Celebrity

I was in O'Hare airport one day this week waiting for my next flight.  The airport had been closed earlier, so everything was backed up.  The seating in the gate area was totally filled, so I stood in the main corridor where I could see and hear in the event of a gate change or other announcement.  No point in being bored, so I entertained myself with "people watching."


My attention was drawn by two men coming in my direction.  Most people getting off a flight dash past looking here and there at the arrows that point to baggage claim or the nearest restroom.  These two men had a different demeanor.  They strode along purposefully, but not hurriedly.  They seemed like the kind of men who are used to being noticed.  They were dressed similarly in well-tailored black wool topcoats and black dress hats, such as my Dad wore in the 1950s.  One man had an attractive multi-colored scarf draped around his neck.  When they were within 10 feet of me, I realized the man on the left was Jesse Jackson.


A middle-aged black lady on the opposite side of the corridor came to the same realization and ran right up to him to shake his hand.  He did so graciously.  She returned to her place and immediately got on her cell phone,  "oh, my god, oh, my god....I can't believe it!"  she exclaimed into the phone..


I stood there pondering how much this chance encounter must have meant to her.  Then I tried to decide whom I could possibly meet that would cause me to be so excited.  I ran a bunch of names through my mind....politicians, musicians, actors and actresses.  Hmmmm....who on earth would "make my day."  I came up blank  I reran my list of handsome male actors through my brain....nope.  I guess celebrity just doesn't impress me.


I would love to meet someone with "gazillions" who was philanthropic.  I would try to convince him or her to throw some money towards the endeavor that our family has to help bare subsistence farmers in Third World countries grow sufficient crops to feed their families.  But, those kind of people aren't found walking through O'Hare.  They are on private jets and inaccessible to the masses.


Eventually I concluded that the only accidental meeting that would thrill me would be if I met some "long-lost" friend.  During my years in nursing school and college, I had friends with whom I have lost touch.  


If one of them walked by me in O'Hare...
If we managed to recognize each other after 40-plus years...
If we had time to at least exchange email addresses....
I would be genuinely excited.


Celebrity....not so much.