Celebrity SC's.

[Jester]

Now, I don't know if y'all have done anything like this, but I thought it would be amusing and entertaining (alright, I'm bored!) to talk about those famous folks we have encountered who were, shall we say, less than pleasant.

Now, I'd like to start out on a positive note, and mention the celebrities I have dealt with who have been absolutely wonderful, nice people, and not at all SC's, as too often in life, we focus on the negative. (Despite what some in here think, I actually DO like my job....both of them!)

Some really cool famous folks I have had the pleasure of dealing with include Sandra Bullock (absolute sweetheart), Mark McGwire (very quiet and polite), Rob Schneider, Charles Barkley (hilarious!), Dan Patrick (from ESPN), Robin Roberts (formerly of ESPN, now of Good Morning America, or one of those morning shows I am never awake early enough to see), Hootie & the Blowfish, Magic Johnson, Dikembe Mutumbo, and Cheech Marin (absolutely wonderful dude). Honestly, overall, the vast majority of celebrities I have dealt with have ranged from cool to awesome. There were one or two others that were neither great nor horrible, so I am just not mentioning them at all...they were either too boring or for whatever reason did not make an impression on me.

However....

There was Her. The Diva to end all Divas, the Entitlement Whore, the demanding biatch that I hope never to encounter again, for any reason: Vanessa Williams.

Yep, that's right, Ms. Got Her Miss America Crown Taken Away Because Of Dirty Pictures herself. She was at the brewpub I worked at with a large party, and was rude, obnoxious, demanding, petulant, mean, annoying, and just downright terrible to her server--me. And when I say terrible, I mean the snapping of the fingers type terrible. That kind of person. It was fortunate that she was with a large party and I was able to put a gratuity on the check, because I have no doubt I would have seen little from her otherwise in the form of a tip. She was just.....evil.

I hope none of you ever have the displeasure of dealing with her for any reason, and I can honestly say I am glad that it appears her career is pretty much in the toilet. I'm not a saint...sue me.

Okay....who's next?

[ThePhoneGoddess]

Bruce Willis and Demi Moore used to come to the casino when I worked there. They were still married back then, both very polite to everyone, though Brucie would get belligerent in the poker room on occasion when he got sloshed. He'd back down as soon as we called him on it, though, and would usually apologize next morning as they checked out.

Worked in Sun Valley one winter, at a ski resort, in the restaurant. Encountered Michael Keaton, Clint Eastwood, and Sandra Locke there. All very nice.

Also encountered the terminator there. Yup, Aahnold himself, a lot shorter than I expected. He was with his family. It was really busy, and apparently we didn't get to him as fast as he expected. He stormed into the back and started ordering the crazed servers around, until the manager (known as dragon lady for her fire breathing personality) verbally emasculated him. He slunk off. It was beautiful.

I once encountered Sylvester Stallone wandering in the woods just outside of Telluride, Colorado. He said good morning, and I said good morning, and as we passed each other on the trail my only thought was, 'that dude sounds just like Rambo!' Got about ten steps before I realized it *was* 'Rambo'. I'm such a dork.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

My friend was taking his new (to him) plane for a little flight and we ran into a little engine problem about 30 miles from our destination. We were getting the oil pressure guage showing that everything was ok, then oil pressure would drop to zero, then be ok again. Since the engine RPM indicators were holding steady my friend figured it was the guage itself so we landed at our destination so he could give it a looking at.

Sure enough the guage was dead, there was a leak in the system and we had to stop and replace the guage.

While we're doinking around with the beast, Levar Burton (Geordi LaForge from Star Trek for all you non-trekkies out there) showed up and wanted to ask us a few questions.

It turns out that he was going to be filming an episode of Reading Rainbow that had as its theme...flight. He was going to be getting his first pilot's lesson and have it recorded for the show. He had gotten there way early so he could look around and chat with other pilots to see what it was like flying a plane. We chatted for a bit and then got his autograph and he went on his flight and we flew back home when we had finished wrangling that guage.

