Saturday, July 29, 2006

Closest thing to a celebrity sighting I've had in awhile

So last night, I was at the Lenscrafter's across from BellSquare getting new glasses and contact lenses. The Bellevue Arts and Crafts Festival was going on right outside. While I was in my eye exam, Jen showed up to take the boy off my hands for a bit. Afterward, I wandered around the Arts and Crafts Festival with her for a bit. Right before I had to go back to Lenscrafters to get my glasses, the boy said he needed to use the bathroom. Jen took him to the closest one, in the Starbucks.

While I was taking out my trial contact lenses to wear my new glasses, Jen calls me. "You'll never guess who just walked in here!"
I hate this kind of question. "You're right," I say, "I'll never guess."
"Steve Ballmer!"

After getting my new specs, I headed over to Starwhores to join the wife and kid. She had a nice soy chai waiting for me. Sure enough, there sat Steve Ballmer, sipping a venti something. He was with a woman I would have first assumed to be his wife - but after someone he knew came in, he introduced her to them as his sister. Now, it's not like I was eavesdropping on the ol' CEO to learn this. If you've ever seen clips of him at the Company Meeting, you've heard that crazy loud voice. That's no act - that's just how he speaks. The whole shop could hear him.

2 comments:

Wiwille said...

Did he jump up and down when he announced that she was indeed his sister? Did you remind our CEO that he should always choose nonfat dairy products?

Mattbear said...

Heheheh...
No, he was just sitting calmly...just talked really loud.

And unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to speak with him. He was in conversation with his sister or the people he knew who came in. I really would have liked to...I've always said I would much rather meet him than Gates. Ballmer is way more interesting.

As an aside, I have seen Gates up close an personal as well. He walked by us along with Bill Neukom (then head Lawyer for the Empire) when Jen and I were in NEO.