Just like the rest of us

On Friday, I flew up to Cincinnati for a client meeting and back to Dallas all in one day. It’s a grueling schedule, starting at 6 in the morning. And it’s on American Eagle. So much for their “more legroom” advertising campaign. This plane is cramped.

All I want to do when I get onboard the airplane is sleep, but I have to prepare for the meeting I’m going to since I haven’t had time this week to review the materials. Still, comfort is important.

Before we take off, a small child is screaming loudly somewhere behind me. Great, I think. (I love children, but when I’m travelling, especially this early in the morning, my patience for them is greatly reduced.)

Then the person behind me keeps messing with my seat back. Any traveller expects some jostling as people get settled, but this just keeps going and going. I finally do the half-turn of my head to signal my annoyance, thinking perhaps this person is so self-absorbed they don’t realize the effect they are having on me.

The woman sitting next to me says, “Do you know who that is?”

Since I didn’t actually turn all the way around and see the person’s face, I say, “No.”

“It’s Daryl Johnson!” (former Cowboys football player and local celebrity)

I turn around again, and sure enough, it is.

“He keeps bumping my seat,” I explain to my neighbor.

Celebrity or no, he should still be more considerate.

I’m not one to get too excited about celebrities. When I was about fourteen, visiting my aunt in California, we saw Sylvester Stalone at an outdoor shopping mall. I was so excited and politely asked him for his autograph. He was so rude to me, not even glancing my way, signing the paper and disdainfully handing it back to me while blowing cigar smoke. I was so unimpressed, I threw the autograph away. Since then, I’ve seen Jamie Lee Curtis at an airport (she’s angular and too thin) and had the opportunity to meet Paula Zahn (I was a big fan at the time, and a bit starstruck. She was also rail thin and looked like she needed to eat. Still, she was polite and let me take a picture with her. I have no idea where that snapshot is now.)

I guess I adhere to the idea that they are just human beings like me. We all put our pants on one leg at a time. We all have our foibles and our baggage, our own crosses to carry, even if some are better at concealing theirs than others.