Mirana Sirtis (Cmdr Dianna Troi) wasn't sucky although some schmuck was. The tabloids were ripping her a new one based on 'eye witness' accounts of a Star Trek Convention. The SC who 'reported' on her behavior that she was chewing out a boy because he screwed up his costume. As the guy standing behind the boy I know the truth. It was between Season 1 and Season 2 and she was complementing the boy for his uniform which he did himself (not bad for a 13-year old). What she was doing was not pointing out mistakes, but pointing out the changes in the S1 and S2 uniforms. The kid was happier than a pig in crap and you could see him taking mental notes.

This one I was a bit of an SC...although Walter Koenig (Chekov) took it well. It was at Gencon and I was in line for the autograph. As he's signing I'm telling him how much I loved his performance as Alfred Bester on Babylon 5 and how he was the archetypical villan (classy, charming, and goddamn slimy all at the same time) and with an evil smirk I also asked him if he had done anything else.

He stopped signing, raised an eyebrow, glared at me, smirked, shook his head, finished the autograph then threw it at me and laughed.

Later that GenCon I ran into him in an elevator (man is he short) looking like the 4th day of a three day shore leave. I raised an eyebrow and he muttered something about an all night BattleTech session.

I've been lucky, my SC's have been normal people. The few celebrities I've met were nice.

Mongo

[Acolyte]

Later that GenCon I ran into him in an elevator (man is he short) looking like the 4th day of a three day shore leave. I raised an eyebrow and he muttered something about an all night BattleTech session.

Walter Koenig is a Battletech player? Now THAT is cool.

[sportsmom]

I've met a few out and about.

A few years ago I met Odalis Perez and Jose Cabrera when they were both playing for the Braves. I have heard that Perez is a bastard, but he was very polite to my friend and I and complimented the dress she was trying on. Cabrera didn't say anything, but his English is not very good, or at least it wasn't at that time.

I met Wade Hayes (he's a country singer) a couple of times after concerts. I took my oldest when she was 5, and we went to meet him after the show. He saw my camera dn asked her if he could have his pictire taken with her, then got down on one knee next to her to get on her level (the guy's about 6'4"-6'5") and then thanked her very politely for letting him do that. He is very sweet to his fans and very friendly.


***Extra points to anyone who knows who this one is***

Back in the day when I was working at County Seat I had a associate call me over because a customer didn't have their card signed and didn't have ID. I walked over, looked at the name on the card, looked up at the customer, and said "Yep, that's John Brophy all right. Let him use it." Toughest SOB in town that guy was.

[Hempress]

Closest thing I can recall is when N*Sync came to my amusement park (they were playing a show at the arena that night) they were allowed to go through the handicap lines for rides. Lame. Luckily I was on break when they came through the roller coaster I was working that day. I heard it was bedlam...little screaming girls as far as the eye could see.

[chainedbarista]

the only encounter i've had was with kenny loggins (footloose); it wasn't an sc encounter, though. i was catching a flight on a smaller jet back from sacramento (i think??) and he was flying to a concert with his kids. he asked if we could switch seats so he could sit next to his children, which i agreed to. he was quite polite and courteous to others, but i didn't ask him for an autograph or anything-i figured he'd really prefer a moment of peace instead.

as with mongo, all my sc's have been 'regular people.'

[Dr Yorick]

It was many years ago when I was a restaurant manger. The local radio station was conducting, along with the Jerry Lewis MDA Telelthon, a local telethon broadcasting from a local shopping mall.
My entire staff decided to donate one days tips to the telethon if I would match the donation, to which I agreed.Since this was a 36 hour telethon, it was being broadcast live from the mall for the entire 36 hrs. People could bring their money and pledges to the mall anytime during the telethon and then get to hang out with what ever celebrities happened to be there. When we took over our donation, it was about 11:30 pm, Richard Dawson from Family Fued and Hogan's Heroes was there. My wife and I were standing shooting the breeze with Richard and he even bummed a cigartette from me. He was a very nice guy and a lot of fun to hang with. I even have a picture of him giving one of his famous kisses to my wife. This happened in 1975.

[Sunsetsky]

Linkin Park came to my city to perform a concert. They happened to come into the theater I worked at. Unfortunately, I had a call in (there are certain days where we call in to see if we are needed or not) and I wasn't needed. One of the girls I know got to serve Mike Shinoda at the concession stand. He was quite nice I was told. Another guy I was worked with was in shock that he got to meet them. I was pretty envious.

[batmoody]

I once encountered Sylvester Stallone wandering in the woods.

