Ricki, I've Got Your Number

Some bloggers have giveaways. Some bloggers review things. I have none of those things. I just have a post title that sings.

So, the Ricki Lake Story. Next on FOX. No, but I did get into a big contentious fight with a FOX personality on BlogHer yesterday. A good discussion of Keynesian economics, stimulus, fiscal responsibility. Fun stuff. I dig economics, always have. So, right now, it's like Britney [accidentally] getting married in Vegas to a pop culture junkie. Every headline has "read me" written all over it.

Enough of the thinking. Back to Ricki Lake. This is a LONGGGGG story. So, what better way to skip a lot of you hearing it but to blog about it on the weekend, when blog-land is deserted. The story begins back in 1995, when I was a camp counselor during the summer after my Freshman year in college. That, right there, should explain a lot. A freshman. What did I care about the future, or whether the name "Ricki Lake" was in my past? I went off to be a water-ski camp counselor at a [very expensive, exclusive] girls' sleep-away camp in the Adirondacks of Upstate NY. Literally, one of my campers' families endowed a major Washington DC university. Uh-huh. There was also a boys' camp, and it was on an island, far removed from the girls' camp.

However! There were plenty of little mixers. Especially for the counselors, whom I remember as some of the coolest, most interesting, most educated colleagues I had. The weekend routine became for a whole bunch of us to hang out off-"camp"us. You know, someone would get beer and we'd all hang out in a big parking lot, with a campfire. Exciting stuff, when you're not of age! So.... there was this guy. We'll call him "J" to protect the guilty. He was pretty much the life of the party.. Division I (Ivy League) basketball player, outgoing, etc. So, we hung out for the summer (really, I hung out with everyone.) But yes, we hung out a lot. My campers giggled, and to this day I do not know how they found out we were hanging out.

The summer ended, the way summers commonly end. Everyone went home and forgot all about all the people they'd met over the summer. I was a college Sophomore, that meant I was a Bigger Deal than the year before, I had a new apartment, I had an ID. It was awesome to be me. I was loving college life, my sorority, my friends, all my myriad activities that kept me from reading and writing papers.

Then I got the call. It was a producer from the Ricki Lake show.
"What?"
"Yes, I'm serious! I'm one of the producers from the show, and we got a call from your old boyfriend, 'J'!"
"My.. what? Oh, he wasn't my boyfriend."
"Oh, THAT'S ok. We'll just call him that. He says you're sexier than his 'ex."
"Um. Heh. What?"
"So 'J' is now dating this other girl, and he says you're sexier than she is. We'd like you to come onto the show to talk about it. She'll be there too. It's just a light, fun show. You know, fun and light."
"Hm. Can I think about it?"
"What's there to think about? We'll fly you up to New York, tape the show, you'll get to meet Ricki, we'll feed you, put you up in a nice hotel, provide all the transportation you need. It's fun! So, can I send you over to travel?"
"Hm. Wow. Hm. Let me think about this.."