Nov 26, 2008

Brush With Fame

And by "brush" I mean hardly even close... but you'll see.
-------------------------------

A couple of years back, while working in the front office, I got a call one afternoon;
*brrrrring!*
Me: "Hello, Company X. How can I help you?"
Customer: "Yeah, do you carry brand Y inserts for sheet metal?"
M: "Do you have a particular part number for the one you're looking for?"
C: "Well, I need it to have X threads and be X long. I'm thinking maybe part number 123xyz."
M: "Let me see." (tappity-tap on the keyboard) "Um, no I don't but I can check with the factory about getting some. How many did you need?"
C: "I only need a few, like maybe a handful. About 8-10 pcs."
M: "Hmmm... well that wouldn't be enough for a minimum from them but I can see about getting some as samples for you. Can I get your name and a number to reach you back at?"
C: "Yeah. It's Anthony. Anthony Ray. My number is xxx-xxxx. That's my cell so if I don't answer just leave a message."
M: "Alright, I'll call you back and let you know what I find out."
*click*


So I call the mfgr. and order up some samples and have them sent out to us via the U.S. mail.
I called the customer back, "Hi Anthony? I'm just calling to let you know that they were able to send out some samples for you. They're coming out in the mail so we'll probably have them in about a week. We'll give you a call when they get here and you can pick them up or we'll ship them out to you."
Customer: "Alright, thanks. I appreciate you getting back to me. I'll look forward to hearing from you when they come in."


Cut to a week later~
I'm in Montana with Hotness on vacation. We're sitting in an Arby's having lunch when her cell phone rings.
She picks it up, "Hello? Yeah he is. Just a second" and she hands it to me.
It's one of my co-workers and he says, "You will never guess who was here to see you!"
"You're right I won't. So who?" I said.
"Sir Mix-A-Lot! He was just here to pick up parts you ordered as samples for him!" he says.
"Uh.... yeah. I'm on vacation so thanks for the trying to joke but I'm going to get back to my lunch", I said and then hung up.

A minute later the phone rings again. This time it's G-rod.
"Hey man, we're serious! Sir Mix-A-Lot was just here and picked up the parts you got in for him. He signed one of your worksheets on your desk. He asked where you were, but we told him you were on vacation so he left you an autograph. You TOTALLY missed him dude!"

Then it hit me that Anthony Ray is his real name. It never occurred to me before, because after all... who's expecting Sir Mix-A Lot to call up and order samples of threaded inserts?
He showed up at my work and I totally missed him.

Here's the autograph that he left on my desk:


So that's my close brush with a famous celebrity.

-----------------------------------------------------------

In case you need a refresher, here's what Mix-A-Lot likes:




2 things people had to say:

Unknown said...

I still say we need to one-up California in the celebrity governor area... Mix-A-Lot in 2014! My brush with local celebrity was running into Sue Bird at Best Buy.

Elwood said...

Not sure which of these stories I'm more jealous of.

My posse's on Broadway...