I’ve been thinking about the term “famous” after it came up in conversation at the op shop this week.
It strikes me that when boiled down to its essence people are only “famous” because other people recognise them. The more people that recognise you the more famous you are.
I moved to Western Australia in the 1990’s shortly after marrying my first husband Andy. I took a role working as Personal Assistant for the Deputy Managing Partner of KPMG. He also looked after the marketing department so both of us would get involved in events. We held a sports trivia night and companies brought tables at a lovely venue to have dinner, drinks and bragging rights for the winners. Some companies sent their Boards or executive leadership teams while others handed the tickets along to staff who had worked hard on specific projects. As an added bonus we were able to get six professional sports people to gift us their time and we “sold” them to the tables as an extra contestant for the quiz.
I was given the role of looking after these sports people which was straightforward enough. I apologised when I met them and explained that I would probably not know who any of them were because I wasn’t a big sports fan and I was a recent arrival to Western Australia.
At the end of the evening one of the sports people stopped me to say thanks for looking after him. He looked at me hard and said “you really don’t know who I am do you?” I replied “I really don’t”. He then said “it’s such a nice change.”
I went on to live in Perth for fifteen years and it did not take me too long to recognise that the guy I met wasn’t just famous, he was mega famous particularly in Perth. His name is Ben Cousins and he was legend whose star got a bit dulled at one point but who is now a reformed character. My point is that he was just a guy until I learned that he was a famous guy.
My second example takes us back even further. Not long into my career I became a permanent temp for two years. I loved it because I get bored easily and the money was great. I used to take front line reception roles and because of that everyone in these companies would quickly learn my face and name. I on the other hand only ever had time to remember the name of the person who signed my time sheet. This preamble is to explain a habit that I took up during that period. I would say “hi” to people whose faces I recognised first so as a to skip over the sharing each other’s names bit should they wish to stop and talk.
So, I’m downstairs in the BNZ food court and I’m walking along, I see a face I know and so I automatically smile, say “hi” and keep walking. It took me another five steps to realise I had just casually said hi to Cliff Richard. Again, he was not famous until I remembered who he was.
I believe that we like the “idea” of being famous but I’m sure the reality is something else. When hundreds of famous people tell you repeatedly in interviews that being famous is “hell” then maybe we should believe them.
Some of the nicest people I know live right here in Featherston and they work hard every day to make this little town a great place to live. We have volunteer fire men and women who leave their milk on the counter at our local grocery store while they run out the door when the alarm rings. Locals coach our sports teams and others turn up to be referees. Volunteers work at the local food bank and still others work at the op shop.
There are so many unsung heroes in all our worlds and I wonder if the planet might not be a nicer place if we made these kinds of people famous?
Sadly, I suspect that being “famous” is not a blessing at all and perhaps we would all be happier if we scrapped the practice entirely.
It does raise a follow up question - who would we worship then?