On weekends I am the conductor on a first class dinner train. In addition to my conductor duties I walk through the train and schmooze with folks. Couple of weeks ago there was a party of four, man and woman in their mid thirties with a three year old girl and a mid fifties age man. I stopped at their table and they introduced me to the little girl, Hannah. Cute as a bug and very well spoken. Turns out they were from New York city, lived in Manhatten. They were all in awe of the gorgeous scenery and views of Mt Hood and Mt Adams. I asked the little girl, who was sitting next to the older man, if she was enjoying her trip with her mom, dad and grandfather. She never missed a beat, put her hand on the older mans arm and said "this is my Daddy!" Turns out the younger man was the womans brother. I was so embarassed that I felt the only right thing to do at this point was to grab a steak knife and cut my throat! They were very gracious and said it happened all the time. But I should have known better than to make assumptions.
Later, in the lounge I had a nice conversation with the husband. His wife won the Sundance Fil Festival best new Director prize in '04 for a movie called "Down to the Bone" Her name is Debra Granik. I rented the movie, not my cup of tea but well done. She is currently casting for her next project which they declined to elaborate on.
So, how about Hoof in Mouth experiences? Anyone?