Having, collecting and hoarding

[arewethereyet]

Lot to unpack, there. I don’t think I’ll try.

Boru

Let me clear some things up for you. It may be hard to believe, but as much as I talk about ABBA, it is simply fun for me now, not an obsession. And I don't collect ABBA stuff either. But back when I was  a Pat Benatar fan, I was young, had no friends and was back then, looking for something to belong to. I was obsessed with Pat Benatar back then, not in "I will kill you if you don't like me", but in the stupid sense that I wanted her to be my friend. 

I have long since realized that famous people are not your friends. They are just people who do things you may like. And if you must know, Pat Benatar was the one that woke me up to the reality that they are not super heros, and you don't know them personally. 

I had followed her to concert to concert in my area for years. I had a personalized licence plate that got her attention me being 5 rows from the stage the first time she noticed me. Several concerts and years later, she was spotting me every time I showed up. 

But here is where I fucked up, and looking back at it now, I understand why celebrities like to keep their distance. 

Her fan club President noticed me after a few concerts, and invited me to meet Pat Benatar back stage at one concert. That fan club president warned everyone when they went back stage not to try to hug her. I DID. On top of that Pat let her kids come out and dumbass me kept repeating to her kids, "Aren't your parents great" Kids don't want to hear that shit. And the other rule I broke was that their drummer Myron Grombacher had left the band prior, and they didn't want fans asking about it. I DID.

So almost a year after making a fool of myself, I was at another concert in which she opened up for two other bands. It was still light out, and nobody was standing dancing in my section but me. In front of what must have been 20/30k she shouts into the mike to me, "SIT DOWN".

Prior to that moment, I had been star struck by lots of famous people needlessly. But that was the moment I realized I wasn't a part of anything, and humans have their own private lives. 

Yea, I harp on ABBA, but not in the same way. Now my "fandom" of anything is just fun, not life or death. I will raze anyone who hates ABBA, but I won't kill over any dissent. I would have taken it personally back then if someone had picked on Pat Benatar. Nor do I collect anything like that for any artist, not even ABBA.

So, you were a stalker?