Up Close With An Actress

written by Sha last 24Sep08

I had the privilege of having lunch with my officemate in S&R Bonifacio Global City today. We ordered roast chicken for only Php 89 each. Considering the rising prices of quality meals nowadays, our meal at S&R was definitely a good buy.

After lunch, we bought some M&Ms for another officemate. While I was lined up at the counter, my officemate motioned me to look towards the direction of actress Donita Rose. There were still two customers ahead of me in the 2nd counter so I moved to the counter where Donita Rose lined up. I was right behind Donita! We were only one foot apart.

Of course I didn't show that I was star stucked because I wasn't. I patiently waited for my turn while the cashier was attending to Donita's groceries. A few feet away from me is a beautiful girl (about 3 years old) and another charming young boy who were chatting. It was actually the boy who went to the girl and asked for the girl's name. If only they were a little older, you could sense that the boy was attracted to the girl and he wants to get to know the girl. Anyway, it turned out that the boy is Donita's son.

I casually told Donita, "Your boy already knows how to appreciate a beautiful young girl." Donita glanced at me and smiled. Then she said, "Yeah, he's into school now so he is already learning a lot including making friends." Then she smiled at me again, paid her groceries, and left.

It was a very short encounter but it was a moment worth remembering and worth blogging. I could have chosen to pretend not to notice Donita and kept my pride. People have a tendency to pretend that they don't get affected a bit when they see some famous people. But then I remembered what Lloyd Luna wrote in his book "Is There a Job Waiting for You?"...

Some people, especially young people nowadays, let the opportunity pass them. When they meet great or influential people, they don't get the courage to talk to that person or to step up and learn a thing or two about that encounter.

And so I thought it would be good to have a little word with an actress who was once very famous during her time. It was a risk to take. What if she turns out to be a snob and pretends that she didn't see me? Good thing she was friendly.

What did I learn about Donita Rose? For one, I learned that a smile is very powerful. A simple smile from her made me feel good about talking to her. When her son went to her and he asked Donita what the name of the little beautiful girl is (the young girl knew how to play hard-to-get), Donita told her son "go and ask her!" From those words, I observed that Donita was also allowing her son to take chances. There's a possibility that the little young girl might snob her son but she encouraged her son to go to the girl to ask for the girl's name.

I have big dreams. Pursuing my dreams can be very risky. I really want to live my dreams but right now, I have yet to find a very strong determination to pursue them. I can not change overnight. But the baby steps that I make everyday towards my dreams can be multiplied and can amount to something significant. :)