Episode 82: Never Meet Your Heroes

"Yeah, all the nights I don't remember/are the ones I can't forget/when all your heroes get tired/I'll be something better yet."

                                       -Bleachers, "All My Heroes"

   I only consider myself as having met two famous people - Murr from Impractical Jokers and Christian singer/songwriter Rhett Walker. I talked to Murr on the phone and met Walker and got a picture with him after a concert. I also "met" Aaron Cole after that same concert - but all I did there was quickly shake his hand and say a few words before hurriedly leaving so some family waiting could get their picture with him. I also met 2/3 of the band POP ETC, but they're so indie and underground a band that you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who genuinely considers them famous people. I've also gotten some interactions and mentions on social media from famous people but I'd hardly, hardly call that meeting them.

   So, there you go - I've met two of my "heroes": James "Murr" Murray and Rhett Walker. They were both very nice and at least came across as genuine people, like the coolness and kindness they display for the public isn't just a charade. But I know that's not the case with everyone. I've heard story after story about people meeting famous people who turn out to be rude or just outright jerks. I know there are several stories about James Corden and Ellen DeGeneres being very mean people. My sister tells me about how Rainn Wilson came to Hays, Kansas, and she heard about how he was apparently rude to people. I like to give him the benefit of the doubt and say maybe he was just having a bad day - maybe he was just grated l frustrated or agitated about something so he came off rude.

    But that's the thing about being famous. One has to filter and stifle their emotions or they come across as a jerk. You have to keep up a good face for all your fans so they don't realize that you, too, are a human being. 

   Maybe Rainn Wilson actually is a jerk. I don't know. I know many famous people, and people in general, are. That's why the saying of "never meet your heroes" is such a popular one. You basically idolize someone and build up such a love and respect for them, but that might all be ruined if you meet them and they're mean to you.

   But, it could all be validated. Some famous people are made out to be very sweet and kind and actually are, in fact, very sweet and kind. Meeting them and experiencing them showing you kindness would make you like them all the more and give you a sense of relief that they aren't actually a jerk behind the cameras.

Anyway, see you next week!