Star Sighting of the Past

I was especially upset to find out today that Pat Morita died yesterday (Thanksgiving Day). I actually met Mr. Morita a few years ago.

I was at a company conference for the weekend at the Sheraton Hotel in Universal City. My boyfriend at the time met me there and we ventured into the hotel bar to have some cocktails. The bar was crowded, but we squeezed our way up to the bar. The only stool open was next to an old man sitting by himself. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a pageboy hat. As I sat next to him, he turned to look at me. It was Pat Morita.

Now I tend to get a little starstruck at times, but I managed to supress the urge to say "Wax on, wax off," shout "Bonzai!" or say any of a number of things that he's probably sick of hearing. Instead I said to him, "Hey, how's it going?" And he turned and nodded to me, smirking. He raised up his glass and drank from it. My boyfriend and I ordered drinks and as we were sitting there waiting, he asked me why I was at the hotel. I explained the conference and then asked him the same question. "I come here a lot," he said. Afraid I'd be bothering him, I didn't ask him anymore questions. The bartender came with our drinks and Pat nodded at him, saying, "I got this."

"Thanks," I said, genuinely surprised. We got up from the stools to make room for more customers, and just as we were about to dissapear into the crowd, I said, "Nice meeting you, Mr. Morita."

The look on his face was priceless.

See a previous Star Sighting.