A celebrity run-in in Bellevue

A couple of weeks ago, I had a rare case of starstruck-itis.

My buddy Aaron’s wife, Lacey, had used Facebook to invite a bunch of friends to a trampoline gym in Bellevue. I mean no offense by this, but I wasn’t so sure I wanted to go at first. I figured we would be the oldest people there without kids, and I was right.

But I’ve known Aaron since we were in elementary school, and I’ve considered him a friend since we worked together at a retirement home in high school.

In the end, I was glad I went. The trampolines turned out to be a lot more fun than I’d expected, and we ran into one of the most famous people in the world as we were leaving. As we stood at our locker, putting our shoes on and dabbing the sweat from our foreheads, I noticed a man with a bad haircut walk past our group. He wore glasses and a crisp, white polo, and had his hands in the pockets of his khakis. He casually strolled by with his wife, Melinda. It was Bill Gates.

It’s not often that I encounter someone who makes me feel starstruck. I’ve been mere feet from John McCain and Tom Morello. I’ve interviewed NFL players and professional supercross riders (OK, one of each). I didn’t think much of those situations, mostly because they were planned events and there are lots of politicians, pro athletes and musicians in the world (though none quite like Tom Morello, I must admit. That was pretty cool.) But this was Bill Gates. One of the wealthiest people in the world and the man who is basically responsible for the way the world has done business and evolved communication-wise over the past 30 years. He’s kind of a big deal.

I stood with my mouth agape and tapped my buddy Jon on the arm. “Dude. It’s Bill Gates!” I whispered excitedly. The rest of our group turned around to look. I pointed out the white polo and glasses. Mr. Gates was apparently renting out the entire gym for some type of party for his kids and their friends. He went to sit down and I approached to get a better look. I asked one of the staff members if he would try to get an autograph. He just smiled a flabbergasted smile and shrugged. “Ha. I dunno.” I told him I would give him $5 if he walked up to the man and said, “Hey! I’m a PC!” He just chuckled. In the end, I don’t think he ever went through with it. Maybe he was a Mac.

After our brush with celebrity, me, Aaron, Lacey, Jon, Aaron’s buddies Seth and Tom, and Tom’s girlfriend, Susan, went out for dinner and then headed back to Jon’s place in Tacoma. Jon’s wife, Sondra, had just gotten off work and welcomed us with snacks and an eager golden retriever. After we finished a board game and were getting ready to move on to another, I made my move.

“Have I told you guys about my new writing project?” I asked.

I laid out the questions and got some interesting responses. Tom had a pretty narrow definition of what a friend is.

“They’re people who like me because I’m cool,” he joked.

“Actually, a friend is someone you’re willing to sacrifice something for, be it time, something physical, or anything else,” he said. 

I liked Aaron’s response: “Friends are people who ask me questions about how I define the word friend.”

When I asked Lacey why we need friends she said we’re conditioned that way, but we also have an innate desire for companionship.

“We don’t know how to be alone. We grow up in community,” she said. “If you’re alone all the time, you go crazy. You have to fight with your own mind, and people can’t handle that.”

“You need other people to fight with,” Jon chimed in.

“That’s why we marry them,” said Aaron. 

As far as what Facebook accomplishes, Seth agreed with the rest of our group, that its primary function is to coordinate events and allow people to check in with others from time to time. And when one of those online “friendships” goes awry and it’s time to delete the person from your account, it’s best to refrain from real-life contact too. Or, as Sondra put it, “If I saw them at Target, I’d probably avoid them.” 

Side note: This may be one of my last posts related to The Project. I'm going to brainstorm some ideas and figure out a new project.