Metropolitan Diary
Tony Roberts Says
Dear Diary:
It was 1978, and I was at my first job in New York City: holiday helper in the cookware department at Bloomingdale’s.
There was a video playing on a loop that featured the writer and television producer Burt Wolf giving some sort of demonstration.
One day, the actor Tony Roberts came in. He noticed the video.
“Burt Wolf!” he said. “I haven’t seen him since high school. Does he come in often?”
I said I had never seen him.
“Well, if he comes in, tell him Tony Roberts says, ‘Hi.’”
A few days later Burt Wolf did come in. I told him Tony Roberts had been in and had said to say, “Hi.”
“Tony Roberts!” he said. “I haven’t seen him since high school. Does he come in a lot?”
I said I had seen him only the one time.
“Well, if he comes in again, tell him I said, ‘Hi.’”
A couple of evenings later I was walking down Lexington Avenue to the subway when I saw Tony Roberts walking toward me.
“Burt says, ‘Hi,’” I said without breaking stride.
— John Lombardi
Chai Times
Dear Diary:
Scene: One of the few old-time diners left in New York City. It’s crowded. A fresh-faced young man, maybe 22, takes a seat at the counter.
“What can I get you?” the server asks.
“Do you guys do chai?” the young man asks earnestly.
“What?”
“Chai,” he repeats. “Chai latte?”
The server ducks into the clattering kitchen. Cursing, laughing and screaming are heard.
She returns.
“We have Lipton,” she says.
— Barbara Lippert
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/25/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html
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