Dear Mr. Tom Hanks,
I just wanted to take a minute to write to you and thank you for being such an inspiration to me! I've seen just about all of your movies and I cannot think of another actor who is able to embody the emotions of the human spirit better than you. You have me laughing one minute and then crying the next. I always leave your movies wondering who I am as a person and Louise (That's my wife), starts to question me as a man! Any time I start to tear up she always says, "Harold are you cryin'? Aw gee pull it together will ya? The popcorn is salty enough as it is, I don't need your tears in there!" I try to explain to her that there's more to life than salty popcorn. Don't get me wrong I'm not one of them tummy ticklers; I like football as much as the next guy, but sometimes a man needs to feel a little vulnerable. Sometime ya just need a good cry. You know what I'm saying? Boy oh boy. Would you look at me? I have gotten so sidetracked.
I just wanted to take a minute to write to you and thank you for being such an inspiration to me! I've seen just about all of your movies and I cannot think of another actor who is able to embody the emotions of the human spirit better than you. You have me laughing one minute and then crying the next. I always leave your movies wondering who I am as a person and Louise (That's my wife), starts to question me as a man! Any time I start to tear up she always says, "Harold are you cryin'? Aw gee pull it together will ya? The popcorn is salty enough as it is, I don't need your tears in there!" I try to explain to her that there's more to life than salty popcorn. Don't get me wrong I'm not one of them tummy ticklers; I like football as much as the next guy, but sometimes a man needs to feel a little vulnerable. Sometime ya just need a good cry. You know what I'm saying? Boy oh boy. Would you look at me? I have gotten so sidetracked.
What really inspired me to write you is your shrimp company, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. I mean how the heck do you find the time?! I can barely get my garage organized and here you are making Captain Phillips, Saving Mr. Banks and running thirty-nine restaurants world wide all in one year? I gotta ask you, how do you do it? Let me just be clear, I'm not stupid. I know you're not in all of your restaurants everyday, cause Louise and I took a trip to New York City a few years back. Louise told me that we could either go to a small family-run Italian place called the Olive Garden or we could go to your restaurant, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. That was an easy one for me, I said, "I want to eat some shrimp and meet Tom Hanks!" I looked all over for you and thought, "Well maybe Tom is working in the kitchen today." That's when I realized that you, Tom Hanks, wouldn't be at the New York City location when there's a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company in Los Angeles!
So about a year ago Louise and I packed up our Chevy Cobalt and drove all the way to Los Angeles, the city where you live, from Mississippi! We arrived on a Thursday and Louise asked me, "Harold, do you want to go to this little family run Chinese place called Panda Express or Bubba Gump Shrimp Company?" Like she even had to ask! I tell ya Tom, sometimes Louise can be so ridiculous! So we go to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company out there on this big pier right by the ocean and I couldn't find you there either! Our waiter told us, "Tom? Tom Hanks? Ohhhhh riiiiight Tom. Tom only comes in to this location on the weekends. He's at the Hollywood location on weekdays because it works better with his movie schedule." Of course. How stupid of me!
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Finally we had the information we needed and when Monday we went to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Again. And I walked all over the restaurant looking for you. Again. And I didn't see you. Again. As disappointed as I was to not get the opportunity to shake your hand, I loved your restaurant every time. If you had been there it would have been icing on the cake, but I realized that you don't have time to be making movies, catching all them shrimp, and watching over all them restaurants.
It wasn't until earlier this year when I saw Captain Phillips (Which of course made me cry) that I was finally able to piece everything together. You're not a shrimp boat captain anymore at all. You've probably got another business going in the shipping industry that I didn't even know about. Well let me just tell you "Thank you" from the bottom of my heart. What an inspiration. You make me want to take on more responsibility in my life. If you can make all them movies, have a family, fight pirates, ship supplies all over the world, all while running a multi-million dollar shrimp restaurant, then I can at least help Louise with all them dishes I've been leaving in the sink.
Your dear friend,
Harold Grissett
Your dear friend,
Harold Grissett