Annie Up Close

I have never been fortunate enough to be near enough to a celebrity to rub shoulders, so to speak, and by celebrity I’m thinking of movie star, professional athlete, a governor, or the President of the United States. But then, I don’t go looking for them just for an autograph or photo opportunity. Oops…I thought of a pro athlete.
Tim McCarver of the St. Louis Cardinals was at the Sunflower Food Store #43, on East Main Street in Tupelo at the time I worked there in 1963. He was autographing 8 by 10 glossies, and I had him sign one for my then little brother, James. And, I was in within a few feet of Ernie Haase of Signature Sound fame, the other night at the Gaither Concert in Tupelo, but that’s all the famous people I can think of that I was near enough to have touched, until I ran into Annie last Thursday.Annie, for those of you who don’t have email or haven’t heard of "you tube," is something of an Internet celebrity. She arrived in my inbox a couple of years ago as an attachment to a forwarded message. Okay, she didn’t arrive in my inbox, but she was the subject of the humorous video clip in which she was featured. The video clip was named "Why I Quit Court Reporting." It is approximately two minutes in length, but it’s very apparent that the title fits the situation. Annie, who lives in Ruleville, Mississippi, is sworn in for a legal deposition, the nature of which is not revealed, but she is asked to verify whether the signature on a certain piece of paper is hers.
Annie may have a speech impediment or else she may be a special-needs individual, and if either is true, I apologize for any humor I find in viewing the clip and would have her know I’m not laughing at her but rather laughing at the predicament of the court reporter. Annie, when asked to raise her right hand, raised her left hand, and when asked a second time to raise her right hand, she raised it and kept both arms held high over her head. When asked if she promised to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, it was evident she agreed to do so, but her answer which I would perceive to be along the line of "Yeah, I promise to tell the whole truth," is unintelligible speech, and my translation is purely guesswork based on the circumstances and the question she had been presented. Continue reading>>