Everyone Needs a Little Whoopi

No, not THAT whoopi (this is a family-friendly site after all)! 

 

I was referring to THIS Whoopi:

To be more exact, Whoopi Goldberg, keynote speaker at a recent annual dinner for a large trade association. 

What trade association was it, you ask?  Actually I don’t really know and I even attended the dinner!  All I know is that Whoopi was the main speaker and that they had a really fancy dinner with lawyers and lobbyists from various corporations.

Each year the CPA gets invited to a lot of these and every once in a while we attend.  As such, we have gone to some great parties over the past couple of years.  Like this one, they are usually held at a beautiful hotel or a great location like the Press Club.  No expense is spared on the meals, which usually consists of several courses made up of dishes that I can’t pronounce.  The liquor flows freely which seems to make people happy to rub elbows for an hour or two.  And sometimes, if you’re really lucky, (and don’t work for the federal government – thanks Abramhoff) you get to leave with a goodie bag filled with sample products from the event’s sponsors. 

We attended this particular event because we thought it would be fun to see Whoopi.  While I don’t watch The View, I do like some of her earlier movies like Ghost, Corrina Corrina and The Associate.  So I was curious what she would be like in person, especially at a dinner like this one.

So we went to the Ritz Carlton where the event was held. 

Since we were a little late, we got there just in time to be seated for dinner.  It’s better that way actually, skip the happy hour altogether.  This was planned on purpose for two reasons: 1) neither of us drink, and 2) the small talk can be somewhat painful.  At least for me.  My husband knows most of these people quite well and it is easy for him to discuss work-related issues.  I can fend for myself pretty well, but there’s only so much small talk one can make.

I lucked out in that regard.  We were placed at one of the front tables and I sat beside the only other woman in our group.  She was quite nice and we ended up having a good conversation over our basil potato mousseline and Boston bibb and radicchio (what did I tell you about the fancy food). 

(Let me apologize for the poor quality of the photos, some were taken with my phone and the others taken with a small camera and no flash.)

The CPA sat beside me and talked with a lobbyist friend of his.  The dinner went by quickly and then it was time to announce the winners of the raffle.  Some of the items being raffled included a Panasonic 42″ HDTV,  a Nokie Tablet (I would have LOVED this little toy), a Sony Playstation 3, a BP cash card (what does that say about the state of our economy), and a L’Oreal Deluxe gift basket (yes, a man did win this – the irony). 

And finally, the moment we had all been waiting for – Whoopi Goldberg!  I guess I expected some sort-of feeling like an electric jolt when she walked onto the stage what with her being a celebrity and all.  But nothing happened.  She could have been any other speaker.  Except that everyone laughed at her jokes of course.  And she was pretty funny.

The best part was watching her try to keep the routine “clean” or rated “PG-13″ as she defined it.  I guess she is used to exercising her, um, freedom of speech.  But, they were paying her to keep things respectable and she did a good job.  She talked about some of the products from the sponsors there.  She talked about her kids and she talked about politics (of course).  She poked fun at the candidates without really singling out one over the others (with the exception of Sarah Palin, she had a couple of good ones for her). 

All-in-all, it was fun.  It was an entertaining night and was a step away from our usual routine which everyone needs once in a while. 

Just like everyone needs a little Whoopi!