Alec Baldwin's Okay!

I know Alec+ Baldwin+  is a polarizing figure in the press.  The papparazzi try to make him seem like an angry guy, but I have seen another side.  That side is in some way responsible for me making it to New York.

When I first started college, I was a upset because I was accepted to New York University+, but my parents wouldn't let me go.  They wanted me to go to another strong school which gave me a healthy academic scholarship.  I really wanted to go to New York to pursue my more creative and business interests. 

One day on winter break, I was in New York with two of my friends from Virginia.  We ran into a vaguely familiar and very handsome man.  We asked him if he was an actor and then tried to guess his name with various twists on Alec.  Finally, he just gave it to us and we all laughed.  He was the first celebrity I had ever seen in New York.  He began talking to us.  We asked what he was doing and he showed us a new script that he had been rehearsing.  He asked us where we were from and we told him Virginia.  He immediately told us that he went to school near where we were from in Washington, D.C. at George Washington University and studied political science.  My friend told him that she went to Howard University.  We started talking some more and I told him about my dilemma.  I told him that I wanted to come to New York and pursue that arts, but that my parents didn't approve, even though my mother loved shopping in New York during my father's business trips.  He told me right away that I needed to get my training in New York and then go to California for work.  He shared some other tips and then we left the train.  He was really sweet and helpful.

When I got home to Virginia, I told my mom what Alec had said.  She didn't seem to care until a commercial popped up on television for a film that he was in.  I told her that he was the actor we met.  Then it seemed a lightbulb went off in her head and a few weeks later she said she had planned a trip for us to visit New York and check it out, including new universities.  Fortunately, everything worked out and they allowed me to transfer to the New York school during the next semester.

I lived on the upper west side and happily, so did Alec.  One day, after the success of a big movie he starred in, I ran into him near Zabar's (gourmet store on the upper west side of New York).  I thanked him profusely.  I am sure he didn't remember, but he was gracious and gave me even more advice.  I ran into him a few times after that when we both still lived on the upper west side.  He was always nice and patient.  So, this is the Alec Baldwin I have met and this is the image I will always have.  Thanks, Alec!


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