Famous People

Of course, there is a difference between actually meeting a famous person and just merely seeing them walk down the street. The examples below illustrate encounters where I got giddy by simply seeing them stand around on the street.

• Richard Kind: I saw him at a play once. You might know the face but not the name. Look him up. He was in a bunch of sitcoms.
• George Stephanopoulos: We were visiting the studios of ABC News and George Stephanopoulos happened to be filling in for Charles Gibson on World News Tonight. So we got to see him actually do his anchoring work and then saw him later on his way out to jet back to Washington. And he is indeed short.
  
• Anderson Cooper: We were visiting the New York headquarters of CNN and we had to split into two different groups for the elevators. Anderson Cooper happened to walk into one of the elevators. I was not in it. But I did get to see him later coming out of the other elevator. Fail.

And then there are the celebrities we see by going to their shows, which I guess is sort of cheating. But you can tell people that you actually saw Bon Jovi or Bruce Springsteen, and when they ask how, you just tell them it was at a concert because hey, you did see them.

• Aniu: I'm not sure if many people would know who this guy is. I didn't know who he was. He's a Malaysian pop singer? Look him up.
  
• Bon Jovi: I had tickets to their free concert in Central Park. That was a nice night.
• Katie Holmes: We took a trip to see her debut stage act in the play "All My Sons." She was okay for her first time on Broadway.
• Questlove: Better known as the drummer for The Roots, the house band of Jimmy Fallon. We ran into him after a concert in Carnegie Hall and I actually got his autograph.

Politicians sort of have their own class of fame. I can't really put my encounters with them on the same list as other celebrities because their job is to make themselves known to the world rather than shy away from cameras when the paparazzi show up.

• John Liu: I worked for this guy. I have at least five pictures with him.
• Rudy Guiliani: He visited my elementary school after 9/11 to talk with us about the awesomeness of service.
• George Pataki: He was with his fellow Republican when they were visiting my school after 9/11.
• Alan Gerson: This guy was the councilman of my district for quite some time and was just booted out of his seat this year. Saw him at Gee Whiz and again at John Liu's victory party.
• David Weprin: Actually, Liu's victory party was where I met many politicians including former comptroller candidate Dave Weprin.
• Mark Weprin: And his son.
• Bill Thompson: Oh, and the guy whose up against Bloomberg for the position of New York City mayor.
  

I am lucky to live in a city where I can run into so many interesting people. Of course, people who live in LA are even luckier. I have friends from California who swear they've seen Paris Hilton walking past their school. There was one girl who bragged that Sean Penn's daughter was in her math class and Dana Carvey's son worked with her on a group project. Well, good for you. But I happened to brush past Eliot Spitzer and her daughter while touring Harvard's campus. And Jay Leno was standing outside my classroom building at a summer program in Boston one time.

And with that, I painted our society's obsession with celebrity, large and small, A-list to D-list. We'll be riled up over anyone famous we run into, whether it's on the street or on the stage. The famous people I've encountered aren't even as famous as some of the celebrities other people have run into, but they're good enough for me, seeing as I myself am not famous. But still, what I really enjoy is not seeing them standing around on the street as they are hounded by their fans for autographs but meeting them when they're just sitting on a train or a bus like you and me and then turning to ask about that interesting book you're reading. Actually, I don't even care if that person is famous. It's just nice to be talking to someone on a long train ride about something interesting.