I am not really a centre-of-attention kind of guy.
I am just not comfortable being in the forefront where everyone is looking at me. Doesn't really matter the size of the crowd either – I just don't like being everyone's focal point.
I never have. I was a very shy child and preferred to blend into the background as much as possible.
Getting up in front of the class to give a report was terrifying and I would often hope for a bout of malaria, or scurvy or something the day of the event so I would not have to perform in front of my peers.
But of course any sickness was reserved for the weekends and I was fit as a fiddle when I had to give my report – a very nervous fiddle that is.
I gave my report with not just butterflies, but California condors fluttering in my stomach.
I managed to get through the presentations somehow, but it was not pretty.
Um, er and ah were the most spoken phrases and I stumbled my way through my notes.
When doing drills in hockey, I always made sure I was in the middle of the group so I did not stand out. When coaches were selecting players and when I saw them concentrating on me I wanted to melt into the ice.
And that is why I find birthdays so nerve racking.
Birthdays are supposed to be days of merriment and fun. When I was a kid they were, but as I grew older I began to dread them and not just because I was getting older.
I noticed how incredibly uncomfortable I am as the centre of attention when my then co-workers had a little birthday do for me.
I knew it was coming because that is what they did at this office. At 11 a.m. on someone's birthday, work would be put on hold for a half hour while everyone gathered in the boardroom to celebrate your arrival on the planet.
Deep down I was hoping they would miss my birthday, but when I saw the boss walking down the hall with a birthday cake I knew there was no escape.
I was fine as everyone gathered around the table, chatting away and sipping coffee.
It was when they all looked at me and started to sing Happy Birthday I wanted to bolt from the room like a gazelle being chased by a herd of cheetahs.
I fidgeted through the birthday song while trying not to look too obvious I was uncomfortable. I failed miserably. But eventually the song ended and we all ate cake. I no longer work at that establishment and the place I work at now has a very strict 'no employee perks of any sort' policy so I never have to worry about the birthday trauma again.
The weird part is, I have done some public speaking as an adult and was quite at ease with a microphone and a few notes.
OK, at ease might be a bit of a stretch. More like terrified into numb submission to the point where I could have been addressing the nation and it would not have bothered me.
Actually, it went pretty well the half a dozen times I have done it. I managed to throw in bits of humour mixed with the message I was trying to deliver.
However, I still prefer to hide behind a keyboard where no one can see me and I can simply rewrite something I do not like, because unlike writing, what has been said, cannot be unsaid.
Copyright 2014 Darren Handschuh
Showing posts with label celebrity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label celebrity. Show all posts
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
You never know who you might run into
It was not the first brush with fame I have ever had, but it certainly was the most unexpected.
Up until this point, pretty much every celebrity or athlete I have met was through my job in the newspaper industry.
Many years ago I met and had my picture taken with Bill Cosby, one of the funniest men alive.
The Cos was touring and I wrangled a press pass to take some pictures of the legendary comic.
Each performer has their own rules for taking pictures, so I asked one of his managers to clarify what I was allowed to do.
I was standing in a hallway of a hockey arena when another man comes out of a dressing room and asks, “Are you the photographer?”
"Yes, I am.”
"Bill would like to meet you.”
My first thought was, Bill who? Was the manager's name Bill? Was the head of security named Bill?
They might of been, but the Bill who wanted to meet me was 'The' Bill. The Cos himself had graciously invited me into his dressing room for a a brief chat and a picture.
Now I know what a deer in the headlights feels like. I was stunned. Usually you can't get within 100 feet of the celebs before they go on stage and here was one of the biggest of all time inviting me into his room.
I entered and there he was, sitting on a couch, huge cigar in hand watching a boxing match.
I walked in, sat down and looked over and could not utter a single word. I mean, what can you say to someone of that stature.
His manager took our picture, I shook his hand and wondered off amazed at what had just happened.
It was a very surreal moment and one that did not fully register immediately.
