So this past week was the opening of the famed Clinton Presidential Library. I managed to get out of town for the occasion, on a photoshoot that took me to Forrest City, AR, Memphis, TN, and Drew, MS in a very long 16 hour day. All my friends from work, though, were snatching up tickets to VIP parties (through our PR department), at which it was proclaimed “Brad Pitt’s gonna be there! OMG!” Maybe it has something to do with growing up in Nashville, where I saw famous people often enough to not really care much about it. I mean, when you run into someone famous, you have two options:

1. Gush and run up to them and act like a total fool/crazy person. Annoy them with requests for autographs and a cheezy “i’ve loved you all my life” statement.
-or-
2. Recognize that they are just people, yes- just like you, except with a bit more cash and a feverous desire to have a miniscule amount of privacy, so the logical way to go is ACT CASUAL.

In Drew, Mississippi, I was directing a photoshoot of the opening of Drew’s first restaurant, which I thought was called “The People’s Choice Diner,” but everyone’s t-shirt said “People Choice.” The residents in this small town were so incredibly excited about having a restaurant, but even more than that, they were happy there was someone there to publicize the event (we were making a calendar for the bank holding company that made the restaurant’s opening possible). I actually had several invitations to come stay at the owners’ home, should I ever be in the area and need a place to stay, regardless of the fact that I’d never met them before. (sweet) There were also several ladies who wrote columns for small local newspapers or were in charge of writing press releases, who also hounded me about what my name, title, and relation to the restaurant was. One lady even asked me how President Clinton was doing healthwise, as though I knew him personally simply by living in Little Rock! So I ended up feeling like a celebrity after I had tried to avoid them at home… which was kind of weird.

Oh, and the only famous person that showed up at that party was Wesley Clark. “OMG!”

So let’s say you run into Bradd Pitt at a local restaurant. Which option would you take, and why? Is your answer different if the celebrity is someone you admire?