Hangin' Tough

My job has very few perks, but once in a while we'll get offered press trips. While the awesome trips like the ones to the Caribbean, Hawaii and South Africa usually go to the magazine editors, the New England casino resort trips are the ones that come across my desk. I'm not complaining because I enjoyed my trip very much and it provided me with a much-needed getaway to relax. Oddly, it was more relaxing watching TV in a hotel room than in my own living room. Go figure. 

Anyway, the highlight of the trip involved something I was never able to do when I was in high school--go to a New Kids on the Block concert. Yup, you read that right. I attended my first NKTOB concert and the experience was fantastic. The theater was full of women in their 30s and 40s rockin homemade "Donnie's Girl" T-shirts and screaming their heads off. It was fantastic! I only wish I had my own girls with me to be stupid with as well. Concerts like this require lots of alcohol and your closest girlfriends. Getting crazy with a bunch of strangers was a little odd, but not to worry, I was on my feet with everyone bopping my head to the tunes I knew. I didn't know a lot of their new songs, but whenever I heard one of the oldies I found myself mouthing the words. And yes, I did sway back and forth to "Hangin' Tough"--how could you not?

After the concert Donnie hosted a party at the Hard Rock Cafe and we all got VIP passes. I was able to take a picture with the man, but I look like Professor Klump from the Nutty Professor, so I'm exercising my right to not post it here. However, here are a few pics from the concert and one of Donnie:

So, what was Donnie like? He was an ass--totally not impressed with him. I have a feeling Jordan or Joey would have been a little more sociable. The whole experience of getting a picture with him was a little traumatic. I only wanted a picture of just him to round out my celebrity sightings week and prove that I was actually there, but the PR girl felt I needed to have a picture with him so she made it a mission to get one. 

We managed to squeeze through the crowd and make our way to the front, but as I was trying to get myself out of a wedge of people, someone pushed the PR girl who pushed me and launched me past Donnie's bodyguard. He reprimanded me and told me to calm down and wait my turn like I was some sort of crazy, psychotic fangirl. OK, let me clarify something here before I go on with this story. Yes, I have been known to be a superfan of certain actors, but the reality is I would never say a word to them if I saw them in person. I'm that much of a chicken. In fact, I've seen every one of my celebrity crushes and not once have I spoken one word to them. So, for this bodyguard to think that I would push and shove my way past everyone to see Donnie was a total insult to me. So of course I tried to explain to him that I was pushed, but he was having none of it. He just kept dismissing me like I was some crazy girl and kept telling me to wait my turn while I continued to argue with him. Finally Donnie's friend, who decided to pose in every picture, grabbed me and told me to just come over and take the picture. He was nice, Donnie and the bodyguard--not so much. Once I got my pic I was supposed to take the PR girl's pic with my camera, but Donnie and the bodyguard just grabbed me, yelled that I was going the wrong way and pulled me toward the exit. Yeah, that wasn't humiliating. 

This experience was the complete opposite of seeing Tom Welling earlier that week. At least he was nice enough to sign autographs and take pics with everyone in the front row. Hell, while all the handlers were trying to get the stars in their cars, he totally ignored them and continued to smile and pose for pics with his fans. The man may not make a lot of appearances or do a lot of press, but when he does, he seems like a class act.

So yeah, that was my experience. It was definitely...memorable.