Saturday, June 04, 2005

Walk On By

The universe is laughing at me.

Today we went out to a big yard sale in our neighborhood (or to quote a Fred Eaglesmith song, a "big ass garage sale") and I spotted a Famous Canadian Singer-Songwriter.

He was standing outside his house selling stuff.

Now, I’m terrible at these chance meetings. Even if I remind myself ahead of time not to be awkward, I always end up saying something dumb. While it may not be insincere to say something such as "I love your music and I'm a singer-songwriter myself", it certainly can seem needy.

Having learned my lesson many times, I now simply walk on past, sometimes giving the Famous Person a friendly but casual glance which reassures him or her that no, I am not another stutteringly awkward fan (or, worse yet, a stutteringly awkward fan who is also an obscure singer-songwriter).

Making matters even more complicated, F.P. was talking to my next-door neighbour, whom I know quite well. But I could handle it. Smoothly, I said hello to her, glanced pleasantly in F.P’s direction and breezed on by.

But not before I overheard him start talking to someone who came up to him with a vinyl LP in his hand, saying:

"Look at this! A record of subway musicians in Toronto!"

(That’d be the 1981 recording "Music For Subways", which featured the first eight licensed TTC musicians.)

I kept walking...choosing not to awkwardly introduce myself as a fan, an obscure singer-songwriter and a subway musician.

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