Been keepin this around for a while and thought I'd finally post it. Long story but worth the read. Here's the story. As I'm patrolling the hospital, headed down to the 1st floor on the elevator, I catch a glimpse of Elvis Presley in a waiting room, but am unable to get off the elevator in time. When I get back there, he's gone. So I radio to base. The conversation went something like this: ------------------------------------ Me:17 to base, Have you had any reports of Elvis in the hospital? Base : (nothing, just dead air) Me: 17 to base, did you copy? Base: Sir, did you say Elvis, as in Presley Me: 10-4, Elvis Presley with a guitar on the second floor. My Sergeant: (amid hysterical laughter): All units be on the lookout for a white male wearing a gold studded jumpsuit, answers to "The King". Possibly driving a pink cadillac. Me: That's funny sarge, you think I'm nuts, huh? My Sergeant: Nobody said that, why don't you just come to the office and we'll talk about it. Me: Not until I find this guy. ---------------------------------------------- It took me half an hour, but I finally found him on the 8th floor. He had been hired by an elderly woman's kids to sing a couple songs to her in her hospital room. I explained to him that he had to check in with security before performing, but it was ok as long as he went with me to the office, so I could prove to my sergeant that I wasn't going crazy. You should have seen the look on my sergeant's face when we walked through the door together. He took this picture of us for proof (and to use to poke fun at me for months). I escorted him back to the parking garage, and as he drove off, I couldn't help myself. I got back on the radio and announced "Elvis has left the building". Turns out his brother is a Meat Loaf impersonator, they've got a website. http://www.elvisandmeatloaf.com/
And here I thought he keeled over on the crapper. I was wrong. Hahaha. I don't care much for Elvis though to each their own. However meeting a celebrity, real or not, is all the same cool. I wish to this day that my grandmother, her usual being to tote a camera whereever she goes, hadn't forgot it that fateful day. Star Wars: ROJ was just out in the theater in my small southern town and I begged to go and she finally agreed. To this day I am a big Star Wars fan. Darth Vader is my idea of a life's lesson. Once innocent and full of life, then through a twisted teaching dark and full of hate, though in the end when it counted redemption was his for the asking. Okay, enough of the weirding out, back to the story. We arrived at the theater and after buying the tickets I was thinking maybe I would get the huge bucket of soda and some popcorn to go with the movie. I was counting my spare change in my hand and when I looked up I was so shocked, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Standing there is all his immense glory, armor and all was, to me, Darth Vader. I kind of think that it was just a guy suited up for the movie though everything was authentic down to the buttons on his 'breathing regulator'. I couldn't swear to you that it wasn't actually the real Darth Vader doing a nation wide tour, however that matters little to me. And to my eyes at that time, the world could have come to an end and I would have cared less. Though like I said, it was the one day that my grandmother forgot her camera. I have never and will never forget that day. I do have a picture of me and a Ronald McDonald guy. Other than those two I have only met two other celebrities. Some country singer by the name of Janey Fricky or something like that and Oliver North. I have shaken hands with both though at the age I met them, I did not know why they were famous or that I was meeting anyone famous. They were just people I met through a benefactor and being polite was the way I was taught. Years down the road I find that I would have liked to have talked with Mr. North a lot more and had a picture taken with Darth. Janey and Ronald were just okay. So through it all I have learned one thing. If you have a camera, take it with you everywhere if you can. You never know when a photo-op might come up. Haha.
