Plucked From Obscurity
Yesterday, while rushing into my office building after lunch, I made eye contact with a 40-ish gentleman standing outside the building, talking on his cell phone. He looked vaguely familiar, and as I flipped through my mental rolodex during my elevator ride, it hit me. I had just shared a moment with an 80s icon.
If only I had had the presence of mind, I could have told him that "Mannequin" was a true cinematic masterpiece, and that I loved him in "Pretty In Pink". I called Ryan and Austin, two people who I assumed would share my enthusiasm for having recognized a former teen sensation. They shared no such enthusiasm.
I had a dilemma of a different kind on my way home from Minnesota, when I spotted Jeff Daniels coming out of the men's room in the MSP airport. I will forever regret the fact that I missed my chance to tell him that his explosive diarrhea scene in "Dumb & Dumber" defined my middle school existence. Perhaps I could have wowed him with my knowledge of Lloyd Christmas quotes and we could have quoted the film back and forth to each other and become fast friends. But I didn't and we didn't and we aren't. Such is life.
I disagree that Andrew McCarthy can be solely defined as an 80's icon. If you look closely at hisIMDB page, you can see that Andrew is still going strong, especially on those guest spots he had on "E-Ring" last year. My only question is - was he holding a cardboard sign and a tin cup when you saw him?
I like to believe that if I ever had an encounter with a celebrity, I would remain aloof, making them think "Wow, she's not affected that I'm a celebrity. She's so cool."
However, if I ran into Andrew McCarthy I would probably be all like "Hi, oh my god, I totally love you!"... in my worst and highest junior high-like voice.
Plus, it threw me that he's in his 40's. How can he be that old? It wasn't that long ago that he was taped to my closet door.
That's too funny. I saw him in the window of Japonica a few months ago and made the people I was with go back 3 times to see him - again and again. Unfortunately the only siting I had this morning was Evan Solomon, a celebrity only in his own mind.
Sting touched me.
513-600-3728, if it happens again. for several years (or months) in the mid-90s, i modeled my behavior on larry from weekend at bernie's, so i think i could share in your excitement.