Meeting my Idol

Do you have a wish list of influential people you'd love to meet?  If my friend Vanessa was given 24 hours to live, I think she'd beg to share it with Jon Bon Jovi.  Throughout my teenage years, my dream was to meet Madonna (got over that one).  In my college days, as my interest in fashion marketing grew, my list was topped by Diesel's CEO, Renzo Rosso.  I was so impressed with the cutting edge message in every ad campaign.  I knew the leader of that brand had to be someone with keen foresight.  I even went so far as to send him a personal me-selling-myself package to his office in Italy.  Then one day it happened.  I landed my dream job at Diesel's Canadian office.  Not quite with Renzo, but almost there.  Naturally, I kept visualizing the day I'd meet the advertising God of the fashion industry.  The Universe supported my vision and one hot summer day, I met him.  We were at a meeting in Italy and my boss brought me over to meet him.  As I held my bombay tonic in one hand, before he even heard my name, he whipped out a toothbrush from his pocket, dipped it in my drink, brushed his tooth and proudly showed us his diamond pierced molar!  Now that's a lasting impression.  Suddenly, the person I so admired, quickly turned into a man I wish I'd never met.  On the other hand, I admired his brand marketing vision.  It just so happened that he turned out to be self-absorbed and ego driven.  His vision never changed, but mine was certainly altered.  Sometimes, we create these falsehoods about others.  Note to Self: No one is perfect, so don't expect your "idol" to live up to your fictional desires - even if it's Oprah!  Our authenticity is hidden behind layers of love and fear.  Accept that perfection is an illusion and expect the unexpected.