I also walked straight into The Great One Wayne Gretzky a few years back when the men's Olympic hockey team was holding their tryouts.
Wayne was in front of his hotel signing autographs, posing for pictures and basically hanging out for a few minutes when he could have just walked past everyone and hid in his room.
After all, he is the greatest hockey player of all time and not some minor leaguer trying to work his way to the top. But there he was, glad-handing and chatting it up with a very enthralled group of people.
A class act through and through.
While those encounters were somewhat possible because I knew the celebs were in town, the one that happened in Vancouver recently was a total surprise.
His name is Norman Reedus and he plays a character named Daryl Dixon on the very popular and quite grotesque The Walking Dead.
It is a show about survivors of a zombie apocalypse and Reedus' character is the most popular on the show.
I was walking through a mall in Granville Island when this guy passed us who looks exactly like Norman.
My first thought was, “Naaa, couldn't be.”
But then I overheard someone say “signing autographs” and “Daryl Dixon” so I did a 180 and went hoofing after the man who was by himself wearing a backpack vest and baseball cap.
I caught up to him and said, “Um, excuse me, are you Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead.”
"Yes, I am.”
I could not think of a single thing to say after that. He shook my hand and I mumbled how cool it was to meet him, loved the show etc.
He too was quite gracious an posed for a picture with my son and I before shaking our hands again and going about his day.
Thanks Norman, that was very cool.
Up until this point, pretty much every celebrity or athlete I have met was through my job in the newspaper industry.
Many years ago I met and had my picture taken with Bill Cosby, one of the funniest men alive.
The Cos was touring and I wrangled a press pass to take some pictures of the legendary comic.
Each performer has their own rules for taking pictures, so I asked one of his managers to clarify what I was allowed to do.
I was standing in a hallway of a hockey arena when another man comes out of a dressing room and asks, “Are you the photographer?”
"Yes, I am.”
"Bill would like to meet you.”
My first thought was, Bill who? Was the manager's name Bill? Was the head of security named Bill?
They might of been, but the Bill who wanted to meet me was 'The' Bill. The Cos himself had graciously invited me into his dressing room for a a brief chat and a picture.
Now I know what a deer in the headlights feels like. I was stunned. Usually you can't get within 100 feet of the celebs before they go on stage and here was one of the biggest of all time inviting me into his room.
I entered and there he was, sitting on a couch, huge cigar in hand watching a boxing match.
I walked in, sat down and looked over and could not utter a single word. I mean, what can you say to someone of that stature.
His manager took our picture, I shook his hand and wondered off amazed at what had just happened.
It was a very surreal moment and one that did not fully register immediately.
I also walked straight into The Great One Wayne Gretzky a few years back when the men's Olympic hockey team was holding their tryouts.
Wayne was in front of his hotel signing autographs, posing for pictures and basically hanging out for a few minutes when he could have just walked past everyone and hid in his room.
After all, he is the greatest hockey player of all time and not some minor leaguer trying to work his way to the top. But there he was, glad-handing and chatting it up with a very enthralled group of people.
A class act through and through.
While those encounters were somewhat possible because I knew the celebs were in town, the one that happened in Vancouver recently was a total surprise.
His name is Norman Reedus and he plays a character named Daryl Dixon on the very popular and quite grotesque The Walking Dead.
It is a show about survivors of a zombie apocalypse and Reedus' character is the most popular on the show.
I was walking through a mall in Granville Island when this guy passed us who looks exactly like Norman.
My first thought was, “Naaa, couldn't be.”
But then I overheard someone say “signing autographs” and “Daryl Dixon” so I did a 180 and went hoofing after the man who was by himself wearing a backpack vest and baseball cap.
I caught up to him and said, “Um, excuse me, are you Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead.”
"Yes, I am.”
I could not think of a single thing to say after that. He shook my hand and I mumbled how cool it was to meet him, loved the show etc.
He too was quite gracious an posed for a picture with my son and I before shaking our hands again and going about his day.
Thanks Norman, that was very cool.
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