Double Vision

Do you have a twin? I'm beginning to think I have at least one, maybe several, as I've been approached by viewers making strange claims here lately.

I received an email from a viewer who chewed me out for being "rude and stuck up" when her son came and introduced himself. She said her son met me at the gym and I acted like I "was too famous to even acknowledge him". She said if that is how I treat my fans, no wonder people hate me. I'm sure she was even more surprised when I explained to her that I didn't know who her son was, and that I had not met any man at the gym in years simply because I go to a ladies-only gym and have been going there for 10 years now. No men allowed. She emailed me back and genuinely apologized. Seems her son told her the girl he was attempting to meet was Barbie Bassett when it wasn't really me, so mom had to set him straight (unless he's been cross-dressing and trying to get into my ladies-only gym!).

A viewer wrote how ugly I was to her when she met me at a local restaurant. She called me several names I won't repeat on this blog. My mind is still wondering over that one because I haven't been to that upscale restaurant in quite some time. I always try to treat people with respect and kindness, so being portrayed as something totally different was a disappointment. I honestly don't remember meeting anyone at that restaurant, much less being anything but cordial to them (even on a bad day). I went ahead and apologized anyway.

Earlier this month while emceeing an event, a gentleman came up to me and insisted he owed me an apology. "Do you remember when you were building your house on Jefferson Street and you were pregnant with your first child right after the tornado? I was renovating a house next door to yours and your babysitter broke her leg. I carried her to your house and told you to call 911 for help. You said your husband was coming to take you to the doctor to have your baby and you didn't have time to deal with it all. I yelled at you and told you 'this girl needs help now'! Do you remember that?" No, I told him. I explained I have never lived on Jefferson Street and have lived in the same house since I got married 14 years ago; the tornado that hit my neighborhood was in November 2001 and I didn't have my first child until July 2003. "How old was the girl who's leg was broken?" I asked him. "She was a teenager; maybe 17 or 18," he said. No, I explained I've had the same nanny since my first child was born and she's over 50. Kind as though he was, this man continued to try and persuade me that the person he yelled at that day was me. After another 5 minutes of me going into further detail of how the pregnant woman couldn't have been me due to the timing, that I've never lived on a Jefferson Street, and the tornado didn't occur at that location, he relented. "Well, the girl who was pregnant told me she was Barbie Bassett and the girl who broke her leg that I carried said she was going to be Barbie Bassett's babysitter. Anyway, I wanted to apologize for yelling at you." So I accepted his apology on behalf of "Barbie Bassett".

I spoke recently at a Christmas banquet in which a sweet lady sat beside me and said she had recently met my new, baby niece. I told her that I was the only one in my family to have had a baby in the last year and I wasn't sure what child she was referring to. She said the baby's name and I told her that I didn't have a niece by that name. "Do you have a brother?" she asked. Yes, I told her, and he has 2 adult girls and 1 son, but no baby. "Does he live here?" she asked. No, I explained he and his wife and family live in north Mississippi. She kept asking me questions about my brother and I answered every one. "Is his last name Bassett?" she asked. "No, Bassett is my married name," I said. Looking more and more frustrated, her face turned red. "Well, my niece recently had a baby and she told everyone at Thanksgiving that Barbie Bassett's brother is the daddy which means you are the aunt," the lady told me. I didn't want to embarrass her in front of the table, so I just quietly whispered that the her niece's boyfriend and baby's daddy was not my brother. "Well," she said, "just wait til I see her at Christmas! I'm going to shed some light on this and tell her I know the truth!" Oh my....

I must have a twin, or two, or worse yet, I must get around....