How Many Reasons Do They Need?

I have never been at a formal meet and greet for Duran Duran.  I know what you are probably thinking…”Thank goodness!  That one is a bit much!  My goodness, she is half of the Daily Duranie!  They blog EVERYDAY!  Every.  Single.  Day.  Sometimes, they have even blogged more than once a day!!!!  On top of that, they talk about what happened in Duran history and ask questions of other fans.  Worse yet…they have set up meetups with other fans and the rumor is that they are even planning a convention!  EEK!  Activities like that cause fans to come together and we can’t have that!  She is one of THOSE fans.”  Yeah, I’m sure you are thinking something like that.  I might be, if I was in your shoes, but I’m here, speaking quietly and gently, to let you know that I’m safe.  I can be trusted in the same room as you.

What proof do I have that I’m safe?  Well, I know that the opinionated blogging might make me seem scary but I’m really not.  I have proof.  You see I have had thorough background checks done with the most recent one for events that happened this past week.  Who did the background checks, you ask?  Well, these background checks were done by those security people surrounding the President of the United States.  No, I’m not kidding.  You see, I just got back home from the 57th Presidential Inauguration.  Pretty cool, huh?  You know what is cooler?  I got a tour of the White House AND I got to shake the President’s and First Lady’s hands!?!  I even got to see the First Dog, Bo, up close!  No, again, I’m not joking!  It really happened.  In fact, this moment was captured on a photo that was the White House’s Official Photo of the Day on Tuesday, January 22nd.  Go ahead.  Go check.  You know that you want to.  Here’s the link:  Official Photo.  Make sure you go to January 22nd or you won’t see it.  😉  Of course, if you look carefully at it, you will notice that we are shaking hands.  I even touched him!  Yet, I kept a respectful distance.  Even more importantly, we are both laughing.  Thus, it seemed that the President didn’t mind our interaction. 

So, seriously, those secret service people allowed me to get close to the President twice (I met him in October)!  They wouldn’t do that, if they didn’t think I was safe, right?  Right.  Of course not.  My point here is simple.  If you were to do meet and greets during…say…the next tour and I were to go for one, it is okay to choose me.  It really is.  I’m not a security risk.  Obviously.  I’m sure you might be thinking about that partner of mine.  What about Rhonda?  How can we trust her?  Has she been checked over by the President’s security team?  Well, I’ll be honest here.  I don’t know that she has.  That said, I think you can trust her, too.  After all, if I’m okay to be near the President, would I choose to be around someone…uh…unsafe?  While, we all know that Rhonda might have strong opinions and she might even voice them a time or two, let me tell you.  She’s way more bark than bite.  Really.  I promise.  

On that note, I do hope that this evidence of mine counteracts any concern you might have about my fan status.  While I realize that I might appear a bit…serious about my fandom, I promise you that I know how to be respectful and calm during official meet and greets.  In fact, I can even bring joy and laughter to meet and greets.  I can.  Really.  I promise.  

Sincerely,

Your respectful fan,
Amanda

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In all seriousness, I was in Washington DC this past week for Inauguration events due to my efforts as a campaign organizer.  One of those events included a White House tour.  While the President and First Lady were not scheduled to be there, they surprised us!  Almost immediately after the meet and greet, I thought about how I have been lucky (VERY) to meet the President twice, but haven’t had an official meet and greet with the band!  How crazy is that?!