personality, and an amazing acumen with a little video switch hidden in the hand. I toured the CNN Center one time, so I know these guys actually stand in front of a blank blue wall and pretend to point to a weather map. And, I guess that takes a bit of talent. It's probably worth a nice residence in Buckhead.
And about ten minutes into my mind's trip, I heard on the phone, "Dave, are you there?" Mercifully, the conversation finally ended.
How funny that one should claim fame and a sense of self-importance by being acquainted with such a person. Well, actually with his wife.
Now, I've rubbed elbows with a couple of important people. I do not want to drop names, but... There's the millionaire who owns a chain of porn stores in the metro area. Curiously, I met him at a funeral, also. I haven't taken a tour of his business, and don't plan to. But he is actually a nice guy. And there is Ben, the fellow who does an amazing job of pumping out my septic tank. He will climb down into it, if necessary, and can clear it out in a jiffy. When his big truck pulls up, I like to go out into the yard and talk with him while he works. He is a nice guy...probably has a mansion in Buckhead. He probably thinks I'm a bit strange.
I think either of my "friends" to be a more worthy subject of name dropping than her weather guy.
01.11.07 (10:44 pm) [
edit]
posted by:
babe4jesus55 (
reply)
post date:
01.11.07 (8:03 pm)
You call 30 minutes a marathon? When my aunt calls I could put the phone down on the counter, go watch a movie and come back an hour and a half later and she'd still be talking! Praise God she rarely cares to talk to me, as I'm not the one on this side of the family that hears all the dirt.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
01.11.07 (8:05 pm)
Well, gee, and you know ME!
Nothin' huh? Hey man, I'm only three degrees removed from Kevin Bacon!
-via Kurt Maddox, whom I've never actually met in person.
Wait, that means YOU'RE only three degrees removed from him too.
Damn.
Um... I saw the "back, back, back, back, back," guy from ESPN walking down the street last time I was in Manhattan! "Chris" I think his name is... I don't know his last name.
No? I'll keep working at it.
posted by:
laydeepulse (
reply)
post date:
01.11.07 (8:17 pm)
i hate it when people talk on the phone so long. i AM NOT a phone talker, a 17 year old girl, and i dont care for the phone, im like you, get down to business and then hang up....nothing more. no frills.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.11.07 (8:29 pm)
Reply to: laydeepulse
I will have to say you are unusual! I've had 3 17-year-olds pass through my family, and all have been marathon phone talkers. I've had jobs where I worked the phone for hours a day, so I can do it, but it is not something I like to do. I'll take a couple of hours on Wednesday mornings to call many of the elderly in my church and connect with them. Thats a bit of fun with the phone, but not much.
posted by:
LadyG (
reply)
post date:
01.11.07 (9:19 pm)
I thought of my husband when I read this PD, he hates talking on the phone unless necessary.
posted by:
Joe (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (10:09 am)
Great blog, my brother. I especially liked your article on our Mother. Was that Melba communicating as Cuz? BTW, Rita Mae was Mother's niece and your first cousin. May God bless.
posted by:
laydeepulse (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (10:47 am)
Reply to: PastorDave
hehehe. all of my boyfriends in the past have gotten mad at me because i dontlike talking on the phone. its so funny to me.
posted by:
bawdy (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (11:14 am)
If I name drop PastorDave in Atlanta, should I expect a barrage of rotten tomatoes? The Weatherman starring Nicolas Cage was wryly amusing.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (5:31 pm)
Reply to: babe4jesus55
Really sweet aunt you have! An hour and a half on the phone listening to a gossip- surely there could be a worse experience, but I can hardly figure what it would be.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (5:35 pm)
Reply to: surrogate
Chris Berman?
Oh, I do drop your name at appropriate times with fellow bloggers. Hope you don't mind.
"So, you think what I write really stinks? I just read the post by my GOOD FRIEND surrogate, and..."
Or- "I'm not the only Baptist preacher on t-blog. Check out my GOOD FRIEND surrogate!"
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (5:36 pm)
Reply to: LadyG
Perhaps I should give your husband a call? We could have an all-inclusive 30 second conversation.
posted by:
fractalmom (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (5:39 pm)
the septic guy probably makes more money than the weather guy. how funny is THAT?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (5:41 pm)
Reply to: Joe
My goodness! Now if relatives start checking out this bloviating blog, I'll have to clean up my act! Yes, it was Melba. She hung around, and actually gave it a try, for several months. She moved on to a more productive hobby. I enjoy hanging out here and wasting time with these cyber friends. It's fun- you never know who may show up, and what may be said.
