18.6.07

He's taller than you'd expect.

I was standing in line at the cafeteria today, waiting for my soup-and-sandwich combo. One of my coworkers was directly ahead of me, and during a lull in the conversation, I glanced around the room. There were about a dozen people present -- only the two of us were from the greenhouse, though. The rest were a mix of Canadian and British officers. As my gaze went past the entrance, another British officer came in, gauged the length of the sandwich line, and decided to try his luck at the buffet instead.

"Denton," I thought to myself, "you've got to pay less attention to the local gossip. It's ridiculous that every time a twenty-something British officer walks in, you feel obliged to see if he's our local celebrity, even though you've already wagered that such will never be the case. Still, I must admit... that guy did look like him. Quite a bit, actually. I mean, he really looked like him."

My internal monologue paused for a moment. Wait a second...

I turned to my co-worker, and raised one-sixth of an eyebrow, and gave one quarter of a head-jerk. Did I just see who I think I saw?

He offered a quarter nod, and third of a smirk. Yes, that was him.

A scant tenth of my brow furrowed, and I skeptically tilted back four degrees. Didn't that strike you as rather -- casual? Where were the staff? The security? What about some better soup-and-sandwich options? (The daily special was a chalky minestrone.)

As he gave a half-shrug, his third of a smirk increased to three eighths. He's a British officer on a British base in Canada. How much more security does he need? And why on earth would he get any pomp in these circumstances? It's minestrone for him, too. (It's amazing how much you can say with body language when you really need to.)

Finally, I spoke aloud. "Hm. In that case, I've just lost a bet."

Now, the fact remains: there's not a lot of meat on that story. But still, I was strangely elated by the experience. Ah, well. Mark it up under the same thrill that trainspotters get, I suppose. Either that, or the heady fumes of the minestrone.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually I've noticed that.... there was an interview with him and his brother on NBC last night, which was actually quite well done on their part (Matt Lauer is a doofus, though). They seem very well spoken, and particularly cognizant of the position they hold and how it affects them. At one point, William mentioned how frustrated he is with not being able to actively serve his country in the manner he was trained to. Made me feel for him a little, to be so restrained.

I'm not a big supporter, detractor, or follower of the royal family, but I personally think that these two princes are and will continue to be quite a credit to the monarchy.

FYI - Matt Lauer is 5'11". He was looking up a decent bit at the both of them. Must be Prince Phillip's genes coming through.

Anonymous said...

It is reasonable to assume that you have been in the same room as the future King of Britan, and unless something drastic happens, Canada :)

Granted, it probably won't be for 30 or 40 years, but you never know...