# I said the right thing to Dave Foley ;-) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2012, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592 "2012-03-23T12:38:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/21 "2012-03-23T13:47:44Z")
Yowsa that’s an awesome story, **WordMan**. I adore Dave so dang much, he’s a major part of two of my favorite shows. Alas, my knowledge of _A Bug’s Life_ is very minimal and I’d probably have gone with something like, “Haven’t you ever heard of the expression ‘you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar?’” or something from the _News Radio_ episode where he and Hartman’s Bill were stuck on an airport line, but it wouldn’t have been as good 'cause it’s not as obscure (or funny), especially since it’s just a set-up for Bill’s line, “have you ever heard that only dumb hicks sit around trying to catch flies?” or whatever the quote is. Actually most likely I’d’ve tried not to look – I’m from NYC, we’re trained to ignore others – and fought my instincts to go over there and, I dunno, lick him or something. Yeah he’s not cute doe-eyed Dave anymore, but he’s still my favorite fo the KitH and will always be the coolest guy ever thanks to _News Radio_. It really is a shame about hsi financial troubles; I’ve been very disappointed to hear he’s been considered a deadbeat dad, but that’s from a few rags that might not have the whole story. Someone with his talent should be raking in the bucks. Bravo for finding _le mot juste_ – as I’d expect of somenoe with your screenname – and sharing a nice friendly moment with him. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/22 "2012-03-23T13:58:00Z")
I’m not sure I’d get on a plane with Dave Foley - wasn’t he the sole survivor of a forty minute delay?\* \*Kids in the Hall sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/23 "2012-03-23T14:18:49Z")
Did you add him to the list of Daves you know? I would have. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/24 "2012-03-23T14:36:55Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > Did you add him to the list of Daves you know? I would have. This sounds like a reference to something I should know about, but don’t. A clue? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/25 "2012-03-23T14:40:48Z")
> [@choie](#): > > Bravo for finding _le mot juste_ – as I’d expect of somenoe with your screenname – and sharing a nice friendly moment with him. Wouldn’t it be great if I lived up to my username in most of those situations? But normally I fall victim to _[L’esprit de l’escalier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'esprit_de_l'escalier)_ (wiki link). ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/26 "2012-03-23T14:41:09Z")
[These are the Daves I know](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LrlMoIzSjw) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/27 "2012-03-23T14:41:57Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > [These are the Daves I know](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LrlMoIzSjw) Ah, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/28 "2012-03-23T15:00:31Z")
Very cool! I was a big _Kids In The Hall_ fan and also loved _NewsRadio_. Great story. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/29 "2012-03-23T15:06:57Z")
Oh, that’s what I was going to say, “Now you’re one of the Daves I know!” I mean, if I’d been the one to see him in the airport. I adored _The Kids in the Hall_. I still say “smelts and a Coke” whenever anyone asks me what I want for lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/30 "2012-03-23T15:12:00Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Yeah I heard that same interview and that’s pretty much it. The divorce came at the worst possible time, when he was at his earning peak, and I believe a large chunk of that money is for child support, and he got hit with that “accustomed lifestyle” bullshit. Pardon a hijack, but… if she was still living with him she would have grown unaccustomed to that lifestyle when his income nosedived (and all actors incomes nosedive eventually). Is that just not taken into account by courts? I would have assumed that it would be a pro-forma to adjust support payments by showing “in 2008 I earned $1 million, in 2009 and 2010 I earned $250,000 and in 2011 I earned $300,000, so obviously I can’t pay $500,000 in support”. Is it not? As well known as Alec Baldwin is, he was left broke by alimony, child support, and, above all, lawyer’s fees from his divorce. He has said several times that he had no real interest in doing a sitcom but _30 ROCK_ happened to pay a lot more than anything else he was offered on film or stage and needed to replenish. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/31 "2012-03-23T15:15:02Z")
I’m not a lawyer, but I \*think \*the reticence against adjusting child support down is the belief that a father will think, “fuck my ex-wife! I’m just not going to work!” and the court has a hard time distinguishing between a person intentionally decreasing work and not being able to find work that pays as much. ETA - oh, and cool story. I like Dave Foley so much I would have surely said something really stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/32 "2012-03-23T15:26:56Z")
> [@LionelHutz405](#): > > The amount is based on his income at the time. It’s high because he was making a lot of money then. There is no adjustment for a decrease in his income. He is still expected to pay based on an income he no longer has. Men go to jail as ‘dead beat dads’ for this. Can someone verify whether this is true or not? ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/33 "2012-03-23T16:02:59Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Can someone verify whether this is true or not? I can verify that Dave Foley said that it’s true. It was on Rogan’s podcast. I can’t verify if he’s lying or not. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/34 "2012-03-23T16:03:10Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Is that just not taken into account by courts? I would have assumed that it would be a pro-forma to adjust support payments by showing “in 2008 I earned $1 million, in 2009 and 2010 I earned $250,000 and in 2011 I earned $300,000, so obviously I can’t pay $500,000 in support”. Is it not? Apparently not, at least [according to Dave Foley](http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/kids-hall-member-dave-foley-claims-t-afford-20110204-123011-544.html). This is Ontario Family Court, BTW, and the comments regarding his divorce settlement were made on Marc Maron’s podcast, WTF. According to him, he appealed and was told no: the kids’ lives were “set in amber” at the time of the divorce, and he is obligated to maintain that income under all circumstances. Granted, of course that interview is obviously entirely one-sided, and doesn’t take into account the high probability that, I personally believe, he signed the agreement with the assumption that his career was skyrocketing and he’d always earn the same income as at the time if not many times more. Obviously that did not happen. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/35 "2012-03-23T16:12:01Z")
This seems appropriate - [She Got the Goldmine, I Got the Shaft.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-p0zn3PijY) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/36 "2012-03-23T16:28:04Z")
It may have seemed like a good idea at the time. Suppose it had been Ben Stiller, for example, rather than Dave Foley. Fifteen years ago, their careers were at about the same level. They probably made a couple million a year. Now Stiller makes fifty million dollars a year. If he had gotten divorced in 1997 and agreed to a fifty percent support plan, it would be twenty-five million dollars a year. He’d have done much better to have set a fixed figure of one million dollars a year based on what he was earning back in 1997. Back in 1997, a million dollars a year probably seemed like a cap on his support obligations rather than a hurdle he’d have to meet. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/37 "2012-03-23T16:55:43Z")
This thread has taken an unforeseen turn. ETA: I am not saying that’s a bad thing - just that when I had a fun anecdote, I would never have expected to veer into celebrity divorce valuations and settlements… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/38 "2012-03-23T17:11:11Z")
Very cool, **WordMan**. I’m a huge fan of his and don’t think I’d have been able to say anything remotely as witty! I met him backstage at a KITH concert and I don’t even remember what was said. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/39 "2012-03-23T17:25:32Z")
Great story; good job 😃 Now I’m off to have smelt and a coke for lunch. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592/40 "2012-03-23T18:52:51Z")
I’ve long imagined that if I met a celebrity that I legitimately liked, I would humbly tell them that I really enjoyed their work in \_\_\_\_\_ and then leave them alone. Or better yet, just catch their eye and nod. In my imagination, I always fill the blank with an obscure but underrated role. I would want to compliment them on a movie or show very few ever did. Like telling Tom Hanks that I loved From the Earth to the Moon and John Adams. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-said-the-right-thing-to-dave-foley/616592.md?page=3)