"HARRY BELAFONTE TURNS 80 TOMORROW!"

Last night I noticed a trait in a co-worker that endeared her to me even further: If you ask her a question and she doesn’t know the answer, she will substitute some random information to fill the void.

For example, we were talking about an item in the paper regarding Dr. Seuss. Specifically, we were discussing his name: Theodor Seuss Geisel (please notice there is no final “e” on his first name). I asked, “Where is he from?” And my co-worker said, “I don’t know, but his wife’s name is Audrey.”

From anyone else, this answer would have annoyed me. But from her, it was an insight into her charm.

“Why are you giving me some random trivia as a substitute for the information I asked for?” I say.

“What?” she asks.

“I asked where he was from, and you gave me his wife’s name,” I say. “I just realized you do that all the time.”

Her reply to this: “Did you know his middle name is actually pronounced ‘Soyce’?”

I let this non-sequitur pass.

Then I say, “It sounds like he should be from Vienna or somewhere — with the ‘Dr.’ and the ‘Sound of Music’-sounding name.”

And she says, “He’s from Springfield, Massachusetts.”

At last. The answer to my question, which she must have looked up as she was enriching my life with Seuss trivia.

I think she delivers random information so as not to disappoint, to not be empty-handed when something is wanted from her. She doesn’t just sit there and bore you with every thought in her head like some people do. She’s actually pretty quiet. But if you ask her a question and she doesn’t know the answer, she’ll console you with interesting tidbits until she can satisfy you.

This is the same person who, when her husband calls, unfailingly answers the phone with a great big “Hi, Honey!” And ends the conversation with an equally enthusiastic “Bye, Honey!”

I love this more than I can say, especially because I know he is not much of a honey and is usually just calling to ask her what’s in the refrigerator he is standing right in front of.

This is the same person who leaps up in her cubicle, gets everyone’s attention by waving her hands, then makes an announcement like: “Zsa Zsa’s husband, Prince Frederic Von Anhalt (she knows her European royalty inside out, going back to the dawn of the Hapsburg dynasty), wanted to adopt Anna Nicole Smith to make her a princess. But Zsa Zsa said no.” Then she will titter and flap her elbows with glee at the incredible silliness of human beings. This is especially amusing because were her own husband to ask whether he could adopt his stripper mistress, she would not only sign on the dotted line, but would happily describe the contents of the refrigerator to the helpless, hungry lovebirds.

This is the same person whom I can hear sobbing in her cubicle when she reads a story about animal abuse.

This is the same person who occasionally brings a loaf of Wonder bread and a container of margarine to share with her co-workers. And everyone laps it up like it’s caviar.

This is the same person who eats potato chips that have been sitting opened in the newsroom for three days. I know it’s because she doesn’t want the potato’s death to have been in vain.

This is the same person who NEVER calls in sick — out of sheer consideration for her co-workers. Others will stay home with a runny nose, but she will be there with an ailment she could arguably be hospitalized for.

Why is she so giving? If I asked her, she’d probably say, “I don’t know, but Harry Belafonte turns 80 tomorrow!”