A reader called Leah R sent me this email earlier this week and made me so jealous I couldn’t post it until today. Thank you Leah. But I hate you a little.
I’ve been writing about Bill Murray’s amazing randomness for a while. Click here if you’re new or need a refresher. He’s the guy who just, like, shows up at a house party and starts washing dishes and making pasta.
Anyway, Leah had her very own Bill Murray experience in New York this week. Like all Bill Murray experiences, it was f-cking awesome.
My girlfriend texted me to meet up for drinks last night at a bar on the Upper East Side in Manhattan and I really didn't feel like going, but then she texted me that Bill Murray was sitting next to them so I knew I had to go. After all I have been reading your column for quite sometime so I was totally aware of the possibilities. I didn't want to be obnoxious so I waited until he was by himself (walking out the door) and I ran...RAN...up to him. I said that I was terribly sorry to bother him but I had to introduce myself because I was such a big fan. He asked for my name and when I told him he spelled it to me, corrrectly, and said nice meet you. He asked me where I lived and what I did for a living and what i was doing at that particular place. I said I was with my girlfriends. I tried to ask him the same questions and he was super vague but it wasn't rude just mysterious. He said he was going to pick up a car and let's walk over there so I said okay and we started walking. We commented on the weather (frigid) and he asked me what kind of cigarettes I smoked and I said since I'm a drinking/social smoker that I buy the 100s because all cigarettes are $12.50 in NYC and I live on a budget. He said I should buy them in South Carolina. We then got to his black totally beat up town car which he got from a garage and HE was driving. No one drives in New York! Ever. We started driving and he told me his friend got into a fender bender that day in the car. A pedestrian was crossing the street in an unacceptable manner so he was flashed his lights quickly and said, lady you're killing me! I was thinking I wish she knew Bill Murray was the typical impatient New York driver. We then pulled around the block and I asked him about how he didn't have a publicist or and agent and I said I thought it was so interesting and I asked if he was anti-Hollywood. He said that I sounded like I thought he didn't know how it worked. I said, No...that is not at all what I meant, what I meant to say was that he knew how the game was played and he didn't like it so he played it his own way. He said, well I used to have and agent and someone would call them and say get Bill Murray on the phone so they would call me 75 times and then I would eventually pick up the phone and say, do you realize how many times you just called me? SEVENTY FIVE. That's just rude. So I said, I guess what you are saying is it's basically about manners. And he said, yes...it's just simple manners. And then we pulled up to the restaurant and I shook his hand and said it was very nice to meet you, this was the best car ride ever. And he was gracious and charming and wonderful.
And that is the story about how Bill Murray taught me about manners.
Right?
Attached – Bill Murray at Scream 2010 in October.
Photos from Michael Caulfield/Gettyimages.com