The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making

steatopygia · October 9, 2017, 9:20pm

I didn’t use those exact words but…

Gielgud shot me a disapproving look. Encounters with celebrities.

In 1985 or so I worked in a ski shop at the base of Ajax in Aspen Co. At the time, the building (the Little Nell building) was right at the base of Ajax. It has since been demolished and replaced by the gondola. We had a small locker room with about 20 lockers. The lockers were great because it meant you didn’t have to carry your ski gear around. You could put your boots on and head out the door and be at the lift. Most of the lockers were rented by Aspen celebrities. Jack Nicholson, Martina Navratilova, and George Hamilton had lockers. Local drug dealer Steve Grabow rented a whole closet. These lockers were rented yearly and only rarely became available (see Steve Grabow). We didn’t advertise the lockers and you wouldn’t know they were there unless you poked your head through the doorway.

Christmas season is by far the busiest time of year in Aspen. The town gets packed with vacationers. You can’t get into restaurants, lift lines get long and all the stores are busy.
My ski shop was twice as busy as usual. Our clientele was mostly people either rich or famous or both. We used to joke that we needed a subscription to People Magazine to know who we were dealing with. Which leads to DJT.

A guy comes in to the shop and says “I’d like to rent a locker”. The store is full of people and we are BUSY. I looked at him and said “No way. It’s Christmas and the lockers are all rented yearly anyway”. He says “But I’m Donald Trump.” I, having never heard of him, said “That’s great but we still don’t have any lockers available”. He left, apparently to find a phone, because I soon got a call from the manager that said “This guy is famous in New York and is a millionaire real estate developer or something. He called a couple weeks ago and I said we would take care of him. Give him my locker.”
I set him up and Ivana and he came in every day for the next week. He was never rude or unpleasant and I honestly don’t recall talking to him any more. Ivana however, I remember much better. She was very outgoing, sort of attractive, and a good skier.

I didn’t end up getting* My Way* but “No way” was my polite way of saying what Frank said.