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| Paris, July 6, 2005 |
I wasn't supposed to meet Panagiota when I did. It was in the summer of 2003, and I was supposed to be on my way to France visiting family. But my initial flight was delayed and I missed my connection and had to spend the night in New York. Even then, I was supposed to spend the evening with Lee at his apartment. But Lee had to work late, so it was Pegs who went to Brooklyn to greet me.
Meeting your boyfriend's or girlfriend's family for the first time is pretty much always a nerve-wracking experience. But to meet them for the first time when you're not expecting to? That's scary (and I say this from personal experience: I met my wife's parents at one of her dance performances, and she had forgotten to mention that they'd be there). I can only imagine how nervous Panagiota - a fairly shy person to begin with - must have been when Lee called her at the last minute to ask if she would help me out. Making the situation all the more stressful, I got the one taxi driver in all of New York who had absolutely no idea where anything was. I ended up being well over an hour late, and I didn't have a cell phone to call Lee or Pegs. So poor Pegs was stuck waiting with no clue of what had become of me, probably wondering how she would explain to Lee that his brother was missing somewhere in New York City.
But despite the anxiety of an unexpected family visit and the likely stress and frustration of having to rush to Lee's apartment only to sit there alone for more more than an hour, Pegs was incredibly sweet when I finally arrived (of course, the half-empty bottle of wine I spotted next to her seat on the couch may have helped a bit). She offered me a glass and we spent the rest of the evening on the couch chatting and watching an episode of Sex and the City that she'd started earlier.
To be honest, I'm not sure what exactly we talked about - the only specific moment I can recall is Pegs trying to maintain a normal conversation while being deeply embarrassed by a scene with Kim Cattrall that ... well, let's just say it explicitly illustrated the show's title. What I do remember, though, is really liking Panagiota right from the start and appreciating how generous she was. It may have been a slightly awkward introduction, but from my perspective, at least, it was a great night.
6 comments:
Yes, she was more than a little nervous about meeting you without me on such short notice, but don't worry: I had to make it up to her later in back rubs and kisses. I had forgotten that you were so late on top of everything else. Between errant cab drivers, bad weather and taking the subways the wrong direction all the way into the Bronx or Queens, you've had some bad luck when going through New York. Best to stay on the west coast, mon frere, with your GPS in hand. Or just fly through Philly next time.
I don't remember the going the wrong direction into the Bronx or Queens. When was that? Or are you confusing me with Damien again?
It could have been Damien, I guess. But I distinctly remember one of you taking the uptown/Queens-bound train rather than the downtown/Brooklyn-bound train one time, which prompted a rather timid phone call from whoever it was trying to figure out where they were. I was pretty sure it was you. The call went something like this:
"Hey, Lee. So, I took the train that you told me to take, but I don't see any of the streets you said would be around the station."
"Ok.... Is there a map outside the station showing you where you are? Remember, the city is a grid: numbered streets go east-west; numbered and named avenues go north-south."
"No, there's no map."
"Ok, well, what street signs do you see?"
[Names a random street I don't recognize]
"Um, I don't know that street. I think you got on the wrong train or got off at the wrong stop."
"No, I took the [F] train and got off at the [third] station, just like you told me."
"Hmmm. Let me ask you this, did the train ever go above ground?"
"Yes."
"Uh-huh. And did it go over a river?"
"Yep."
"Yeah, you're in Queens."
"Oh, is that bad?"
"It depends on who you ask, but yes."
I also seem to recall at least one of you accidentally taking an express train deep into Harlem, but I've lost too many brain cells since then.
Derek, that directionally challenged gene is one that we share!! After living there for 18 years, I literally still get lost when driving around Monroe.
Wonderful story about Pegs.
Lee, hope ya'll are doing well. Ya'll have been in my thoughts
Definitely wasn't me...the only time I visited you in New York was with Mom and Dad. And I find it amazing that you don't remember who it was, but you remember every bit of the conversation (mayhaps you're making it all up as you go along, eh?)
In Lee's defense, he definitely remembered it as me, but I personally have no recollection of that happening at all. As far as I can remember, I only went to Lee's place in Brooklyn once (I did go to an earlier apartment before that, where I poured a heaping spoonful of salt into a cup of coffee Lee had brought me, thinking it was sugar).
That being said, I wouldn't put it past me to both a) get on the wrong train and b) forget that I did that.
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