So what is he like? Here’s my play by play…He entered the room, went up to the buffet, chose his food (alone), sat at a table with coaches and a few swimmers and was basically silent. I expected a much different picture from the “about to break Mark Spitz’s record” and the “swimmer who will win eight gold medals in Beijing” guy. Instead, I witnessed a quiet, subdued, and extremely focused person. I was later speaking with the head nutritionist for the USOC Training Center in Colorado Springs about Phelps. I asked him if he was a nice guy and his answer was absolutely. He told me that during his training (which is now) and during his competitions, he is super focused because one day of stress can be a disaster to an athlete of his caliber.
After I decided I had had enough of the walkby’s and got over the fact that he unfortunately didn’t sit in my section of service, I returned to my job as Cinderella. And as I lifted one more tray full of dirty goodies, I turned to walk to the dish room when I was caught off-guard by the man walking towards me about ten feet away. He was alone and so was I, so I just said, “Hello!” and he responded “Hey, What’s Up?” hahahahaha Brilliant Sheila.
One more funny story…About five minutes later, I returned to my section of the restaurant and found there to be two new patrons at one of my tables. I must have had missed them walk in while I was staring at Michael Phelps. So I walked over and noticed a woman with a huge bag. We were told to tell athletes, press, USOC employees, doctors, trainers, anyone to store their luggage or athletic bags in the baggage room. This obviously makes sense, so that we don’t have to trip over everything. I approached the woman and said, “Good Morning! If you’d like, you can put your bag in the luggage room while you eat.” Extremely startled by my presence behind her, the woman jumped and said, “Oh no, I am just here to get a banana. But Thank You!” It took me a half a second to realize who just told me she wanted a banana. It was 41 year old Dana Torres, sitting in a chair looking up at me with a huge but confused smile on her face! She won the first of her nine Olympic medals in 1984, a year before Michael Phelps and MYSELF were born! Let me just tell you all, that woman is in ridiculous shape and if she hasn’t taken any performance enhancing drugs (I’m not saying I believe this), then oh my, what genes!
So it’s been quite the morning. I was wondering when I would finally feel star-struck but now I know it’s because I had to wait for the swimmers to arrive. On one final note, there is a tradition at the Olympic Games and I am so into it. Pin collecting and pin trading are an international phenomenon. I didn’t realize it’s importance until I noticed my colleagues and everyone else in the HPTC arguing over PINS!
Once you collect many of the pins, you can begin trading with others who wish to have one of yours. At the moment I am leading the pin count amongst my fellow caterers and every member of the United States Olympic Committee. There is something to say about someone who is cheery and friendly at 5 am. I hate doing it, especially before my coffee, but look what it’s got me! I have ten right now and I won’t stop being SUPER BUBBLY until Michael Phelps slips me a USA Swimming pin! When everyone says, “Hey, how did you just get ANOTHER pin?” I say, “Personality baby, personality!” hahaha
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