The following is a true story . . . well, according to Mr. Albert it is.Mr Albert is the fifty year old dish guy at Panera. This afternoon he told me that Jerry Springer came into the Hyde Park Kroger last night; Mr Albert also works a second job in the meat department there. He said that Jerry was trying to do a little grocery shopping but people mobbed him. Springer was so frustrated that he walked out of the store without getting anything.
For those of you uninformed, Jerry was once the mayor of Cincinnati. He got into some political trouble in the 1970's because of a check he wrote. In the 1980's he was a local television anchor which led him to hosting a talk show. The rest is history.
Interestingly enough, I saw him out in public a few years ago. I was in Sarasota, Florida with Aaron and Brad Budde. Jerry winters there, and he was at a single-A baseball game we were at. There were only a few hundred people there, so you noticed when Jerry arrived. Kids went up to him asking for autographs. As he left the game early, Brad yelled out to him, "See ya, Jerry!" And Jerry waved.
But back to Mr Albert's story, I find it hilarious. I'm sure Jerry expected a different response when he went into the Hyde Park Kroger. Hyde Park is a more "refined" Cincinnati neighborhood; a white-collar area where you'd think few people would be interested in The Springer Show. Jerry probably thought he could walk in, do some shopping and be left alone. He was wrong. Even in Hyde Park people slow down for car accidents.
It's a little pathetic that, despite the fact that Springer is a very intelligent guy, he will always be a cartoon character. Sure, he made a ton of money, but he sacrificed respectability to get there.
There might be a lesson in there somewhere but I'm afraid of a beat down at the hand of Jerry's bouncers, so I'll refrain.