"Say Hello and See What Happens"

Have you ever met a celebrity in person? I got to meet NY Yankee great, Mickey Mantle who was signing autographs at a department store when I was a teenager. I was glad to get his autograph but his handlers were encouraging him to leave right after my autograph. Mickey said hello to me and I was in awe of his huge forearms. Although it was a thrill to get his autograph and say hello the experience left me wanting more.

I determined that if I met any other famous people I would not ask for autographs but I would engage them in conversation. Guess what happened over the years? I started running into celebrities with some regularity and I did get to chat with many of them.

Jerry Fogel played the son in a short lived TV sit-com, “Mothers-In-Law” starring Kay Ballard and Eve Arden. Jerry had a small part in the movie, “Tora, Tora, Tora!” He had a radio show in Kansas City , MO when he walked into a store where Debbie and I were shopping. Debbie recognized him and pointed him out and I walked up to him and introduced myself and then introduced him to Debbie and we shared a good conversation for several minutes.

When our children were younger we used to shop at Toys-R-Us. It was at this store that I met retired KC Chiefs football player Deron Cherry and his wife. I made eye contact with him and said hello and told him I was a big fan of the Chiefs and of his career. We then introduced our wives to one another and the four of us chatted like old friends. Funny thing happened we met Deron at the same Toys-R-Us store the following year and we chatted again; it turned out that he was from New Jersey and Debbie and I were from NY so we had some things in common.

I went to the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament several years ago and saw Tom Watson and stood next to him as he was interviewed by the media. I did see Tiger Woods but there were about 1,000 people around him so that didn't work out too well.

Recently, Debbie, Arielle and I have seen Mark Lowry and Tim Hawkins perform locally. We have met both of them after the show and had our pictures taken with them too after chatting with them.

I have seen and met some Dallas media and have talked to them too. I feel that I have received something more valuable than an autograph; I have actually met the person and shared conversation with them. I think they get more comfortable and feel like talking when they realize you are not out just for their autograph. I have found it a lot more interesting to be able to walk up to someone and strike up a conversation with them than have a scrap of paper with their handwriting on it.

Contact Mike at: mjippolito65@yahoo.com or check out his blog at: www.xanga.com/xthexgodfatherx