Brushes with Well-known People

Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, has been garnering a lot of public attention lately, thanks to his speech to the U.N. General Assembly accusing President Bush of being "El Diablo" (The Devil). Hugo Chavez also has the sole distinction of being the one international public figure my husband has laid eyes upon in person.

Micah grew up in Venezuela, where Chavez finally achieved the presidency in 1998 (after agitating and even attempting a coup for years before that), shortly before Micah's family moved back to the US. Just like all good dictators, Chavez knows that he has to try to keep the masses subdued in order to retain power, so he makes sure that he throws them a few bones now and then. Soon after becoming president, Chavez decided to kick up his public relations efforts by gracing "the commoners" with his presence. He took car rides all over the Venezuelan countryside, to every little village and town, to let his subjects gaze upon their new Emperor...er, um President. And so he came to Micah's village and drove down Micah's street, and Micah watched him pass by in all his glory.

It's a good thing Micah's family left Venezuela in 2000, because it has deteriorated rapidly since Chavez took control. Crime and anti-American hatred run rampant. Though Micah was born and grew up there, it has become too unsafe for us to make a return visit, and probably will continue to be for most Americans (except for, perhaps, Cindy Sheehan) until Chavez is replaced by someone less--may I say?--"demonic"...and preferably someone who isn't best buddies with Fidel Castro.

Micah and I were talking about all this the other day after we somehow got on the subject of famous or well-known people we've either seen or met. Just for fun, here are mine:

Presidential hopeful, Bob Dole: My family attended one of his rallies and heard him speak during his candidacy. It was part of my education...to witness American politics first hand. I've also been to a few national conventions where my dad was a delegate. (I bet you can't guess for which party!)

President George W Bush: He was our governor at the time, and on the stage with Mr. Dole at his rally.

Chelsea Clinton: I lived down the street from her when we were both at Oxford. I probably saw her about 4-5 times walking around with her boyfriend and secret service person. One time, when I was sitting on the steps of my flat, a strange guy (a stalker? a member of the paparazzi?) came up and started asking me a bunch of questions about where Chelsea lived...I told him I didn't know and ducked back inside as quickly as possible.

Michael Moore: I went to hear him speak at the Oxford Union, knowing nothing about him except that he had recently released a documentary called "Bowling for Columbine" (which I hadn't seen). He arrived an hour late, dressed in jeans, t-shirt, and ball-cap, and began his speech with no apology or reference to his lateness whatsoever. (At this point, I was thinking WHO is this guy?) He proceeded to give a very eloquent (seriously...he is impressive with words) speech about how evil and "war-mongering" President Bush is, how clueless many Americans are, and how the British and Europeans in general were the world's hope for avoiding war (it hadn't officially started at this point) and maintaining sanity. Now realize, Mr. Moore was speaking in Great Britain. Ah, how wonderful it is when our citizens go abroad spreading their love for our country! After his speech, adoring fans lined up for a booksigning. I waited in line with a friend, but when we reached Mr. Moore and he looked expectantly at me, I ignored him and averted my eyes. That's right, I snubbed him. Subtle and probably totally inneffective, but I hope it at least caused a flicker of confusion in his mind:o)

It's funny that the well-known people Micah and I have seen are all political figures. What about you? Any anecdotes to share?