Photography And Half-Thoughts By Mitchell Hegman

...because some of it is pretty and some of it is not.

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Bette Davis and Freddie Mercury Eating Hamburgers

Bette Davis invited Freddie Mercury to her house for a grilled hamburger.

“I must admit,” Freddie remarked as they sat down to their burgers under a palm tree near Bette’s grill, “I never imagined you the type to enjoy a grilled burger.”

“I appreciate a hamburger fresh from the grill,” Bette admitted.  “As someone similarly famous, I am sure you understand the myths and misconceptions that accompany your fame.”

Freddie nodded.

“But it is also true that fame makes us strange.”  Bette sipped at her iced tea, and continued speaking.  “I often played to my critics.  I nurtured a reputation for being difficult.  When I traveled, I took a ridiculous number of bags.  One of the smaller bags I filled with sand.  Two larger ones were stuffed with pillows I never used.”

Freddie laughed.   When he followed that by biting into his burger, a pickle slice ejected from his burger and unceremoniously flopped onto his plate.  “Well,” he said, “that was rather bull elephantish of me.  My apologies.”

Bette Daves waved her hand.  “No need for apologies.  Pickles are tricky.”  She issued a laugh.  “Tell me, what makes you strange, Mr. Mercury?”

Freddie Mercury answered without hesitation.  “I am not strange for what I have done, but strange for a peculiar genetic twist.  I was born with four extra teeth in my upper jaw.  I was opposed to having them surgically removed for fear my singing might be altered.”

“So, you embraced your strange?”

“I did.”

“Excellent.  We can do no better than that.”

Mitchell Hegman

Note: One of the admissions expressed above is true.

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