I first met Neil deGrasse Tyson in 2003, not long after 9/11. New York was rebuilding but that was all. The area where the Twin Towers stood was a hole in the ground with rubble in it. I, on the other hand, was an up and coming astrophysicist, given an opportunity to study astrophysics under another astrophysicist at the American Museum of Nature and History.
Sounds good anyway. What I actually was was an untraditional student studying physics from a podunk college in West Virginia—and a long way from home without any money. I had no money, no friends… I was absolutely miserable. My boyfriend—who I had just started seeing—lived in WV and I was all alone in the largest city in the United States.
Now some of you might think this would be fun. In fact, if I hadn’t been as reclusive and as much of an introvert as I was, it might have been fun. There are lots of things you can do in New York when you’re broke, but I was terrified to go to most of them alone.
Anyway, Neil deGrasse Tyson is the head of the Astrophysics department at the Fiske Planetarium in AMNH so every week on Friday, he would get together with all the students in the program and we would drink a few glasses of wine and have some cheese and crackers in the lobby of the department like civilized people.
Now realize something. Besides Neil, I’m the oldest at this little shindig, but, sure, I’ve had a little experience with wine and cheese. I had a friend at that time who would hang out and we’d drink wine and eat cheese and olives while watching movies. Apparently this was a sophisticated thing to do since she was the most sophisticated person I knew. She’s from Seattle, never had any issues with getting too drunk that I couldn’t handle—I was ready.
So one day, we’re all drinking—I wasn’t drunk, maybe a bit tipsy, that was it, I swear—sitting around in the Department of Astrophysics lobby and Neil brings out a bottle of wine. It’s special, he says, and goes on to tell us that it’s Chateau de St. Michelle or something like that. In other words, he tells us it’s from the same winery that the expensive wine from Brewster’s Millions was from. It’s the only wine he's ever introduced to us and it’s a bit exciting, having someone tell you a story about how they received something as a gift, and now he was going to share it with us.
We hand our glasses to him and he fills them with this very special wine. I remember getting my glass and being excited to sample this wine from this winery that Neil had taken such great care in telling us about.
I went to take a drink and I dropped it.
I dropped the glass—before I got to taste it even—and it spilled all over the cheese and napkins. My stomach dropped through the floor and my mind went blank. The ramifications of what I had just done—spilled not only just wine, but the wine that Neil had decided to bring out and share with us—had slammed into my thoughts. That one moment—the moment after I dropped that glass of wine—had been imprinted in my mind.
That’s all I remember though about the wine. Neil had a little more in the bottle, but there was no way in hell that I was even going to look at him, much less ask for it. I, however, was absolutely mortified and horrified—perhaps, stunned into tears. So much so that I froze—because I freeze in the fight vs flight vs freeze instinct—and the girl across from me helped me get myself back together as we cleaned up the sopping mess.
The girl across from me who had red hair and freckles tried to tell me that it was okay, people make mistakes all the time, and that it was no big deal.
I had managed to drop a glass of the wine that Neil deGrasse Tyson had been saving for a special occasion in front of him and then made more of a fool out of myself by sitting there humiliated and horrified.
What have you done in front of someone you wanted to impress that went completely wrong?
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So sorry you have to go through that trauma!!
On the scale of most hideously embarrassing things that could happen... this is pretty funny! I can just imagine the sheer awkward silence and stunned reaction... I think I would have run out the door and quit the profession.... maybe it would have been less bad if you tried to suck the wine out of the napkins or wrung them back into the glass?
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What a moment!!!
I don't remember embarrassing myself so seriously in front of someone I wanted to impress... ever. Only in front of friends or strangers.
PS: I've found your post because @bengy featured you in his entry fro the Pay It Forward Contest
LOL neil seems like a pertty cool guy but that must have been one mortifying experience. Not everyone can live that one down with grace and style. I have nothing on that level but my embarasing story was in a soccer game as a junior. It was a rainy day and it was the final and somehow the ball rolled across the box and the goalie missed it, it was in my path, infront of the goals, seemly unmissable and as I stepped up to tap it inot the net i slipped in the mud fall ass first and missed the ball and let it roll by.
I didn't want to get up, I wished the mud would just drag me down to the depths of the earth lol. FYI Found your post from @bengy submission for @Pifc
Yaayy @kipswolfe 😂😂 it is embarassing but funny as well. Wondering what makes you did it while it's not your first time having wine with him . Well.. I don't remember being so careless in front of someone I want to impress😊 because I never tried to impress anyone and just being me.
So, how's your day after that evening with tyson then? I'm curious... I found your post through @bengy entry post in the pay it forward contest this week. Thanks for sharing 😉
Oh golly, I can see how that would be quite embarrassing. I'm rather curious about your impressions of Tyson though, particularly in light of the recent accusations against him. I've always considered him to be a great guy - a role model - but private lives can be quite different from public lives.
P.S. I found you through the @pifc contest. :-)
Mortifying in the moment, but now you have that story and he's a persona non grata!
I wanted to offer you some voting advice since I noticed and appreciate that you upvote me regularly! If you wait until at least minute 9 or later, you'll get at least some curation rewards. Since you upvote me so early, all your curation rewards go back to the pool!
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What a crazy experience! Thank you for sharing it with us anyway.
I found you thanks to @bengy's entry into the Pay it Forward Curation contest this week. Keep up the great work!
Oh geez! I was cringing for you while reading this ... I just knew you were going to drop it!! You know why? Because I'm that person who always drops, breaks, bends, just about anything I get my mitts on :) One time, not at band camp, we're visiting a family friend, everyone's on the patio drinking (I too am tipsy at best), and I walked through the screen ... but I didn't rip the screen! Nope. I managed to be standing, in the middle of the circle of people on the patio, with the entire screen door in my two hands!
Absolutely NO gracious exit on that one :)
Thank you for the life affirming post that I am not the only big klutz around haha
Oh yeah, it was @bengy who alerted me to your post; it's from his entry to our Pay it forward Curation Contest; feel free to join us with an entry of your own anytime :)
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I just decided to visit your profile and check out your latest content only to notice that you didn't blog in quite a while already.
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Cheers, Piotr
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Dear @kipswolfe
I just visited your account to see if you posted anything new lately and I see that you're taking a break?
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