We decided to go there the day before and sleep in a hotel. I searched the net for a hotel near by. It's not to far from Yankee Stadium.
I find a place 3 miles from the university and "WAYS" said it would take 40 minutes to get there from the hotel.
40 minutes to go 3 miles is normal for the Bronx or anywhere in the New York City boroughs.
I called to make the reservation and got the front desk. I don't think the girl I spoke to went to Fordham.
She was very nice but may have had the IQ of one of the apples on her desk.
She asked my name. I said very slowly "PAUL BALDASSANO". She asked "
Is BALDASSANO your first or last name?".
I said Baldassano is my last name and PAUL, like the Saint is my first name.
OK.
Spell it.... I asked Baldassano? She said
"No, spell Paul".
OK. P A U L. Like the Saint.
What Saint?. I said Saint Paul which I could tell went right over her semi empty head.
So I said, "Would you like me to spell Baldassano. She asked "
Whats that?"
I replied, "my last name". She said "
Oh OK, spell that".
I spelled my name very slowly 3 times. Then I had to spell it phonetically. 3 times.
B, as in ballerina, A, as in the apple in your head, L, as in lunatic, D as in dope and so on.
Then she asked my E Mail which ends in AOL.COM. She asked "
Whats that"?
I said My E Mail. She said "
Can I spell it?". I said "spell what"? She said "
Spell AOL. COM".
I said "Spell what?" She said "
AOL.COM". I said, "Thats it."
She said, "
What"? I said AOL.COM.
My wife was hysterical and I said it again but she never heard of it. I know no one uses AOL.COM any more but I was here way before the internet was invented and I got AOL and still have it. This girl who seemed to be about 30 never heard of it. She never even heard of ".COM".
So I spelled it very slowly. A O L . C O M
This conversation is absolutely true and if I knew she was such a genius I would have taped this conversation.
And she got a job at the front desk of a hotel that is rated Excellent.
The place was in the biggest dump in the Bronx but it was only 4 weeks old, kind of like this receptionist.
Our Daughter is going next week to get certified as a Lawyer. She passed the bar last year. I really don't like lawyers so I hope she is not going to be a personal injury lawyer because I won't be able to speak to her any more.
