Celebrity

Besides Elon Musk, I just had my first celebrity encounter since moving to LA, almost literally bumping into Kobe Bryant outside the bathroom of the Hawthorne Municipal Airport. I did a double take and gave him a surprised “Howdy”, then noticed he was carrying a SpaceX gift bag. I asked him if he enjoyed his tour of SpaceX (which is right next door to the airport) and he said “Man, Elon is the beast”.

This was on our way into the bathroom, so I did a 180 and went back to my table of co-workers in the adjoining bar and told them Kobe was in the bathroom. One of my coworkers came back with me to the waiting area outside of the bathroom, so excited he was shaking! They had a nice little exchange, I took a picture of them, then Kobe walked out onto the tarmac and boarded a helicopter. That’s one way to beat the traffic!

I try not to make a big deal out of celebrities, but it is kind of neat to see and talk to someone in person who you’ve only ever seen on TV for many years. I debated on whether I wanted to get a picture with him. I’ve never been a fan (Go Spurs!), so I felt it would have been dishonest of me to request one. My friend, on the other hand, was so excited to get his picture taken with him! He kept thanking me, it was funny…