Welcome to the Moth Podcast. I'm Suzanne Rust, your host for this episode.

They say to never meet your idols, but I'm not so sure. I mean, if you don't meet your idols,

you might miss out on learning from the people you admire most. While working at the Moth,

I've had the opportunity to meet some really cool people, humanitarian,ians, astronauts, actors, authors, and have all been gracious and kind,

exactly the type of people I was hoping they'd be.

Folks like Elizabeth Gilbert, Mike Berbiglia, Andre DeShilles,

were all warm and friendly and met my expectations.

On this episode of the Moth, we've got two stories

about what happens when you actually meet your idol

and all the messy emotions it brings up.

The first up is Harriet Jernigan,

who told this at one of our open mic story slams

in San Francisco.

Here's Harriet live at the Moth.

It was 1994, and I was in charge of the poetry section at the Midnight Special,

this bookstore in Santa Monica that was known not only for its left as politics, but also for its celebrity clientele,

everything from Chevy Chase to Octavia Butler to Frank Zappa.

And I got to meet a lot of celebrities, but after a couple months, I was cool.

That was cool.

I used to laugh at the rookies who would sit there and swoon over the rich and famous.

So stupid.

After all, they were only people. But there was one celebrity

...