My wife, Pinar, has a knack for running into PBS travel program hosts in Istanbul. Last winter it was Rudy Maxa, aka the Savvy Traveler, and today it was Rick Steves, of “Europe Through the Back Door” fame.
Pinar saw Rick and his crew on Istiklal Street and went up to him and said, “You don’t know me, but I know you.” She then told him how his program had been one of our favorites when we were in the States and that, as an American familiar with Turkey, I would be happy to help him out if he needed it.
He thanked her, but when she asked if he wanted my number, he said, “No, I have people helping me.”
As Pinar walked away, Rick told her that our baby is cute.
Unfortunately Pinar couldn’t say the same about Rick. She has worked in TV/film and knows how tired and frustrated people can get while shooting, but she says Rick lost a viewer because he was so cold to her.
Chances are she’ll run into someone from Globetrekker soon and forget all about this.
5 comments ↓
It’s too bad that Pinar had a rather poor experience with Rick. But, he at least had something kind to say about Leyla.
Thanks to the ambiguity of natural language, that could either be apologetic, or ridiculously insulting, depending on just which word was being stressed in that sentence.
But I imagine that Rick Steve’s producer keeps him on a pretty strict itinerary, and he doesn’t have much freedom to deviate from it.
I agree on both counts, Kurt. I took it from Pinar’s telling that the emphasis was on “have” and wasn’t meant to be rude, she was just disappointed that he didn’t have the same cheery countenance in person that he does on his shows.
Ok, I must need “PBS for Dummies,” because I don’t know who this guy is.
And the appropriate answer to “your baby is cute” would be……”Well….DUH!”
I’ve always loathed Rick Steves. This gives me more reason to do so.
Leave a Comment