Celebrity (non)sightings

I am currently reviewing a memoir for Reader Views. In one part of the book, the author talks about her run-ins with celebrities after she started her business -- and how she didn't recognize these celebrities.

I could only chuckle, as I could relate. Ah, yes. The celebrity sighting without realizing it is a celebrity sighting. I have been there, many times!

Then I started to remember my own experiences.

Let's see, where to begin??

Well, those who are in the know are  aware I am a burn survivor. The third degree burns on my body are the result of a car accident. I was 20 months old, unconscious, and trapped beneath a burning van. Firefighters saved my life that day -- and that is why I will always have deep respect for firefighters.

I have had several doctors treat me for my burns as I grew up, but my first doctor was A. Richard Grossman at the Sherman Oaks Hospital (and the part of the hospital I was in was later named the Grossman Burn Center). This hospital is located in L.A., so of course, there have been and still are many celebrities there. (My husband recently brought to my attention the fact that Jay Leno was recently treated for burns at the Sherman Oaks Hospital, because he knows I have a history with that hospital.)

Anyway, as his patient, I had made MANY visits to Dr. Grossman's office. And that's where the first celebrity sighting occurred.

Well, at least for my mom. Silly me, I was so clueless.

We were in the process of leaving after my latest appointment with Dr. Grossman when a group of people walked into his office. One of them was a Black man who was dressed very nicely.

My mom took one look at that man, who was smiling, and she grabbed my arm and screeched, "DAWN! THAT'S MICHAEL JACKSON!!" (Yes, my mom was a fan. We ALL loved Michael Jackson!)

As much as I loved Michael Jackson and had seen his face many times, I didn't recognize him when he stood a few feet from me!

In fact, I took one look at him, scoffed, and said, "No, it's not."

"YES, IT IS!!" my mom cried, apparently in the throes of hysteria as she suddenly fangirled in front of the King of Pop. "IT'S MICHAEL JACKSON! IT REALLY IS HIM!"

Well, we ended up leaving without incident. I don't know why my mom decided not to ask for an autograph. (Maybe she was too stunned to see him in person??) I later learned that Michael Jackson was indeed one of my doctor's many celebrity patients. And that chances were good that probably was him!

AND I HADN'T EVEN RECOGNIZED HIM!

That's just the first time that happened.

There are other times. Like the time I was at a grocery store in Palm Springs and my companion pointed at that a man smiling as he talked with a cashier, who we happened to be staring at, was David Carradine. Then there was the other time my family was eating at a Denny's in Southern California, and it was only later that one of my sisters told me that the man and woman who had been sitting at a table next to ours was Donnie and Marie Osmond.

Then there were times I THOUGHT I saw a celebrity but wasn't sure it was who I thought it was.

Like the time when I THOUGHT I saw a couple of members of the New Kids on the Block (along with a man who looked a lot like Biscuit!), but I wasn't sure if it was them. This happened in New Haven, Connecticut. I also saw someone who looked like Jonathan Knight at a bus stop, but I didn't recognize him, either. Not until several hours later! And, finally, at a hospital in New York which I was a patient at, I saw two people who I could have sworn were Tom Selleck and Pamela Anderson. (Dang! Where was my mom when I needed her??) They looked so much like them, but I wasn't 100% sure.

It probably was them.

And, finally, there was the celebrity sighting of a celebrity I DID NOT know at all, by name or anything else.

I was staying at a hotel in San Francisco for a poetry thing. One day, I was walking down the hall, and all the way down the hall was a Black man dressed like a rapper who was signing some autographs. He turned and walked away, heading in my direction. He had some of his people with him. We passed each other in the hall and he smiled back at me as I walked past him. (Maybe he was relieved I didn't bother him for an autograph?) He probably was a rapper, but to this day I don't know who he was.

I usually only know I am talking to a celebrity if it's for the purpose of a writing assignment or for a book. But even then, those celebrities are famous for the work they have done in a select field (such as Brandon Michaels and  John Zaffis). There is a chance that I will start to recognize celebrities when I see them, though.

Once, while I was watching a movie with my husband and kids, I got excited by the actor who appeared in a scene of the movie. “That’s Peter Capaldi!” I cried. “That’s the Twelfth Doctor!” Reading the cast of characters at the end of the movie confirmed it.

Maybe there is hope for me yet.