The Big Apple: Part 1

Hello all. Did you miss me? Of course you did. I am so sorry for not posting in awhile, but I have been away.

Sunday, I went with Dan (a buddy of mine) to New York City. Yes, the Big Apple. Some of you who know me are probably thinking one of two things.

1. I thought you were afraid of big cities, and being around lots of people.

2. Why would you go to NYC with "Dan" and not with Becky when she went a last year?

Well, to answer both of the questions, it's because Dan is a BIG guy (like 6'6"...300-350 lbs), and how can you be scared with him around? I am very phobic of big places and hordes of people, but I went anyway.

The whole reason for the trip was for Dan to audition for Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and for me to go for support. I was holding hope that maybe once we got there, the Millionaire people would let me take the test, too. I was hoping because I know that I, being smarter than Dan, could possibly make the show...wouldn't that be sweet revenge for his beating me at Trivial Pursuit last time we played? Just kidding of course...or am I?

Anyway, to make a long story short(er), I will break down what happened.

We left Sunday morning and drove through Indiana, Ohio, the top nub of West Virginia, and 3/4 of the way through Pennsylvania, before stopping somewhere between Harrisburg and Allentown (where they're closing all the factories down..sorry, Billy Joel ROCKS!!) Monday morning we got up early and drove through New Jersey to Newark International Airport. (Because it's cheaper to park there, and we wouldn't have to drive in New York that way.)

We took a shuttle to the Airport Terminal and bought bus tickets...then we shuttled back to the car because Dan forgot his Millionaire e-mail confirmation. One more time on the shuttle, then we loaded up on the bus for the drive into NYC. We bought tickets on the bus that took us to Penn Station, because it was a block from Macy's, where a friend of Becky and mine works. I thought I would try to visit her since I was there. Of course, Macy's is gigantic, so I found a guard who told us to go up to the Employee entrance. We did, but I couldn't get a hold of her. Which was a bummer, because I haven't seen her in a long while.

We walked to Times Square, which was very cool, and took in a few stores. Then we made our way to 67th Street, which, for those of you in the know, is where ABC Studios are. We took the Subway, which was way cooler than I expected, and arrived an hour and a half early. Since there was a line already formed, we decided to wait. When the time came, my hopes were fulfilled, as I was also allowed to take the test.

First, we had to fill out a questionnaire. (You know...what would you do with a million bucks? What would you like Meredith to know about you? etc.) The ABC lady made her way down the line of people, asking who needed a questionnaire. She handed one to the first five in line, one to Dan, and then she walked right past my outstretched hand. I said, "I need one, please." twice, to no response, so I made the mistake of whistling for her.

Whistling? Oh, Tony, you didn't just whistle at that poor girl!! Without even looking at me, she said, "I'm standing right here, you don't need to whistle," with a disgusted look on her face. I apologized somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 times, and Dan even tried to joke around with her, but nothing broke the disgusted look from her face whenever she saw me. Why did I whistle?

Anyway, the 75 or so people were led around the entire block long building in a single file (I told Dan, if they offer us soap, run...I've seen Schindler's List, you know!!) We all took a seat and were given a manilla envelope, a pencil, and a ScanTron answer form. Instructions followed and then we were allowed to take the test...

stay tuned...did Dan and/or Tony pass the test? Did Tony overcome the fear of big city life? These questions and more will be answered next time!!