where do i know you from...

So you are walking down the street, or grocery shopping, or passing someone in a car, or getting on an elevator and you recognize the person you pass but aren’t quite sure where from, so you run down the list of possibilities; high-school, college, theater, job, previous job, Seattle, yoga class…etc. until you realize, Oh you’re on TV!

This happens all the time in LA and can be rather annoying because while you are running through the list of “where from” you are also wondering if you are being rude by not knowing who they are. Then once you realize they’re on TV, you feel like a bit of an ass for thinking you knew them.

Once you’ve been here long enough you see people on TV and you ask yourself, do I know you? Or are you just someone on TV? This is less annoying but annoying all the same. And then of course there is the issue of people thinking you are "someone". Their eyes light up but then quickly dim when they realize you are just a "nobody."

Recently, I “almost” recognized someone. I was walking down my street to my car and I see this girl (in picture) walking her dog. I immediately wonder how I know her and run down the usual list until I realize she’s on Grey’s Anatomy. Luckily it was fairly quick and easy.

Sometimes this can stump you for days. A couple weeks ago at Goom’s soccer game I saw a guy I swear I knew but couldn’t place him. After thinking about it for two weeks, I still have no idea so I’ve given up and I’m assuming he’s on TV and I just can’t place him.

This is a silly little problem but I do find being in other places where “stars” don’t go, to be a bit more relaxing.

Comments

Yeah, it can be annoying, to both the "star" and the audience. I say, ignore each other, period, unless your name is called out; then, act as if you are getting spooked.
Anonymous said…
I dont believe anyones eyes would dim when seeing you, and no way could they think u r a nobody... ;)

I actually see Operah all the time, she has a summer house around here, its no big deal...u kinda get used to it(plus I dont like her, I think she is the anti christ...lol)
JenJen said…
Closest thing to a celebrity around here is the local weatherman.
He's got a lot of makeup on while on air. Sheesh.
Just wait until you hit menopause and your memory really hits the skids! Then you'll have that problem with EVERYBODY you see, LOL!
That is one thing I never worry about in our little neck of the woods and if I do find myself in a place where the stars frequent (like our upcoming vacation in January), most of them I don't recognize anyway.

While away a few years back, I walked up to an outdoor banking machine line at the same time as a very tiny woman who was holding a child that looked to be around 3 years old at the time. I smiled and said to her, "you go ahead first, that child looks heavy", this kid was almost as big as her. She totally ignored that I had spoken and stepped in the line in front of me like of course she should go first, wasn't it obvious? Once she finished at the ATM and turned to leave, I recognized that she was Kate Moss. And for the record, the skin on her chin was all broken out in pimples and she looked like Hell. Most stars we wouldn't recognize without all the make up and hours of preparation and perfect lighting. On a personal note, she is not a very nice person, at least to a nobody like me who was just trying to be polite to another mother.
Brian Miller said…
and then those people that keep confusing me for a star...lol. ah, i just ask anyway, you never know who you might meet as strangers become friends...
Zuzana said…
Well, I wish! I can certainly not claim that this is happening to me.;) I live in a large city, but I am fairly sure of the fact if I see a celebrity or an acquaintance.;)
Great and entertaining post.;)
xo
Zuzana
Tess Kincaid said…
Yup, I see peeps again and again around town, and know I've seen them before. They're just not stars! :^)
xxx said…
Yep definitely annoying...
and the moral of the story is don't watch tv :)

just kidding I know that tv is a universal drug that has a long way to go before it's over :)

love to you Stacey
Ribbon x

ps... at different times in my life I have lived for decent periods without TV and it was liberating and a very creative time... these days it's difficult to convince the other members of the household just how good it could be :)
Years ago, (many years ago), I used to work in the infants and toddler department at Saks Fifth Avenue in Woodland Hills. You get used to dealing with famous people. One day I was helping this incredibly tall woman, she was so nice, and I couldn't put my finger on just who she was. She looked like a movie star from the past, but who? She wasn't old enough to have starred in one of the afternoon matinees that my mother and me watched.

