I Cannot Be Cool around a Celebrity

Let me preface my story by saying this: I've been around celebrities before and not acted like an ass. I've been in a room with Allen Toussaint (it was a group dinner we were both a part of); I was fine. I was in a crowd at a protest march and Anderson Cooper was in the same crowd; much as I adore that silver fox, I didn't shove people out of the way to fawn on him. Tonight was different.

My friend and I were leaving an eatery when I saw Wendell Pierce (of The Wire and Treme fame, New Orleans native, generally nice man from what I glean from the newspapers) sitting at a table with two other people. I broke away from my friend's side and went up to Pierce, tapping him on the arm. I smiled at everyone at the table and told him, "Hey, I'm a big fan." He nodded and murmured "Thanks." The exchange took fewer than thirty seconds. I then walked off with my friend.

She asked, "How do you know him?" She didn't recognize him.

I said, "He was on The Wire. And Treme! He's from here."

I immediately felt terrible for interrupting his quality time with his people and for touching him without an invitation. To be fair to myself, I usually tap people's arms to get their attention when I don't want to say their names out loud or draw attention to myself; however, I should not tap a celebrity's arm...the arm of someone I don't know. Also, I should not interrupt a celebrity's snack/coffee time. I'm so rude. The worst part is that I did all this without thinking! I couldn't help myself.

I clearly can't handle being in the vicinity of a celebrity I like, an actor whose work I enjoy. I'm glad he didn't chastise me for my behavior; it was within his right to do so. He's a quality guy.