The etiquette that should be employed when meeting celebrities – Part 1

If you happen to live in the New York City or Los Angeles, meeting celebrities in public may be an everyday happening, but for the rest of us, the chance encounter with one of our favorite stars or other public figure can leave quite an impressionwhether it is positive or negative.

Being a celebrity or other public figure is indeed a different world. It is a vertical community where only the truly, hugely famous are afforded a royalty status of sorts; as the saying goes, the famous are different from the rest of the people around us.

It is also an area where the average person eventually takes leave of usual, acceptable social graces; I have seen and experienced these types of not so stellar behavior personally over the years both as a fan and in my own work. Fame mongers and fans that tend to take things a “little too far” (to state it politely) are permanently on the rampage, so any mere civilian is advised to brace themselves for nothing less welcoming than a glacial reception at best.

In chance sightings, it’s polite to ignore these high-profile people. They’re not public property and may have bodyguards around them. But if you happen to be walking down the street, in a store, or some other place and you see your favorite celebrity and cant resist ignoring him/her, feel free to smile and say “hello,” but do not stop them.

If they pause to acknowledge your greeting, it may be acceptable to stop and say something simple and genuine; such as how much you enjoyed their recent performance and how they added such depth to a role, for example. Avoid gushing comments such as, “Oh my, you are totally hot in person!” They’ve most likely heard that line millions of times, not to mention it’s just plain classless.

On introduction, chat needs to be pacey. Remember that there’s no such thing as an original line; they’ve heard it all before. Feigning total ignorance such as, “Sorry, you look familiar, but I can’t place where I have seen you before,” may be pushing it a bit. The wildly unfamiliar concept of anonymity may delight them, but you are in danger of incensing them at the same time.

Disassociate them from any signature character and don’t beg for them to perform their famous catchphrases or break out in one of their popular song hits. Avoid looking the fool and never ever remind them of any previous meetings; they see thousands of people in a year’s time and won’t remember you.

The first instinct may be to ask that person for his or her