So there I was, chowing down on a sandwich and sipping a glass of wine outside the Covent Garden Hotel last week, when a car pulls up, and out comes Uma Thurman who’s greeted by a couple of people waiting at the Hotel entrance just 6 feet away from me.
I nearly choked on my chicken club.
Now, as my friends will tell you, I think Uma’s stunning. She’s absolutely gorgeous, with a great body of work (cough) and (I imagine) a sharp mind and sparkly personality. I’ve joked for a long time that Uma and me would be very happy together, never thinking I’d be choking on a sandwich just an arms length away from her.
Into the Hotel she goes, and I text everyone I know telling them who I just saw. 30 minutes or so later I walk through the restaurant on my way back from the bathroom, and pass her in the doorway as she walks into the restaurant, obviously having gotten changed and freshened up, and looking just amazing.
I pause as she continues walking by me, thinking to myself “Say something funny and engaging Steve, for Christ’s sake. Go on, bowl her over…”
Of course, I didn’t think of anything and didn’t even go for the “Hi, my name’s Steve” angle. So I leave the Hotel, throwing a couple of glances behind me, not having plucked up the courage to say something to one of my favourite actresses and one of the most stunning women on the planet (IMHO).
I bottled it. I persuaded myself that I shouldn’t do anything, and persuaded myself that I’d end up looking like a complete, star-struck idiot (which is exacty what I was). Faced with a fantasy situation that had suddenly become reality, my confidence escaped me.
Did I blow it? Did I throw away my one chance to say hi, get a photo with her, even have a little conversation with her? Is it possible to say something in that situation without looking like a total jerk and getting thrown out by security?
You know what? I doubt she’d have invited me to lunch, to her room or to live with her in LA, but I bet I could have got a smile out of her (I can be pretty charming when I try), even just a small one before getting thrown out. So should I have plucked up the courage to say something even if it meant crashing and burning?
- Other articles you might like:
- Confidence, Spiders and Cheekiness
- Randy Pausch, ‘The Last Lecture’ and Your Confidence
- What choices are you dodging?
October 9th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I did that very thing. Ok, it wasn’t with Uma, but with a man I’d never actually met face to face.
I was in a relationship that was going nowhere and this friend and I had been talking for over a year. One day I realised that without him in my life I wouldn’t be the same person. He had become someone that I depended on, someone I could tell anything to and know – for some reason – that I could trust him with my life. So I plucked up the courage and told him how I felt. He didn’t run away. Two months later we met for the first time and as he walked across to me I felt like I’d been hit by a train the force was something else.
We’ve had a year and a half now of turbulence, separating from old lives etc but telling him how I felt was the greatest move I’ve ever made. We’re coming out the other side now and we have the kind of love that makes people look at us and think ‘why can’t I have that?’. He is my everything.
If you want to talk to someone, do it. Take that chance. Even if the result isn’t what you wanted, that is better than asking yourself the question in 10 years time…should I have?
X
October 9th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
@ Steph: Awesome story Steph! Next time I bump into Uma (or Kylie) I’ll be sure to say something.
Just goes to show that being bold pays off, and even if a decision doesn’t seem to be a practical route forwards, if it means something to you then it’s the best choice you can make. Wishing both of you nothing but the good stuff.