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 We live in a celebrity obsessed society. Channels and websites devoted to the latest gossip, newspapers and magazines talking about the latest new heartthrob and starlet that have sparked our interest. We want to know whom Tiger Woods is sleeping with or what drugs Lady Gaga are on or what the mother of a litter of children’s hairstyle is today.
We focus on their lives most likely to forget about our own. Well, I’ve noticed lately, that celebrity doesn’t just apply to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. Celebrity is the celebration of fame, or in some cases infamy, and it can happen just about anywhere. I got to thinking about this in my normal travels when I stumbled upon a man, a man I hadn’t seen in a long time. It’s not a man I know mind you, but it’s a man I’ve known about for a long, long time. And strangely, it’s a man that a lot of other people know as well. And that’s when I began to think about the strange and lovely people that make up our community or as I like to call them, local celebrities.
Now pretty much every town has “real” local celebrities – the car salesman from the late night TV ads, the local newscasters, maybe the college or high school sports star, but that’s not what I’m talking about. To me, a “local celebrity” is that “special” person who we all see, we all know about or at least have an opinion about. It’s that person who you kind of take in as strange at first, but then after repeat exposures you come to accept them as part of your ecosystem. The best thing about these people, are that they are not only known to you, but to others as well and not only because you pointed them out. These are folks your friends have come to know and be familiar with on their own so that when you ask them if they’re ever seen that person, your friends will immediately know what you’re talking about. And they usually have nicknames.
This all started when I was driving home from the grocery store one afternoon and I saw him. A middle aged Asian man, in terrific shape, running down the side of the road, doing arm circles as he ran. I used to see this man everyday at my college campus, running through the quad. Back then we called him The Running Man because he used to wear a full body, lycra, exercise suit reminiscent of the Arnold Swartzenegger movie of the same name. However, this Running Man accessorized his appearance by wearing a worn, brown blazer over it while he ran through the quad.
We always used to think he was crazy. He obviously wasn’t a student at our school, but he was there all the time, training. Training for what? Who knows? What I do know is that I’ll never forget that guy and that became more apparent when upon seeing him on the side of the road that day after the grocery store all my college memories, of him and of my own, pleasantly rolled back into my consciousness.
I even did a quick Facebook poll of all my college alums and a lot of them knew exactly who I was talking about and had their own fond memories.
Going further back into my past there was another local celebrity who almost anyone who went to my high school knew. This man is kind of an underground legend in my hometown of Santa Clara, and if you ever rode the 22 bus down El Camino then you’d probably know who I meant if I told you about Robert.
I don’t know a whole lot about Robert, but I need to say this first. I honestly like Robert and by no means am I poking fun at the man. If you ever have a chance to come in contact with the guy, you’d like him too.
I’m not a hundred percent sure, but I believe Robert might be autistic, but you’d never quite know it judging by how much that guy got around. He’d always wear big suspenders to hold up his pants, and he always had a plastic or paper bag full of something. He had a loud, booming voice, mostly because he always had headphones on so he was talking over the music in his ears. Always with a smile on his face and not a care in the world, Robert would usually just smile at you and say hi. Then he start telling you about his day.
He was always on the bus when I’d come home from school. He’d always be in the seat, shaking back and forth, but he was super friendly. If you sat close to him he’d smile and introduce himself and tell you something about what he was doing that day, even if you didn’t ask. And at first, it might have been off putting. Believe me, I’ve seen my share of people caught off guard by Robert’s first approach. But once they spend a few minutes talking to the guy they realize that he really means well and he’s a sweet individual.
I have to admit, when I was younger, I was sort of afraid of Robert. I would always be apprehensive when getting on the 22 bus and try to sit far away from him. But one day, I was seated right behind him and he ended up talking to me. I don’t remember the conversation but I remember not being afraid of the guy anymore. I had realized that this person was not a stranger danger but just a guy making his way in the world. And he was doing okay at it to boot.
I recently saw Robert when I took my 20 year old nephew to Costco the other day. We were sitting enjoying a buck fifty Costco dog and a drink when I noticed Robert a couple benches away. He was sitting happily, smiling, and addressing another Costco shopper who just happened to be minding his own business. The shopper seemed to be caught off guard but then just listened to Robert and kindly had a conversation with him. My nephew noticed what was happening and was amused. That’s when I told him the story of Robert and how he was a Santa Clara Legend, passing it on to the next generation.
Now of course in a major city like the one I live in (San Jose, CA) there’s bound to be tons more characters to write about but I’ll just focus on the ones that I notice in my daily life. I’ve come across many in my travels but I’m proud to say that I’ve recently discovered a brand new local celebrity. Now, she may not be big time, in the sense that she’s only around in my neighborhood, but if you ask anyone in my neighborhood if they’ve ever seen Poodle Lady, they’d certainly speak up.
Poodle Lady is an attractive blonde who walks her tiny white poodle around my neighborhood. She’s not the bimbo type who wears revealing clothes she’s just a girl with a dog. And most every afternoon or sometimes early evening, you can find her walking the neighborhood. A couple times I’ve crossed paths with her, either as she crossed my driveway as I was pulling out or walking to the bank on the corner we’d exchange smiles. She seems nice enough. For one thing, she’s a devoted pet owner and she must love that mutt. Because more often than not, she’s always out there walking that dog and giving it its exercise.
The funniest thing to me is though, and the fact that makes her a local celebrity is that one day I was talking to fellow Moron Lifer Paul Fernandez, who just happens to live two houses up from me on the same street, and I referenced Poodle Lady and he knew exactly who I was talking about. Two different people on the same street and now she’s got notoriety. This is how legends are formed.
Like I said earlier, in a major city, the population is ripe for celebration of personalities and I’m sure everyone has their own versions of local stars. For me, these are people who I came across at different times in my life and are now forever associated with different memories and eras. In a sense, these people are place holders or bookmarks in my mind for days gone by and thoughts long thought lost. So thank goodness for local celebrities because without them, our lives would be just boring. Or celebrated by strangers who obsess about us.
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