Holy Crap! Tom Westman!

For those of you who have read this blog for a little while or have watched Survivor: Palau, then you’ll know who Tom Westman is. He was my absolute favorite survivor during the Palau season (which, by the way, was the absolute best season of Survivor) and I was thrilled beyond belief when he won. Like, embarrassingly excited. I’m not sure what it was about him, but he was my favorite from the get go and I was just so totally in love with him.

So imagine my complete and total inability to function when I looked up and saw him standing 3 feet from my desk this afternoon. He is in town to speak at a seminar for the company I work with and came in for a tour of the facility. And to schmooze the ladies. Cause the man can schmooze. He was ridiculously kind, charming, and good looking. Like, WOW. I’m sure he’s so good at it because of the large gaggles of drooling ladies coming up to him going, “I watched you on Survivor! Heeeee!!!” And I’m not embarrassed to say I was one of those ladies. Well, I didn’t say that exactly, in fact, I didn’t say anything at all. I just stared like an idiot and smiled. Seriously. He said “Hey!” and waved and all I did was smile. And then immediately began sending e-mails telling my co-workers and friends that Tom Westman just smiled at me and said, “Hi.” Sad, but true.

Thankfully, I know the guy who is serving as his “bodyguard” and “head groupie.” He came over and teased me because, he too is a retired FDNY lieutenant and he too has white hair and yet, he never ever receives the smiles and attention that Tom received. I told him that if he ever goes on TV, he’ll get that kind of attention. He was then kind enough to bring Tom over to “meet the girls” and Tom shook my hand and I had the presence of mind to say my name. Not that he cared, but I was able to speak and was really proud of myself for that feat.

The girl who sits next to me is also a big Survivor fan, so she turned to me and said, “Let’s go get our picture taken!” I was a little hesitant at first, but then decided I should take advantage of the opportunity while it presented. Carpe diem, and all that, you know? So yet another kind co-worker volunteered her camera phone and we were off. We were a little embarrassed at first and the receptionist completely mocked us for our excitement and embarrassment, but he did not. He was kind. Because he’s Tom...and probably because he's getting paid quite a bit to be so nice to us.

Anyway, here’s a picture of me and my co-worker, Valerie, being the Survivor fangirls that we are. See how hot he is? See how kind he looks? See how stupid I look? It’s awesome!