So close to Elsa Klensch and yet so far

(That photo from my garden last summer has nothing to do with what I'm about to write.) I don't want this to end up in someone's Google search so I left a couple letters out of names.

After college, I worked as a temp in the public relations department at Saks Fifth Avenue (which is a playground of clothing samples by the way). I was hired to transcribe Rose-Marie Br_vo's rolodex onto a computer after she left as department head (she now heads up B_rberry (since they started the funky ad campaign which looks like it was shot in the same beige windowless office her former and presumably more competent secretary vacated so I could do my "job."))

I was a slow worker.

There were a ridiculously large number of cards.

Many of which included private information about top designers such as B_ll Bl_ss's private phone number and driving directions to his summer house, which even today (years later in the Google age) seems like MAYBE not the kind of information a temp should be playing with for weeks on end.

Anyway, for the angry part: (one of them anyway--the new department head was already mad because the project was taking about six times longer than it should have), the store was having a special recognition party for Elsa Klensch (YES! THE Elsa Klensch of CNN's Style show). I tried very hard to find a reason why they needed my help at the party instead of staying behind to answer phones.

They really should have let me bask in Elsa's glow, because I'm not good at answering phones, especially when famous people with heavy accents start screaming,

"Do you know who I am?!"

"Listen to me!"

"I'm Giovanna Fe_ragamo!"

In her defense, I probably shouldn't have asked her to repeat her name.

Or to spell her name.

Three times.

Oddly, a couple days later the temp job ended with 75 cards left.

OK, not so oddly. How I hung on there as long as I did, I'll never know.

So, if you ever have a chance to meet Elsa in person, take it, you're probably about to get fired anyway.