A Reminder To Always Be Polite

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 by Jayne Haugen Olson.

. . . you never know whom you’ll be sitting next to.

Here’s a funny, small-world story. In the fall of 2007, my husband and I attended the wedding of one of his colleagues on Martha’s Vineyard. We opted to make it more than a weekend and arrived in Boston earlier in the week to take in the dining, shopping and walking of the very walkable, fabulous city. We stayed at the lovely Lenox Hotel, just a block off Newbury Street. Perfect.

When it came time for our now foursome (another couple joined us Thursday evening) to head to the ferry, we had planned ahead and arranged for a driver and Town Car versus driving ourselves in a rental. (I highly recommend it.) Peter, Denise and I took the backseat and dove into our stacks of magazines. My social husband rode shotgun. As we made our way to Woods Hole, I was picking up on pieces of the front seat conversation while I flipped through my Us Weekly. “Yada, yada, yada . . . used to live on the island . . . yada, yada, yada . . . retired restaurant owner . . . yada, yada, yada . . . check out the cranberry fields over there.” I’d listen in every now and then when we’d point out landmarks. You get the picture.

Throughout the course of the nearly two-hour drive, Curt learned about the (probably 70-something) driver’s wife, kids, retirement and his restaurant businesses. I heard comments about his hotelier son-in-law in LA. His interior designer daughter. His landscape architect son. Somehow the conversation came back to the daughter and son-in-law in LA and the fact that his daughter designed the hotels. Now my ears really perked up.

“Excuse me,” the eavesdropper from the backseat chimed in. “What’s your daughter’s name?”

“Kelly Wearstler,” said her dad, so matter of fact.

“Your daughter is Kelly Wearstler?!” I practically yelled STOP THE CAR! Of course, I then felt it my job to tell Kelly Wearstler’s dad what a big deal his daughter is. I asked lots of questions. “How did she get her start?” “How old is she?” “What is she working on?” The reporter in me had kicked in. (Books, TV, product lines for Bergdorf Goodman.)

I finally decided I should back off and let her dad drive. But, I couldn’t stop thinking, “Wow, Kelly Wearstler’s dad is driving us to the ferry. Cool.” I also thought about my own father, a retired school teacher who now in his mid-70s, works for Enterprise Rental, you know, the “one’s that pick you up.” I guess Ms. Wearstler and I have something in common.

P.S. Check out our digital magazine. Kelly Wearstler is featured in our Trend Watch piece on page 28. Plus, check out her amazing work.