B. C.

Be cool. I read a bit of humor today about how to behave when meeting a celebrity (specifically, how to tell them you like their work/accomplishments and to ask for their autograph). The gist of it was be cool. Don’t fawn. Don’t become a blithering idiot. Don’t ramble. Don’t follow them. Remember that, as momentous as the occasion is for you, it happens to them dozens of times a day. Be cool.

That brought to mind when I obtained Bill Cosby’s autograph. "Be cool," sounds like something Bill Cosby would say. (Note that his initials also are B. C.) On a flight from Chicago to Philadelphia (he was on his way to an appearance in Atlantic City), the stewardess took me (a child at the time, sometime after Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids but before The Cosby Show) up to first class, but he was asleep. However, I got to talk to him at baggage claim. I don’t remember how I acted, but I certainly hope I respectfully asked for his autograph then graciously thanked him before walking over to the conveyor. I hope I was cool.

I stood alone at the conveyor (my parents let me get the bags by myself because it was -- and still is -- fun to pick your suitcases out of all the others passing by) and felt very self conscious. I suddenly realized that I was, indeed, alone. Every other person on that plane was on the other side of the baggage conveyor, staring at B. C. sitting behind me.

I observed two black boys approach B. C. with candy bars they were selling as a fundraiser. For those of you who might not know, Bill Cosby grew up in Philadelphia, and he knows what it was like to be a poor, black boy in the city. I’m sure that he admired the boys’ attempt to better their lives, and he probably would have paid $100 each for those two candy bars, if he were asked to. B. C. was cool.

By the way, B. C.’s luggage (Yves Saint Laurent or some other brand that has the designer’s initials plastered all over it by way of a pattern) was monogrammed. "Cos" was on one. "Jell-o" on another. And "Pudding".