The Daily Bite

Afflecktion

I am obsessed with Ben Affleck. OK, not really obsessed with HIM, but obsessed with the fact that he was standing right there in front of me at the Kodak booth at Comdex. I had the perfect opportunity to have a NORMAL conversation, ONE-on-ONE interaction, potentially gather an email address out of it – and I BLEW IT!!!

What Actually Happened

Some background info: I had 2 hours sleep the night before (out celebrating my birthday). Ben had been at the Luxor the night before, didn’t see him, but he had signed some Bounce posters, so he was definitely in Vegas.

{SCENE SETTING: Kodak booth at Comdex, Friday, November 17th, approx. 1pm.}

[I’m typing away at a terminal, helping a customer – hair thrown up, wearing glasses and the ever present khaki pants and black Kodak shirt – i.e., not looking my best]

[Move scene to Tony, hamming it up with all passers by, standing with a tall, good looking man.]

Tony: "Tina, doesn’t this guy look like Ben Affleck?"

[I glance over, think the guy looks somewhat like Ben, but not overwhelmingly so. His hair is very short and he’s clean shaven, not the typical Ben Affleck look shown in the media… I notice that his Comdex pass is turned around and think that I should check the name on his pass]

Me: "Well, it could be him."

[I turn back, stare at potential-Ben, potential-Ben stares back with a look as if to say, "so do you think I’m HIM?", no words are exchanged, only a momentary stare. The next 15-30 seconds are fuzzy, then I look over just in time to see Ben walking away from the booth in a bit of a hurry, too far away now to get him back.]

The Aftermath

At first, I was not convinced it was him. I thought, if I saw Ben Affleck, I would KNOW it was Ben Affleck, how could I not recognize him immediately? But the evidence piled up:

- he was in Vegas on Thursday night
- through a web-board, I found out he was still in Vegas on Saturday night
- he was very tall and very cute
- Tony said his teeth were a bit crooked
- He had his pass turned around so no name was visible
- I find an article on the internet that says he’s a computer geek
- Ted tells me that he & a few acting buddies are trying to break into the online entertainment industry
- I’m cursed. I have the worst Karma when it comes to meeting or even seeing celebrities, so it would make perfect sense that I would blow a dream opportunity to have normal interaction with one of the most famous (and damn fine) guys on the planet.

The Afflecktion Starts

Once convinced that I missed the biggest opportunity of my life, my mind has been racing with nothing but thoughts of what could have been. I’ve been going through it over and over in my mind, with scenarios ranging from close to realistic, to elaborate unrealistic fantasies that don't take into account the fact that I’m happily married and allow me to think that Ben might actually have given me the time of day.

The realistic ones are pretty boring, but still would have been much better than what actually happened. I envision taking his picture, uploading it to the Picture Center, showing him how to put his face on a Panda bear, laughing with him, memorizing the email addresses as he sends a Picture This Postcard to Gwyneth, and saying "it was a pleasure meeting you."

The other fantasies are getting more and more intricate every day. Now mind you, my fantasies so far are mild, totally PG, no raunchy sexual stuff happening (though I’m pretty sure, with all the thinking I’m doing, that I’ll get to that eventually), they just involved detailed thoughts of how the interaction could have gone... they only lead to dinner… then I usually doze off by the time I get that far. I probably shouldn't even call them fantasies, more like day dreams.

What Could Have Happened (under no realistic circumstances)

Anyway, here’s one example of how I think it could have gone if 1) I had paid closer attention, 2) I wasn’t married, and 3) Ben would give me the time of day.

[I’m typing away at a terminal, helping a customer – hair thrown up, wearing glasses and the ever present khaki pants and black Kodak shirt – i.e., not looking my best]

[Move scene to Tony, hamming it up with all passers by, standing with a tall, good looking man.]

Tony: "Tina, doesn’t this guy look like Ben Affleck?"

[I glance over, think the guy looks somewhat like Ben, but not overwhelmingly so. His hair is very short and he’s clean shaven, not the typical Ben Affleck look shown in the media… I notice that his Comdex pass is turned around and think that I should check the name on his pass.]

Me: "Well, it could be him."

[I turn back, stare at potential-Ben, potential-Ben stares back with a look as if to say, "so do you think I’m HIM?", no words are exchanged, only a momentary stare.]

Me: "Hmmm, let me take a closer look. The hair is throwing me off a bit, but the cheekbones are right and the chin is right. Can I look at your badge?"

Ben: "Sure - Bob Fleck, good name, isn’t it?" [Ben quips, not admitting to either identity.]

Me: "One last thing, let me look at your hands."

[I take Ben’s hand in mine, holding it gently. Ben looks at me, he is unmistakably aware of my touch.]

Me: "Yes, these look to be the finely manicured hands of someone who’s appearance is important to their job – so you’re definitely not a computer programmer." [all laugh]

Me: "Well ‘Bob’," [I say sarcastically and give Ben a wink], "why don’t you let us take your picture, then use the Picture Center to turn you into a monkey."

Ben: "You can do that? Cool."

[I take Ben’s picture and make Tony take one of me with Ben. Wait, this is my fantasy right? Change that to: we take Ben’s picture and Ben insists on having me in a picture with him. Lots of joking and flirting ensues. We talk about animals and I tell him how I love animals and used to volunteer at the zoo… ]

Ben: "Have you seen the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay? It's pretty awesome."

Me: "No, I’ve been meaning to get over there but I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time."

Ben: "Do you have some time after you finish today? – I’m staying there and I have free passes - I’d love to take you – and we can grab something to eat afterward."

Me [heart racing]: "I’d love that, I just need to change because there’s no way I’m going out in public dressed as Miss Kodak Computer Geek. I need to throw on my jeans."

Ben: "Ok, why don’t I pick you up at 6, is that enough time?"

Me: "Perfect, see you then."

[I go back to my hotel, put my contacts in, take my hair down and put on my jeans and a tshirt, nothing fancy, but a nice improvement over the booth garb. As I go outside, I see Ben hanging out of a limo. He’s looking at me, but I don’t think he totally recognizes me.]

Me: "Hey Ben, see anything else cool at Comdex?"

Ben: "Oh. Yeah, that Memory Stick thing was cool. Wow, I almost didn’t recognize you."

Me: "Yeah, I was incognito at Comdex."

[Here it starts to become blurry, less detailed. I envision laughter and sharing stories… then, maybe because I actually AM happily married, my mind doesn’t let me take it any further, besides, I don’t think it would be appropriate material for a public blog, but let’s just say my imagination is working harder each day.]