“Marie laughed it off. Then, she smiled that famous smile and I said, ‘It IS you! You are the prettiest woman in the world.’ She said, ‘Well that makes up for your first comment.’ They apologized again for the crowd blocking the road, got on their tour bus, and left. I got grounded for two weeks. Sorry, Marie.”
“Bill Nye was a guest judge on a reality show I was on back in 2014. He was a jerk and made some very sexist comments to me about my engineering skills.”
“Bill Nye. I met him along with Andy Weir while working at JPL around the time the movie The Martian came out. Both were two of the most arrogant people I’ve ever encountered. The actual astronauts, on the other hand, including ones who serviced Hubble, were as down to earth as could be.”
“He thanked me for the kind thoughts and talked about his family and how he was dealing with it all. His entourage was subtly trying to get him to leave, but he kept waving them off because we were both talking about our grandmas. It was a very real moment with someone I didn’t expect to have that with. I’ll always talk him up.”
“Dave Matthews is a good one. I went to his show and finessed my way backstage. He seemed a bit tired while taking pictures with other fans, but was still kind. When it was my turn, I decided to share my experience with his music. We huddled together side by side for a picture and I leaned into his ear and whispered, “I lost my virginity to ‘Crash into Me.’ Instant game changer. Dave perked right up and hugged me and smiled. It was noticeable to some friends who were also taking pictures with them. They begged me all the way home to share what I whispered to Dave. I never did. It’s our secret — just me, Dave, and that poor unskilled guy I lost my innocence to!”
Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.