Teehee. Just picturing him wandering around in the woods. Thats funny.

[Spiffy McMoron]

Now, I don't know if y'all have done anything like this, but I thought it would be amusing and entertaining (alright, I'm bored!) to talk about those famous folks we have encountered who were, shall we say, less than pleasant.

Yeah, we've had this topic on other incarnations of the board-I'm not sure if the subject has come up lately, though. Still, it's always kinda fun.

I haven't had much experience with the celebrity customer at my old jobs (They tend to avoid shopping at A&W and Canadian Tire ) but I did get to meet Georges Laraque at my current job-really nice guy, and DAMN is he a big fella! Taller than the Durango that he brought in. He even had a bit of a "money's not an issue" attitude-he got his brake pads changed, even though they were only 40% used. Really nice guy, and great to the community-pity the Oilers traded him.

[OfficeSlug]

claims to fame

My sister works at a pharmacy/convenience store (think "pharmacy that America trusts") near The Island...

Sister called me at my workplace one Sunday afternoon, "Guess who I just checked out!?" Who? "Tori Amos!" Who does, indeed, have a house out near The Island.

She said she didn't realize who it was until Tori signed the credit card slip! My sister even chatted with her a bit, saying how much I enjoyed her music... and she was very nice about it.

(Back in the early 90s, Tori and her parents used to come into the record store I worked at - she was always quiet and polite...)

~

Buddy of mine used to work at a well-known bookstore, and he used to serve/help Neil Gaiman (also a friend of above-mentioned Tori Amos, who wrote the introduction to his first Sandman graphic novel)... From what I understand, this area is the Florida town mentioned in Anansi Boys.... but I am not sure about that claim!

~

This area is actually teeming with "celebs" because we're just north of the popular West Palm Beach and a bit southeast of Orlando.... and we have The Island.

[powerboy]

I have met Ken & frank Shamrocks father in a Toys R Us, once. He was buying a WWF figure for one of his grandkids. When I was talking to him, I realized that it was him, and I just asked if he was Frank. And he showed me his DL, to prove that it was. He also gave me a couple pictures of Ken, that I took with me, to have him sign, at an autograph signing. Ken is a really nice guy, we chatted for a while. I went to his school, and met Frank. Frank is freakin huge, in person. But he is also nice. I wasn't working at Toys R Us, just a customer, but I thought I would mention it anyway. I also met Mickie James, which is a sweetheart in person, and sexier in person, I might add.

[Myra]

My sister works at a pharmacy/convenience store (think "pharmacy that America trusts") near The Island...

Sister called me at my workplace one Sunday afternoon, "Guess who I just checked out!?" Who? "Tori Amos!" Who does, indeed, have a house out near The Island.

She said she didn't realize who it was until Tori signed the credit card slip! My sister even chatted with her a bit, saying how much I enjoyed her music... and she was very nice about it.

(Back in the early 90s, Tori and her parents used to come into the record store I worked at - she was always quiet and polite...)

I just did a mental SQEEE since I am at work and cannot vocalize my jealousy. I ADORE Tori Amos. Hands down, my favorite musician EVER. She rules them all. So yes, there is much jealousy here. I've heard that she is very soft-spoken and very polite, but never had the opportunity to meet her myself.

[Ljt09863]

well lets see... Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Goofy were all quite nice. Donald Duck seems to have this sour attitude about him though..... i have a feeling something happened between him and Mickey.....


anyways. i haven't been to close to many celebs. ive been pretty close to Tonic, when they were still famous. they played at the Navy base for a free show. i felt bad for them, cause while people listened to them, nobody really got into the concert until they played ,"If You Could Only See"

but the cool thing is, i was on their website for a while. they ad somebody taking pictures, and they took one of me and my friend when we weren't paying attention, and put it under TonicGirls.com. but that website is no lnger around.


The only celeb ive personally met, is Samy. he is the creator of the hair salon products Walgreens has. its called....Samy. great guy. really nice personality, extremely funny, and loves posing for pictures with people. my coworker has a great one of me and him. i think hes gay..... but if anybody has been in walgrens when we had the Samy Icing video playing in cosmetics, and you saw him, one of the things you might have noticed is his eyebrows. they were really weird in the video. they aren't as crazy in person.