We went out last night. Going to a new venue, where we won’t know those in attendance is always a little worrying, due to Jack being so easily recognized.
But we were going with some friends – there were a little gang of around fourteen of us in the end. We were told that facemasks were recommended, which was music to our ears. We are at a funny stage right now, in which some people stare at us for wearing face-masks thinking we are over-anxious about covid (if that is even possible) without realizing that facemasks actually provide Jack with greater liberty to move around unrecognised.
But last night Jack was recognized quite quickly by a very sweet Greek lady who I am guesstimating was in her eighties. Jack was clearly flirting with her as he chatted to her in Greek. Afterwards I asked him what they were talking about. Apparently she told him that even if others recognised him they would not want to distract him from enjoying the occasion. But she had also told Jack to call her Yia-Yia (which I think means grandmother).
We sat near to the back of the venue, which was a little more intimate than we were expecting. But the lovely Yia-Yia was sitting on the front row on the opposite side of the auditorium, and although most of the time she was staring at the platform, I observed that she occasionally made eye-contact with Jack….and she winked at him. And a couple of times I turned to him, only to notice that he was winking back at her.
What shameless flirts!!!
She was right though. We had a warm welcome from others present without anyone giving us the creeps. A few people did recognize Jack even though he was wearing a facemask, and addressed him by name, but they were so dignified and simply asked him how he had enjoyed the event. They expressed what I would describe as “appropriate personal interest”, but did not cross that line where we would have felt it was time to beat a rapid escape.
It was a good night. Nobody asked for selfies with Jack. But those who knew who he was chatted to him as if they were close acquaintances. We both felt so relaxed. It was a successful outing.
Caramel 