March 27, 2015
It is a kindness for this guy, but for the rest of us probably normal behavior. This invariably cranky A list actor was stopped by some tourists with a map and asking directions and our actor spent ten minutes telling them what to see and then got them in a cab and told the driver where to take them and gave the driver a hundred dollar bill to take them around to the spots he mentioned to them.
Alec Baldwin
Yep I always can afford to drop $100 on some touristas who don't have a clue for cab fare
ReplyDeleteHint to all touristas: most hotels have concierges who know everything and have brochures and maps to share. If not, the frigging bartender knows.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. Anyone stopping me for touristy info in Manhattan is going to have a bad time. Assuming you're not Encino Man, use the internet attached to the end of your arm, dipshit.
ReplyDeleteNew Yorkers will surprise you. Maybe not with a 100 dollar bill or by accompanying you, but with directions and solid local 411. NYC is a rabbit hole, so many places to see, and everyone has their take on what to see and do.
ReplyDeleteNothing can take the place of real people who're proud of their city.
Elderly people like my 86 year old Mom, don't understand today's technology. (She thinks that IF her cell phone is 'On,' she is being charged for minutes!)
ReplyDeleteSo, I will assume that the tourist were older than 75, because it is possible for them to stop and ask directions, based on looking at a map!
Wow, to some of the comments. I live in Chicago. Downtown. Lots of foreign visitors. I always try to help if it looks like they'd like assistance. Also would really like to reverse some American stereotypes (namely rude, ignorant, and unilingual).
ReplyDeleteLooks like "Easy Peasy" was the first commenter to get the answer right - congrats.
ReplyDeleteHere were my previous thoughts on the matter (makes more since now that we know Alec Baldwin was the subject):
"Thing about this, is $100 may have been a quick and “cheap” (yeah, yeah) way for the actor to get rid of the tourists. I can picture the actor walking down the street, going about his daily routine, a gaggle of tourists approach him (whether or not they recognized him) and start asking him to point out the hot spots on their map. The actor indulges them for 10 minutes or so and finally decides he’s got better things to do, hails a cab and slips the cabbie a quick hundo to get the tourists out of his space. By the way, depending on how many people, how far they are driven, for how long, and how many stops they make, a $100 probably didn’t go very far…"
Elderly people like my 86 year old Mom, don’t understand today’s technology. (She thinks that IF her cell phone is ‘On,’ she is being charged for minutes!)
ReplyDeleteI am crushed, my daughter in law lied to me! I will expect her to call me daily from now on! Thanks!
How the hell do you know that this happened
ReplyDeleteWow. Stay the fuck out of New York, apparently, unless you want the locals to stomp on your head for asking a question!
ReplyDeleteMy first time in NYC. 8 PM, it´s dark, pouring buckets and my phone is completely drained. I´m supposed to meet my friends at our rented appartment but I´m in the middle of who knows where and desperately need directions. I ask a nice looking couple and the guy gives me a look that says "you´re a piece of crap and I´m way above you" as he almost yells "No, NO WAY!!". The woman, on the other hand, looks at me like I´m a little drenched puppy (I suppose I looked like one) while she seems to apologize with her eyes. I admit it, that guy made me feel like I was really a piece of crap.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, by the next morning the sun was shinning, I was happily reunited with my friends and I even happened to see Timothy Olyphant walking down the street! He alone almost managed to erase the memory of that asshole. And I didn´t ask him for directions, just in case... :)
Wow - I get that Enty doesn't like Alec Baldwin (and with good reason) but to suggest that it would be normal behavior for "the rest of us" to drop $100 for tourists to get a view of NYC? - that is more than a bit harsh.
ReplyDeleteWhen my husband and I went to NYC in 2006, we used street maps. Although we never asked for help, whenever people saw us staring at the subway map or street map, they asked us if we needed help. People were so friendly and helpful; I never experienced any rudeness.
ReplyDeleteElaborate. Maybe he was just being a nice guy.
ReplyDeleteHoly shit. Some days I can definitely be a pain in the ass, but if someone asks for directions and you know the answer? You give it to them-they need help. Don't get pissy cause everyone should have a gps stuck up their ass or they should find a friggin concierge. JFC this is how the east coast gets a bad rep for being dickheads.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Boston and now live in San Diego. A few years ago, I'm helping some neighbor out and they say "are you sure you're from Boston? I thought people from the east coast were rude," dead serious-like. I loved that this socal native didn't think it rude that they were surprised I wasn't an asshole.