When she handed me her credit card I learned why, the woman was Maureen Reagan, daughter of Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman. She looked like her mother but she didn't look like her mother enough to tip me off.
Sande said…
Yup. That would get me too possibly even waking up at 2am when the penny drops.

You could stop watching tele? Just a thought {grins}
Tracie said…
Every time a limo is spotted in town, rumors start swirling that Billy Ray is in town.

(Billy Ray Cyrus is originally from the town I live in now.)
steven said…
stacey j. some mornings when i walk by the mirror i ask myself that question! ha! steven
Mr. Charleston said…
I was once a local on-air TV person. About 20 years ago now. People still sometimes look at me and wonder why they know me, or simply start talking to me as if they know me. It's amazing. It's also scary how powerful the media is and media personalities can be. I, on the other hand, am clueless. Once in Nashville I was standing in line at the grocery store next to Rosanne Cash. I had no idea until my wife told me afterwards. I knew who Chet Atkins was when he sat at a restaurant table next to us however.
steveroni said…
Gosh, Stacey. We ALL have our problems, right? ...--grin!

Nice blog, well-and-tastefully-colored and easy to read. And the content is YOU!
Interesting problem. :)
Joanie said…
A number of years ago, I saw Richard Kind (Mad About You and Spin City)walking in Central Park with his wife. He saw my face as it registered who he was. He just smiled and said hello. fortunately, I didn't embarrass my daughter and our friends and just said hello back and kept walking. My daughter said, "That man looks familiar." I told her, "you should. You watch him on TV every week."

Funny, now my daughter has her degree in theatre and a lot of her friends are "in the business."
I have mentioned this before on my blog, but when I was sixteen and working at a movie theater here in Louisville all of Aerosmith came in and I thought Steven Tyler was Bon Jovi.

I'm still living in down.
kj said…
stacey girl, i can see where this could be a real problem here or there. for a time i ran workshops and it was not unusual for people who attended to feel close to me, which was good and fine, except a few months later they would know me because there was just one of me but i might not be able to place them. i tried hard though, because as we all know, it's important to be known.

xoxo
MaryRC said…
its so true in your neighborhood. i have a habit of running into celebs. mira sorvino sat next to me in disneyland, gwen steffani and her family behind my fam in a line at sea world, frankie munos, ananda lewis, dane cook ... elevators. i could go on, butthat would be tacky.. LOL
Sahildeki Ev said…
It looks like life is difficult in LA :))
Shadow said…
there aren't many celebs where i live, but i hate it when that happens. and it happens to me a lot. and it does have that habit of sticking in the mind, nagging, nagging, nagging...
Tabitha Bird said…
Gosh, I'd like to have that problem. You do live an interesting life!
Jeanne Estridge said…
I lived in St. Paul for three years, and my biggest problem was that, since I didn't know anyone, I never saw anyone I recognized, celebrity or not. It's nice to be back in my hometown, where everyone looks a little familiar, whether I know them or not.
Unknown said…
Love it when the celebrities are graceful enough to recognize that you recognize them... from somewhere and just smile at you. That's all that's necessary.
Claus said…
When I was in my teens, my friends and I went to Mexico to celebrate our graduation. On our way back, at the airport, I saw a specific boyband that we all used to be fans of. In my crazy-fan/ I-can't-believe-they're-here/ ridiculous way, I ran to them. And then my friends. And then a whole bunch of people who were taking pictures of them, but going "who are they?"
I it's hard to place them - unless you are a hardcore fan - because when "mixed" with regular people, they too look like regular people. And they are!, it's just that they come up on TV from time to time.
Susan R. Mills said…
I saw a woman in an elevator the other day that I know I've seen somewhere. I can't place it though. I doubt she's on tv. We don't have many stars living in Kansas.
Deb said…
I think that would make me crazy! It's hard enough to place faces without factoring in the celebrity potential.

They say that as you get older, everyone you meet looks like someone you've met before. I believe it!
Mike said…
I am not a very starstruck guy. I don't think that it would phase me too much to be around celebs. I don't think that I would pay attention enough to wonder who they were.
Nessa said…
That would make me wacky.

Car Goes Boom
Michael said…
Well, as I so rarely watch TV i doubt I'd have to worry about that! :)

Popular Posts