Let's be real here!

Yesterday afternoon, I went to a work meeting. A lot of people new to the company were in attendance, so we were asked to take turns introducing ourselves, telling how long we've been with the company, and answer the question: If you could meet someone famous, who would it be? I have to admit, I tend to dislike these types of questions, especially when you only have thirty seconds to think about your answer. Maybe I take it too seriously, but somehow I just feel that my answer will stick with me and say something about my character. I wished I had more time to think! As everyone started answering, celebrities such as Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matthew McConaughey, and the occasional sports figure such as Tiger Woods quickly took their places among the most popular answers. Getting more and more bothered by the answers and how ridiculous people were, I started panicking because my turn was coming up so quickly. I don't really care about meeting celebrities or movie stars! I sat there trying to think with whom I could have an englightening or inspiring conversation. I turned to my colleague, Kendra and said, "Who should I say?" She replied, "Well, someone scholarly..." I smiled. Kendra knows me well.

When my turn came, I stood up, introduced myself, and named Elie Wiesel as the famous person, whom I would like to meet. As I explained that he is a WWII Holocaust survivor and accomplished author, I successfully silenced the group. So I continued and explained further that I'm not really interested in meeting any celebrities, so I tried to think of someone with whom I could have a really great conversation. One of my colleagues laughed and loudly proclaimed, "I chose Matthew McConaughey not because I want to talk to him, but because I want to see him with his shirt off!" Please! This is just ridiculous to me. Let's be real here.

A friend once told me that if she had to describe me in one word, the word would be real. It's true. I don't like to live in fantasy-land. Disneyland was fun, but only because it was fifteen minutes away from my grandparents' house and there were some fun rides. I never once wanted to be a Disney princess for Halloween. And Halloween, for that matter... I still have to force myself to dress up if I go to a Halloween party. Why do we all want to spend an evening surrounded by ghost, goblins, and witches? :) Saturday morning cartoons weren't really even my thing. I watched a few, but really they just didn't interest me a whole lot. Apparently, I didn't even really like Sesame Street all that much. I mean what kid doesn't like Sesame Street?! My mom has frequently marveled at how she would turn on the television in the morning for me to watch "every kid's favorite TV show" while she tried to get things done around the house. But instead of watching the whole episode, I would generally get up and turn it off after about fifteen minutes. She claims that I rarely watched an entire episode. I vaguely remember this. I do remember thinking that Cookie Monster was kind of stupid. I liked Count Dracula, but that's only because he seemed smart and he could count.

So after I announced to the crowd that I'm different, I sat back down in my seat. Satisfied. I might have had a different type of answer to that question than most everyone in the room, but I'm happy with that. I'd like to meet Elie Wiesel over Matthew McConaughey any day. I mean really. Let's be real here. :) What are you going to do if you meet Matthew McConaughey? Just stare at him? We can do that online or in a movie any time. Nothing can take the place of a good conversation!