So, no one is ever prepared (I think) when you meet a celebrity for the first time. It just doesn’t happen. The initial greeting is always awkward because there’s nothing you can say or do that would make it less weird. Unless, you meet celebrities all the time in your line of work or you’re famous yourself then this doesn’t apply to you. I’m sure for the celebrities themselves, at one point or another they probably will hear the most ridiculous questions too. Therefore, on both ends the initial meet and greet is definitely awkward as a whole.
I had the privilege this weekend to meet grammy award winner and rapper Common. Long story short, my friend won VIP tickets that included sitting 2nd row to the front during the concert and a meet and greet afterwards with the celebrity. Since we also got VIP entry to free drinks and food, we took full advantage of everything and ended up slightly giddy.
The actual meet and greet with Common was a blur.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0abfSxA5y6/
I remembered after the photos were taken there was that awkward silence. My friend and I stood there staring at him. To mask out the awkwardness quickly I embarrassingly asked him his real name. A question (one of many questions we thought of), that my friend and I had prior to meeting him. I further explained to Common that we saw various names online and we weren’t completely sure. He responded that those sites are all fake and I said you mean Wikipedia? o – m – g (my dad was laughing when I told him this story.)
For the record, as I am writing this and if, Common happens to be reading this, I am truly sorry for the embarrassing question. But, really, what questions can we ask or should we have just walked off w/o asking anything?
In hindsight, Common was so nice to respond with his real name. However, the gentleman who had taken our photo had cut us off before Common could finish his sentence. That was clearly our cue to say goodbye. So there you have it, my first meet and greet with a celebrity. A bit awkward but, the whole experience from the concert leading up to meeting Common was a lot fun. I’d do it again in a heartbeat just maybe prepare for a better question to ask or have a cool way of masking out the awkward silence.
A Stint Abroad 