Kelly and Ryan
July 17, 2007I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to share this, but I met someone famous! It was a magical moment. Here’s the story.
I was in Stamford for a sales meeting and had a free evening, so I hopped on the 5:30 train from Stamford to NYC to visit my little sis in the big city. I had mentioned that since I wanted to get an early train back, we should eat somewhere close to Grand Central Station to maximize the 2.5 hours we had to spend together. I also, however, mentioned that I was in the mood for sushi or Indian food. So Caroline concluded from that information that we should take a cab (financed by yours truly) to and from Grand Central Station to a great place called Spice Market about a 15 minute cab ride away. In her defense, it was a great restaurant and a great evening and, yes, I even made my 9:25 train…by 2 minutes!
So anyways, we’re minding our business tucked in the corner of this bustling restaurant, and I notice a familiar face walking up to the bar just behind us…it was Ryan from The Office (B.J. Novak). He was sitting with a girl immediately behind Caroline, thus in my direct line of vision. All conversation was lost, and we spent the remainder of our meal arguing over whether or not it was appropriate for me to say something.
Caroline has lived in the city all of 2 months now, so she felt the need to protect the anonymity of her fellow New Yorker, and pretty much begged me not to go up to him. I, however, noted that he was with a girl, and probably on a date, so my introducing myself as a fan would only score him points. Then I realized he was with his fellow cast member Kelly (Mindy Kaling). My rationale went out the window. I decided I didn’t live in New York and was a tourist so although my actions may have been inappropriate, they were not out of character. I also have a pretty high threshold for embarassment so, after going to the bathroom a few times to make sure it was them, I went for it.
On my way out, I had my glorious 40 second interaction with them. I told them I was a huge fan, and Mindy (in typical Kelly fashion) smiled and was totally sweet back. I proceeded to tell her I loved her b/c I’m Paki (and she’s Indian) and thanked her for “representing” for all the brown girls. Yes, I actually said that. She loved it though. I made sure to leave before I was asked to, and all in all, it went pretty well.
As I left I realized it was Thursday night, 8:30 pm (The Office airtime). Furthermore, I was staying in STAMFORD for the week (former Dunder Mifflin branch location), and Brian was in SCRANTON for the week (Dunder Mifflin branch location). How crazy is that. I guess you could say the stars were aligned. Get it? STARS?
