RantCrush Top 5: August 15, 2017

An Irish student on a J1 visa working at a Chicago restaurant didn’t recognize the Irish Prime Minister when he entered her restaurant. Emma Kelly, the hostess, seated PM Leo Vardkar and his companion at a tiny table outside after making them wait at the bar. But after a little while, Kelly realized who he was, and tweeted “Honestly what is wrong with me?” “I was like ‘oh hey are you guys Irish?’ and they were like ‘yeah…’ so I sent to them to the bar and a couple of minutes later I took them to a two person table,” she said. She says she didn’t realize who they were until her friend told her. But no harm was done–Varadkar reportedly thought it was funny and said it was nice being treated like a normal person. Kelly even got an awkward photo with her country’s leader:

Painfully awkward pic of us and Leo when I realised it was the Taoiseach pic.twitter.com/7zxs4ugAW1

— Emma Kelly (@__Emmax3) August 14, 2017

Varadkar has only been the prime minister, also called the Taoiseach, since June. He is the youngest, and first openly gay, leader of the country. Kelly later tweeted that he is officially her favorite PM, and he seemed to have liked meeting her too:

Thanks Emma. The food & service was gr8. Enjoy the rest of your J1

— Leo Varadkar (@campaignforleo) August 14, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.