Celebrites I have seen while travelling.
1) George Clinton ( of Parliment Funakdelic) on FC on a MSP-MDW flight, in FC.
2) Susan Hawk (that hideous annoying runner-up in Survior I- you know the truck driver- "The Snake Eats the Rat" speech. She was across the aisle from on a DET-MSP flight in FC, shortly after the show ended and towards the end of her 15 minutes. She was loud and obnoxious.
3) Former US Senator Rod Grams. MSP to DCA- in December on last year to clean out his office.
.
4) About 15 years ago when athletes flew with the rest of us, I saw the entire Portland Trailblazer team, including Drexler, etc. in LAX. They stopped to sign autographs and were very nice and pleasant to everyone. They were hard to miss.
5) Not on an airplane, but twice in the past year in hotels I have run into Carl Everett, the Red Sox' mercurial center fielder who doesn't believe in dinosaurs. I'm a huge Red Sox fan, but neither time I bothered him- partially because I'm terrified
. He has a bit of a reputation of having a little temper.
Once was in the Westin Mich Ave. last summer on a Sunday morning. The other time was in April in an elevator in the Boston Sheraton about 2 hours after a game.
5) Walter Mondale waiting with me for a car in the Ritz Carlton St. Louis.
6) In high school I rode in a hotel elevator with Troy Aikman. This one is the only time I have actually interacted with a Celeb. The long and bizarre story follows:
In Fall 1991 I was a High School senior. Myself and some friends were at some student conference in LA, at one of the LAX hotels. The primary unstated purpose of the weekend away was that you got to spend the weekend in a hotel full of girls and all sorts of unsupervised hotel rooms. God bless whoever was the first person to suggest that high school students have co-ed "conferences" at hotels....
I digress...
We're checking into the hotel, when all of a sudden there is a big commotion. I had noticed that there were a bunch of yahoos hanging around the lobby. One of my friends pokes me in the shoulder and says "Hey, I think that's the Dallas Cowboys! I'm going to go grab some autographs." I declined, knowing that looking like a geeky autograph hound would seriously damage my chances of succeeding in the main goal of the weekend if anyone I cared about noticed. Besides, I like every other rational person, hated the Cowboys.
I got the keys to the room, and trudged with my bag across the lobby, towards a corridor towards the elevator, which as I recall, was a long way away. As I trapsed across, I saw a mass of people around a tall blonde guy. As I passed right by, I noticed it was Aikman, largely by the shrieks of "Troy, Troy" from the mass of "humanity" (if you can call Cowboys fans human). As I walked past the mass, I paid no attention, and as I passed, I heard someone say "Hey dude, hold up a second!" It was a voice I didn't recognize, so I stopped and turned around. I saw Troy AIkman walking quickly towards me. Strange. As he gets to me, he holds it his hand, and says softly "Do me a favor, and pretend you know me , and walk with me" I shake his hand, and play along, "Troy, how's it going? Good to see you." We engage in BS conversation and walk quickly towards the elevator, down this corrdior. Meanwhile, the mass of humanity subsides, and he says "Man, I'm sorry about that. I owe you one. I just had to get out of there. Thanks a lot." "No problem", I said.
Ever since then I have never approached a celebrity outside of an arena where it would be appropriate. There are two aspects to this.
First, they're just people like us.
Second, everyone deserves some peace and quiet and personal space. I can't constantly having my personal space violated all the time.
[This message has been edited by BoSoxFan45 (edited 07-23-2001).]