iPhones and Buses

We walked up to him: "Sir? Sir? Are you all right? We saw what happened."

The day before Thanksgiving 2008, I got together with a good friend for drinks. I picked her up after work, and as we were walking through midtown we spotted a man obviously out of sync with the surroundings being pulled back from a bus careening down Madison Avenue.

He was oblivious. And he looked vaguely familiar.

My friend said to me, "Isn't that one of the Baldwin guys?" I said, "No way."

Then he blared to the stranger who had pulled him out of the street, "Thank you! Thank you!" pointing his finger like a mad Sunday school teacher.

I'd know that voice anywhere. I turned to my friend and said, "It's Alec Baldwin."

"No, it isn't!" she said, chuckling. "How could he let himself almost get run over by a bus?"

"Well if he'd put away his damn iPhone, perhaps he wouldn't get himself killed!"

It was him for sure.

"Let's ask him," my friend said. I nodded in agreement.

By now, he was on the curb collecting himself and hopelessly looking for something on his iPhone, one arm leaning on a tree. We walked up to him: "Sir? Sir? Are you all right? We saw what happened."

"Yes, I'm fine," he said. "Thank you for asking. Thank you."

I continued: "Sir...sir, are you Alec Baldwin?"

"Yes, I am. Happy Thanksgiving!"

He ran across the street, and it was another near miss.