Suburban readers may laugh but it's not uncommon for men to get manicures and pedicures in the big city. You'd be surprised at how filthy your nails get in the urban jungle.
So last week before moving to DC for a month (? not sure how long I'm staying?) I was feeling extra gross and got one. Location: Upper West Side. No sooner do I plop down in the raised chair for my pedicure than I spot a mini-shrine to one Marcia Gay Harden (happy 49th birthday diva!) next to me. There overlooking me on the wall are multiple pictures of the Oscar winner torn from magazines. As my feet soak, I point to the pictures and say incredulously "Marcia Gay Harden is your client?" she looks at me, points, nods her head "yes yes" with big smile (I don't think she speaks English) and then continues to work on my unclean toes, god bless her.She works in silence and I am left to ponder how these pictures possibly made it to the wall. Marcia Gay Harden is not Angelina Jolie or Madonna or Britney Spears. You actually have to work to know who she is. She is not an unavoidable celebrity force. So did Marcia herself, sitting in this very chair, explain to this pedicurist Who She Was... ? Did she pull an Oscar from her purse to underline her point in something of a more universal language? Did Ms. Harden herself return with the magazine photos as mementos of her fame for this
It was all I could think about as I tipped the woman for her troubles and left the salon with my newly presentable fingers and toes.
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