Our mom really is amazing. Guess I need to tell her?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (5:43 pm)
Reply to: fractalmom
I've noticed a characteristic of most who are truly successful in business and with money. They seem not to be in a hurry to impress others. And you're most likely right- there's probably more money in running a septic tank business than doing television weather.
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (5:46 pm)
Reply to: bawdy
When I google "Pastordave" I come up with all kinds of characters. Most of them seem to have more "pastorly" blogs. That's o.k.
I'd like to see The Weatherman. Cage seems to make lots of movies, and they all seem to be good. But, I've heard the one where he is a gunrunner is an exception.
posted by:
kurtmaddox (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (6:20 pm)
You'll love this one, PD -- I dated Kristen Cornette, one of the NBC WeatherPlus meteorologists. We dated for about 8 months and were serious for a time before ending very badly thanks to bad behavior by you know who! lol! (It was during my "cad" phase...) You can catch her at their website or lots of times on Saturday mornings on any of the NBC cable stations as that group is the weather feed for all the NBC cable outlets.
posted by:
surrogate (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (6:28 pm)
Reply to: PastorDave
Great. Now I'm a Baptist preacher? That's mean! Surely you know I'm ordained in the Church of What's Happenin' Now, Universal Synod.
(Got ordained for seven hundred green stamps and the proof-of-purchase seals off two boxes of Screaming Yellow Zonkers.)
posted by:
bronwynj (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (6:34 pm)
Name dropping one-upmanship? Hmmm let's see....
I have a friend who is a television news presenter, first in Canada & now in the US.
Gee, he's about all I can come up with, of people I've actually met in person.
Oh, I've met some Qld Opera members, and also members of Queensland's "X-Collective" musicians.
I live a quiet life in the country - almost the life of a hermit for the last couple of decades, actually!
(Have you seen the movie "Kenny" yet?!)
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (7:17 pm)
Reply to: kurtmaddox
Did a "yahoo images" of Kristen. Appears to, once again, be a woman totally out of your league that you somehow and someway fooled into a relationship. You're good at that, aren't you?
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (7:19 pm)
Reply to: bronwynj
I haven't seen "Kenny". I'll check to see what it is about.
I envision that your quiet life in the country to be rich and full. Many like myself consider such a lifestyle to be a pursuit. And you have it!
posted by:
PastorDave (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (7:20 pm)
Reply to: surrogate
I was thinkin' that would ruffle your feathers, just a bit.
posted by:
seochris (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (8:53 pm)
Well may I have ur email id pastor
posted by:
kurtmaddox (
reply)
post date:
01.12.07 (9:16 pm)
Reply to: PastorDave
Kristen's are really wonderful person who, I'm certain, burns me in effigy regularly. Most of my failed relationships were pretty even-steven in regards to fault. This one, however, was 100% my fault. Let's just put it this way -- she deserved much more than I was able to give at the time. No one deserves to be treated poorly and, at the very end of our relationship, I treated her very poorly. If you recall the Seinfeld episode about the bad break-uper -- that was pretty close to how I acted. It's very embarrassing to even recall it in my mind.
Oh, well... obviously she's moved on quite well as have I ;-) I'm always very pleased to see that she continues to excel in her profession and to move up the proverbial ladder in news television.
Tell Surrogate there's another 2 degree person for his list! lol!
posted by:
swanktrendz (
reply)
post date:
01.13.07 (3:38 am)
I have a friend who is a habitual name dropper. It makes me feel bad for her as we have been friends going on 20 years, and yet she still feels the need to name drop in order to 'pad' her own importance.
If only she would realize that the name-dropping takes away from her personality/ character rather than adding depth to it.
posted by:
ruined (
reply)
post date:
01.13.07 (9:51 am)
The weatherman has a little help pointing to the correct part on the "blank blue wall". There are TV monitors on each side of the stage with the maps projected so he can see himself and where he's pointing. Neat trick... worth at least twice what they get paid, I'm sure. :)
And I'm with you on the short and sweet phone convos. I have a friend in NJ who, when he calls, insists on talking for 4 or 5 hours at a time... and it is all him talking. I dread the phone conversations with a passion. But, as a friend, I deal...
posted by:
bawdy (
reply)
post date:
01.13.07 (11:41 am)
Reply to: PastorDave
Actually, Lord of War starring Cage as a gunrunner was very good. His character was anything but a model citizen though.
