Have you ever met someone famous? I have. Sort of. Here's my story.
When I arrived at my room, I found it was already occupied by two other men. I said there must have been a mix-up, and I would get another room. They were sorry for my trouble and invited me to dinner that night to make up for it. They were cooking something in their room. (Residence Inns are suite hotels with full kitchens.) They seemed nice, but I exercised caution and decided it was best for me not to have dinner with two strange men in their hotel room. Later I encountered them on one of the walkways and found out that they were high school friends of Gladys and her brother, Bubba, and Gladys and Bubba were at the dinner that night I was invited to. Oh, well. The next morning I saw Gladys at breakfast in her purple silk jacket. She looked sleepy, so I didn't approach her.
That's my story. I was friendly with Gladys Knight's high school friends, I got her brother, Bubba's autograph, and I saw Gladys, up close and personal although I didn't talk to her. I'm not sure if any one of those things counts by themselves, but I think they all add up to one decent celerity encounter. :)
Have you had any encounters with someone famous?
That is a cool story and though you missed out on a meal with Gladys and her brother, it was the cautious thing to do.
ReplyDeleteBecause I used to cater for just about every single group that performed here, I got to meet a lot of famous people. Some were lovely (B.B. King and Bonnie Raitt) others were not so nice.
However I guess my most up close and personal shoulder rub was having Winton Marsalis and the Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra at my house for bbq.
It sounds like you have a Who's Who list of celebrity encounters in the music world. If you wanted to gossip sometime, you could tell us who wasn't so nice, but I bet you're above that. :) I remember your Winton Marsalis story. It sounded like a fun time.
DeleteSo you used to cater? That fits with the fact that you enjoy cooking.
What an interesting story! No I have not had any encounters with anyone famous :) I do like staying at Residence Inns though!
ReplyDeletebetty
Thanks for visiting, Betty. The Residence Inn was close to where my company's office was, so I stayed there a lot. It was nice to come back to the suite and cook in the room sometimes without always going out to dinner.
DeleteThat's an exciting encounter! The closest one I ever had was when I was visiting a friend in South Carolina. We went to Savannah, Georgia for the day and that was when Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was being filmed. Clint Eastwood was there directing it. He seemed to enjoy the attention from the tourists and I have a picture of him doing the directing. No autographs, though.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty cool. I think I would have recognized Clint and not have to be told who the celebrity was like in my encounter. :)
DeleteThat is a great story! I've seen a few celebrities over the years; the office building I worked in was often used in filming movies, I've attended a couple of live tapings of talk shows, and I used to often see a late night talk show host in the grocery store (he keeps a fleet of vintage vehicles in a building near my house). Also, my gardener M tends to the gardens of a few people in the industry as they say and some of the plants I occasionally rehome in my garden are rejects from their gardens! :)
ReplyDeleteOut in LA you have more celebrities to run into and seeing them is not as big a deal as it is around here. Or is it?
DeleteI'm guessing that it was Jay Leno whom you saw in the grocery store often since he is known to be a car collector?
Yes, I think we do tend to see more celebrities, but, people do get excited when they see them (I'm hopeless at recognizing a lot of them, though!). Yes, it was Jay Leno. He can be seen driving around here in one of his vintage cars quite often. :)
DeleteEven if you didn't know Leno was driving, I think it would be fun to see his old cars.
DeleteOh wow! What a story! When I worked briefly at the Benton County Museum, during quilt week, David Ogden Steirs walked in. He lived in Oregon much of his later life. He was looking for a "large man" quilt, he said. (he played the obnoxious Charles in MASH).
ReplyDeleteI remember David Ogden Steirs well from MASH. A quilt show is an interesting place to meet a celebrity. Did he find a large-man quilt?
DeleteI interned for Joel Osteen in 2002, but he’s actually infamous now, so it’s not something to put on the resume these days 😂
ReplyDeleteJoel Osteen was big when we lived in Houston. Our neighbors went to his church. But he has fallen out of favor these days.
DeleteThat was an interesting encounter. I know I wouldn't have known a Pip from a Squeak. But I would have like to have met him.
ReplyDeleteI've met a number of famous people over the years. Usually it was because of the business I was in. Once while staying a big Marriott hotel in downtown Memphis we were eating breakfast in the hotel restaurant and noted a very tall man who appeared to be rather known. We didn't recognize him, but I asked the waiter who told us that it was Bo Outlaw, a basketball player on the Memphis pro team. After we finished eating we saw him at the desk in the lobby and mentioned that my wife was a big basketball fan and could he pose for a picture with her. He pleasantly complied and my wife was thrilled even though she didn't know much about him. Still it's cool to have that picture to show off in our photo albums.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out Battle of the Bands
I saw several famous sports figures when we lived in New Orleans because I worked next to a very nice hotel where they stayed. However, since I had never heard of most of them, I wasn't too excited.
DeleteBut it's nice that Bo Outlaw posed with your wife who was a sports fan. It sounds like a fun memory.
I don't think I've ever encountered anyone famous. I don't think I'd be very smooth about it.
ReplyDeleteIf I ever have a real encounter with a famous person, I don't think I'd be very smooth about it either.
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