Picture yourself at 12 years old. You probably had a Myspace, tons of feelings and, if you were anything like me, walls covered in posters of your favorite heartthrobs from teen magazines. Jesse McCartney, Ashton Kutcher and the one and only Ryan Sheckler were likely candidates.
When I was in middle school, all of my posters left the color of my bedroom walls to be as ambiguous as Kristin Cavallari and Stephen Colletti's relationship. I also had my so-called future husbands in a scroll box on my Myspace page, just so everyone beyond my bedroom could know who I thought was ~dreamy.~
Tweens and teens are, to say the least, dramatic. But, that doesn't change the fact that I would have done anything to meet at least one of my favorite male celebs. I really would have done anything to meet any celebrity at all, but of course meeting one of your celeb crushes has the added benefit of making him/her fall in love with you. To answer the question that you're all probably thinking, no I'm not as dramatic as my tween self once was.
Just this past weekend, I was able to meet one of my former tween celebrity crushes. Where my 12-year-old self would have potentially cried, arms wide open running toward him, my 20-year-old self tried my best to play it cool. But, let me start from the beginning.
My two friends and I had the amazing opportunity to work as The Red Bulletin street team brand ambassadors at Ryan Sheckler's Hart Lines in Detroit, a two-day skateboarding competition where people from all over could come watch, skate and drink Red Bull. Our job was to move around the event and hook people up with a free 12-issue subscription to The Red Bulletin magazine.
As Red Bulletin girls, we had access to the, if you will, VIP area, which was down a set of concrete stairs, underground, connecting to the skating bowl where the competition took place. That's where we were lucky enough to meet my tween crush, Ryan Sheckler.
By the end of the second day, over 230 The Red Bulletin subscribers and three sunburns later, we decided to call it a day and head back to our air-conditioned room to turn in our subscriptions. On our way down the stairs, we stopped to sign up one more person. As he was signing up, Ryan Sheckler and friend started to make their way up the stairs.
After we got our picture with him the day before, I vowed that I would find him the next day and have a real conversation (okay, maybe only slightly less dramatic than my tween self). So, when I saw him coming up the stairs, I knew this would be my one shot. You would think I would have had an inner debate with myself on what I should say, but I had already been planning this little joke of mine.
"Hey, would you like to sign up for a free subscription to The Red Bulletin?"
I thought that I had just made one of the funniest jokes I could make, implying that Ryan Sheckler, who is sponsored by Red Bull and has been on the cover of the magazine, did not already receive The Red Bulletin. He, however, did not seem to find it very funny.
While I could try to directly quote what he said, due to my adrenaline pumping and embarrassment, I blacked most of it out. I do, however, know the gist.
Basically, he told me, unamused, that he already receives the magazine and that he didn't need to sign up. When I insisted that he sign up regardless, he, again unamused, assured me that he really did not have to as he walked past me to take pictures with his fans.
The man who was signing up for the subscription looked up at me, eyes wide and asked, "Do you even know who that was?"
"Yeah, it was Ryan Sheckler," I said.
"Well I think you offended him," he said.
Looking back, maybe I should've just gone with a simple, "Great job out there, Ryan!"
So, Ryan, if you're reading this, just know that I do know who you are and you aren't the only one who doesn't get my jokes.
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