Somebody Up There Likes Me

I only have one Paul Newman story, and it isn't even mine. It happened to a woman I once knew, who told it to me the day after she got back from her very first trip to New York City.

Lisa was sitting at a lunch counter in a Manhattan deli when she spied a gentleman seated at a table on the other side of the room that bore a striking resemblance to the actor James Spader. Having never seen a real Hollywood celebrity before, Lisa nudged the woman sitting at the lunch counter to her left and said, "Excuse me, but... am I mistaken, or is that the James Spader sitting right over there?"

The woman looked towards the table and squinted and said, "Hmm, I think that could be James Spader, but I'm not completely certain. Let me ask my husband. Oh, Paul..." The woman taps the man sitting to her left at the lunch counter. "Is that James Spader sitting way over there?"

Lisa looks over to the woman's left and is shocked to discover that her husband is none other than Paul Newman. Lisa had been sitting next to Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward the entire time.

Paul glances over to the table. "Yep, that's Jimmy." He gives him a little wave and then goes back to eating his sandwich.