If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, chances are...

I was working with a beautiful young actress who was engaged to an equally beautiful young man. A nice loft had become available on 23rd Street that would suit their needs, so I made an appointment with the owner to show it to them. The owner mentioned neither he nor his wife were home during the day but their nanny would be there with the baby, and would let me in.

My gal arrived without her fiance but with a girlfriend who was also a looker (in the non-real estate sense). We were buzzed up and the nanny came to the door to let us in. She was clearly bothered at having to do so and didn't even make eye contact but quickly returned to the living room as I started "the tour". When we got to the living room there were five strollers lined up in a row with five babies in various states of repose. Gathered around the TV were five nannies watching one of those daily daytime dramas. As we passed by and around them it was as if we didn't exist so intense was their concentration on what was unfolding on screen. I took a glance at the TV and immediately saw my client in bed with some studly guy. I looked at her and she winked. We walked into one of the other rooms and then back out to the living room. At this point the owner's nanny looked up to see if we were done. She looked at me and then my client, then the TV, then the client, then the TV again and then quickly rose and came over. The client didn't say a word. The nanny said "You know, you look just like [the character's name on the soap they were watching]". Keeping a straight face, my gal said "You really think so?". "Yes, and you know you're voice sounds just like her voice." "It does?". "And your hair, it's just like her hair". "Your right, it does look like hers." Finally, and now starting to hyperventilate the nanny asked "Are you [my buyer's real name]?" With a big smile, she said "Why yes, yes I am". As this was all happening the other nannies had each started to turn around and with this last answer they all sprang up and came running over. It was clear they "lived' with these people on the TV and they were beside themselves, cooing and asking for autographs (and what was going to be happening next on the show--was she going to stay with her "boyfriend"?, had she really sleep with his brother? and so on. She was very accommodating, signing autographs and talking with them. Then just as things started to calm down a little, her friend came out of one of the bedrooms and my client said "Oh, this is my friend you might recognize her, she plays... "You sister!" they all exclaimed, and they ran over to her, too, for an autograph. It really was quite the scene.

Ultimately, my client didn't buy this the apartment, but from then on the nanny gave me the royal treatment every time I came over to show the place.